You say syrah, I say serine
I was re-reading Andrew Jefford’s The New France ahead of a Cape Wine Academy lecture when I came across a sub-chapter headed ‘Rhône Flak’, his device for highlighting the challenges facing producers in the various regions he addresses on a chapter-by-chapter basis.
In ‘Rhône Flak’, Jefford refers to a variety closely related to syrah called ‘serine’ and writes that many winemakers in the Côte Rôtie appellation of the northen Rhône believe that it – not syrah – is the greatest vine material, with its small elongated berries (syrah berries are rounder) and naturally low (at least half that of syrah) yields. It, not syrah, is responsible for the complexity, expression, finesse and smoke of great Côte Rôtie.
A well-named
bistro in
Ampuis,
in Côte Rôtie
Unfortunately, the ‘flak’ bit, serine plantings are declining at an alarming rate and account for less than 20% of the northern Rhône appellation’s vineyards. Apparently, the vines are diseased and only last 30 years, and so the nurserymen don’t grow replacement stock. (As an aside, I read an ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij piece – granted written in 2007 – that rootstock blocks break even in Year 5 which seems to suggest that there is an income to be made. Perhaps the nurserymen want serine vines to die at a faster pace; perhaps they don’t want to invest in cleaning up the plants and establishing a nursery?)
Anyway, this bit of ‘flak’ interested me, because I have never – to my knowledge – tasted serine. Iron Hills in New Zealand makes a syrah called Serine, from the Stonecroft clone or MS. There’s also a Domaine de Fondreche Cotes du Ventoux Cuvee Serine, which is 100% syrah. And Bill Nesto MW refers here to an interview with Californian producer Sean Thackery saying that “Serine, like Petite Syrah, was eventually absorbed into what
was known as Petite Syrah. ‘So first we have ‘Petite Syrah’ as real Syrah from Hermitage, then we have Serine from Cote-Rotie, and we have both of them in California by the 187Os. Then we have the mess that Petite Sirah has become, with Durif, Peloursin and whatever else thrown in’.”
I’d really like for serine to be serine, and not syrah, and not petite syrah, and not durif, because I kind of like what René Rougier (from Château Simone in Palette) and Bernard Teillaud (Château Sainte Roseline in the Côtes de Provence) have to say about cabernet sauvignon in Provence when interviewed by Jefford: “Cabernet should be no more than the salt and pepper in reds on Provence” and “the use of cabernet is an intellectually as well as strategically a bad idea. We will always make second rate cabernet by comparison with Bordeaux” ... this despite the fact that cabernet thrives in the region.
L’Ormarins viticulturist, Rosa Kruger, is off to Europe to explore the potential for other varieties – other than those that dominate our vinous landscape in South Africa – for the vineyards she oversees as well as those she’s charged with establishing. Betcha she’s not looking for cabernet, and maybe she’ll bring back a serine.
- Cathy Van Zyl's blog
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Re: You say syrah, I say serine
Cabernet Cathy? No, not Cabernet. Serine, yes thats interesting. I worked with Serine in Cote Rotie with Agnes Levet and her parents. The vine looks similar but the berries are different and the vine has a higher natural acid, much the same as many of the older, indigenous varietals all over Europe. How do we decide in this country what to plant where? Difficult, as we do not have the prescriptive French laws and we have such a wide spectrum of climates and soils here. From Robertson to Cape Point to Vredendal and Hemel and Aarde with slate, sand, clay and granite soils all at different altitudes and on different slopes. So we have much more freedom to plant what we want but not the security that a long history of wine gives you. So how do you know? If you are really serious, you go to Europe, walk the vineyards, taste the wine, feel the soil and talk to the people, keeping in mind all the time your parcel of land in SA. I know we do not nearly have enough varietals to choose from in this country, or enough clones within a varietal. We have one clone of Grenache and one of Carignan!! We should build complexity by planting a mixture of clones within one block, even different varietals that makes a blend in one block (we know they ripen more at the same time if they are planted deurmekaar). We do not have them yet, but times are changing. And there will always be a place for Cab, Merlot and Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc (our industry will be a sad place without Kanonkop). But more variety planted in the right places might give us wine thats more wine, thats brighter, has more spice, that expresses the landscape rather than the varietal or winemakers habits or the wood he uses.
The vine looks similar but
The vine looks similar but the berries are different and the vine has a higher natural acid, much the same as many of the older, indigenous varietals all over Europe. How do we decide in this country what to plant where?
Re: The vine looks similar but
Oak Valley’s first crop of chardonnay, pinot noir and merlot, were vinified a year later by Peter Finlayson for his maiden wines in Hemel en Aarde. The first wine under the Oak Valley label, a sauvignon blanc, made its impressive appearance in 2003.leather jackets winter jackets varsity jackets trench coat