Results of the 2021 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)
Syrah / Shiraz
Category Overview by Judge Sara d’Amato
From dark and enveloping to perfumed and peppery, syrah comes in a multitude of styles whose global benchmarks include southern Australia and the northern Rhône Valley and more recently, Chile, New Zealand, California, South Africa and dare I say, Canada?
(Jump straight to the medal winners.)
It may not be a variety that first comes to mind when you think of Canadian wine and it is still produced in small quantities but syrah plantings are on the rise and thankfully so! Relatively new to the country, syrah first arrived in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley in 1991 planted by the Nichol’s in the Naramata Bench and subsequently in Ontario in 1997 by Mike Kacaba on Niagara’s Beamsville Bench. Largely due to skepticism, it did not take hold in either province very quickly. How can one hope to grow a southern French variety in Niagara, Ontario? Besides, public interest seemed to be on the side of encouraging the planting of cabernet sauvignon. As of 2020 in Ontario, syrah grapes grown and sold make up only a third of the quantity of cabernet sauvignon (as per the Grape Growers of Ontario Annual Report). Yet, it in B.C., syrah is hot on the heels of cabernet sauvignon and is the 5th most planted red variety in the province after cabernet sauvignon and cabernet Franc (as per the 2019 B.C. Wine Grape Acreage Report). Finally, there is some real momentum with respect to the production of syrah in Canada and it continues to be an absolute pleasure to judge this category whether it is positioned as the first or the last flight of the day.
To answer a question that may be surfacing in your mind right now – yes, syrah should be grown in Canada. Why? Because it’s worth it. The reason that syrah flourishes in Canada is because it grows best in moderate climates which describe Canada’s most prolific wine growing regions. In France, syrah performs in an unsurpassed fashion in the cooler reaches of the northern Rhône Valley and in the windy elevations further south. Coveted characteristics such as bountiful pepper, chemically known as rotundone, along with a florid articulation of botanicals and spices seem to be effortlessly expressed in a surprising majority of syrah from across the country. From the St. David’s Bench to Osoyoos, let’s keep it up Canada!
Maverick 2019 Bush Vine Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Bench 1775 2017 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Black Hills 2019 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Burrowing Owl 2018 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Creekside 2017 Iconoclast Syrah, St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Lake Breeze 2018 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Nk’Mip Cellars 2018 Qwam Qwmt Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Phantom Creek 2018 Phantom Creek Vineyard Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Quails’ Gate 2018 The Boswell Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Stag’s Hollow 2018 Renaissance Syrah Amalia Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Stag’s Hollow 2018 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Tightrope 2018 Syrah, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Blasted Church 2017 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
CedarCreek 2019 Estate Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Corcelettes 2018 Syrah, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Corcelettes 2019 Syrah, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Creekside 2017 Broken Press Syrah Reserve Queenston Road Vineyard, St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Creekside 2019 Syrah, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Dirty Laundry 2019 Kay’s Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Hester Creek 2019 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Indigenous World 2018 Single Vineyard Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
La Frenz 2018 Syrah Rockyfeller Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Lakeside 2017 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Le Vieux Pin 2019 Syrah Cuvée Violette, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Maverick 2020 Carbonic Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Mission Hill 2019 Reserve Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Mission Hill 2019 Terroir Collection Jagged Rock Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moon Curser 2019 Contraband Syrah Bartsch Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moon Curser 2019 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Mt. Boucherie 2018 Reserve Syrah, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Mt. Boucherie 2019 Syrah, British Columbia
Nk’Mip Cellars 2019 Qwam Qwmt Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Phantom Creek 2018 Kobau Vineyard Syrah, Golden Mile Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Quails’ Gate 2019 The Boswell Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Rainmaker Wines 2018 The Motivator Syrah Rainmaker Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Redstone 2018 Syrah Redstone Vineryard, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Rust Wine Co. 2018 Syrah Golden Mile, Golden Mile Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Rust Wine Co. 2018 Syrah Okanagan Valley Ferreira Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Rust Wine Co. 2018 Syrah Similkameen Valley Lazy River Vineyard, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
See Ya Later Ranch 2019 Rover Shiraz Viognier, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Sunrock 2018 Shiraz Sunrock Vineyards, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Terralux 2018 Reserve Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Three Sisters 2019 Syrah, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
TIME 2018 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Tinhorn Creek 2018 Oldfield Reserve Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Trius 2019 Reserve Syrah, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Backyard 2019 Simply Social Syrah, British Columbia
Blasted Church 2018 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Bordertown 2018 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Chaberton 2017 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Commisso 2017 Syrah, Niagara Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Fielding 2017 Syrah Lowrey Vineyard, St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Frind 2020 Premier Syrah, British Columbia
Jackson-Triggs Okanagan 2018 Grand Reserve Shiraz, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Kismet 2019 Family Select Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Lake Breeze 2017 Cellar Series Mistral, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Moraine 2019 Syrah, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Mt. Boucherie 2019 Reserve Syrah, British Columbia
Nostalgia Wines 2018 Family Collection Syrah Home vineyard, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Orofino 2019 Syrah, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
Redstone 2017 The Club Syrah Redfoot Vineyard, Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Rockway Vineyards 2017 Small Lot Syrah Alter Ego, Ontario
Seaside Pearl 2019 The Connaught Syrah, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia
See Ya Later Ranch 2018 Legacy Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
S’milka Vista Vineyards 2017 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Thornhaven 2018 Syrah, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
