© 2024 WYPR
WYPR 88.1 FM Baltimore WYPF 88.1 FM Frederick WYPO 106.9 FM Ocean City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Syrah

Bottles of wine in a store with a sign reading "SYRAH"
Bottles of syrah wine. Photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Grown around the world, Syrah, or Shiraz, has become a big hit. But styles do vary from place to place. Al fills us in.

The Wines

Price key: $ = less than $20 $$ = $20-40 $$$ = $40-60 $$$$ = above $60

Quality key: * = decent wine ** = very good wine *** = superb wine **** = elite

VALUE = exceptional quality for the money

Dusted Valley Boomtown Syrah, Washington State '18 **1/2 $

A tad lean, quite deeply flavored, restrained, delicious.

Radley & Finch Lazy Hare Shiraz, South Africa '17 ** $ VALUE

A very informal, dynamic shiraz with lots of zippy fruit.

Franklin Tate Shiraz, Margaret River '19 *** $ WINE VALUE OF THE WEEK

Typical Margaret River class, restrained but generous structure and flavor.

All of these wines can be purchased at Kenilworth Wine and Spirits.

Click on the links for direct ordering and home delivery.

Al Spoler, well known to WYPR listeners as the wine-loving co-host of "Cellar Notes" has had a long-standing parallel interest in cooking as well. Al has said, the moment he started getting serious about Sunday night dinners was the same moment he started getting serious about wine. Over the years, he has benefited greatly from being a member of the Cork and Fork Society of Baltimore, a gentlemen's dining club that serves black tie meals cooked by the members themselves who are some of Baltimore's most accomplished amateur cooks.
As General Partner of Clipper City Brewing Company, L.P., Hugh J. Sisson is among Baltimore's premier authorities on craft brewing and a former manager of the state's first pub brewery, Sissons, located in Federal Hill. A fifth generation Baltimorean, Hugh has been involved in all aspects of craft brewing.