The 2010 Clary Ranch Syrah had lots of similarities to a St. Joseph, including an alluring herbal quality, good weight and an elusive olive note. It’s the time of year when distributors and/or importers have annual (or semi-annual) portfolio tastings. Below are a few impressions and photos. Really, a WOW! Quite fun.

It was Cornas, mostly, and one particular St. Joseph. And the wines that hit the table were from St. Joseph. 1992 Raymond Trollat St. Joseph (2 different bottles). 1985 Raymond Trollat St. Joseph. And then came Raymond Trollat's wines from St. Joseph or vice-versa. Hermitage?

Perhaps in an attempt to relive some of the recent glory of Northern Rhône Syrah with steak , I opened a 2008 Pierre Gonon Vin de Pays de l'Ardèche Les Iles Feray , $17, Imported by Fruit of the Vines, Inc. Joseph has its place too, and can bring the same degree of pleasure as its more illustrious cousins. Hard to argue with that.

While Merlot’s fall from grace can be traced to one line in the movie Sideways , the fall of Syrah has been more difficult to track. Even more broadly, it’s still a tough sell: producers and retailers have repeatedly told me that save for a few appellations in the Northern Rhone, the homeland of the grape, Syrah remains a sluggish category.

The other night my friend Adam invited a couple of people to his place for a night of wines from Pierre Gonon, the decidedly old school producer from St. Joseph. I've had two vintages of the St. Joseph rouge (2006, 2007) and the thing that always strikes me when I drink these wines is the absolute clarity of their expression.

considered a St. Joseph, imagining the marriage of bacon flavors. But I decided that Syrah, particularly young Syrah, which is all I own, would overpower everything but the bacon. Right now I'm eating a bowl of orecchiette with turnip greens, and it's completely delicious. It has no sauce," he would say. It needs a sauce."

beautiful bottle of Gonon Syrah from the hills outside of St Joseph , and I no longer fear winter. Last week we had nasty, windy, rainy, bitingly cold weather in NYC. It inspired me to do some winter cooking, a delicious and very satisfying beef braise. Add salt to taste, and that's it. Many meals are possible here.

Gonon's red wines bear little resemblance to those massive Syrah's that ooze with concentrated gobs of fruit. Gonon's St. Joseph is really is a wonderful wine, showcasing the nobility of the Syrah grape and the St. Joseph terroir in their meaty and mineral glory. Although Gonon's St. Joseph.

He grows hot climate grapes like Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussanne in the Santa Ynez Valley of California, where it is dry and hot, plain and simple. It does not have the intensity of say, the 2007 Gonon St. Joseph Les Oliviers, but it's just delicious, really a pleasure to drink. know, it's a California wine! Then I saw "12.5%

In honor of Australia Day last week, and because I think syrah is most seasonally apt in the winter, I tried a Northern Rhone syrah against an Aussie shiraz. Against it, I poured a Saint-Joseph ‘06 from the small producer Pierre Gonon ( find this wine ). Joseph. Okay, there was no shootout.

But the Loire is close to Bordeaux, so you still occasionally find the proprietor who is trying to emulate what is going on these days in St. And I taste more and more serious examples from the “satellite” regions like Crozes-Hermitage and St. German Riesling. And I really don’t understand why. just don’t get it. Austrian Riesling.

Could it be that I'm just not a big fan of Syrah? He gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up, but not the way he raved about this other wine, a 2006 St Joseph by Pierre Gonon ($30). I recently participated in the Wine & Spirits Northern Rhône tasting panel. Most of the reds were just too enormous for me. Where was Dard et Ribo???

Flight Two: All Syrah all the Time 2005 Edmunds St. If you want to make French wine, do it in FranceEdmund St. Parker Jr, On Edmunds St. Not as much breeding as their St. Joseph but a fascinating dance between tart acidity and animal and blueberry.) 2005 Herv Souhaut St. Epine $45 St. Epine?

The red wines of the Northern Rhone are 100% Syrah (except in Cote-Rotie where a tiny amount of Viogner is sometimes added). St Joseph, Cornas, and Crozes-Hermitage are the other Northern Rhone applellations that produce red wines, and they are more approachable price-wise than Hermitage or Cote-Rotie. It needs food.