2014 Syrocco Syrah
Zenata, Morocco
Regular Price $34.99
Sale Price $27.99
Don’t act so surprised. Wine production in Northern Africa (begun there most likely by the Phoenicians) predates most of Europe by about thousand years. And in modern times, inexpensive wine from Tunisia and Libya were illegally blended into wines from the south of France for decades. This is not a new thing, although wine critics will announce this ‘discovery’ any moment now. Unless hipsters beat them to it. (see: natural wines)
Anyway…
The story goes that the esteemed Northern Rhone producer, Alain Graillot, was bicycling through Morocco on vacation, when he stumbled across this vineyard. The ‘vineyard’ was actually a winery, Thalvin, which had been located there since the 1920s. A brilliant location for grape growing (arid conditions, sunny days, cool nites, Atlantic breezes, well draining but poor soil), Graillot began purchasing Syrah grapes from Thalvin, and making this old world style wine.
Now, if you like Northern Rhone Syrah (as I do) then you’ll enjoy this wine immensely. Its rich, deep, aromatic and fully flavored with ample herbs and fruit, acidity and structure. For the life of me, I don’t know why anyone would would ever drink a more expensive Cabernet Sauvignon again after trying this wine, but, hey, some people just prefer sweet wines.