Syrah Masters 2017: the results in full

What did the judges think? (continued)

Matthieu Longuère MS

We did not taste that many French Syrah but mostly Shiraz. There seems to be a shift toward more elegant wines than even only two years ago. Of course, you still have impressive blockbusters but freshness seems to be now back on the agenda. It seems to me that these wines are starting to be suitable for more than the obvious steakhouse fare and can be enjoyed with more refined dishes.

While some of the top end wines were the most extracted and concentrated, it was a prices between £20 and £30 where the most characterful wines with real personality were positioned.

In particular, I liked the variety of styles across the mid-priced range, and the fact that there were not that many overdone wines.

If there were things I didn’t like, it was a few wines that seemed as though they had been to the gym – they were over-extracted to the point that they lost their varietal character and any potential sense of place.

What surprised me was the general quality level of the South African Shiraz, which was really high. They do retain their acidity very well and gone are the days when ‘tar’ was the dominating flavour.

The two Syrah from Alentejo were just outstanding and really elegant. I don’t usually want to drink a non-indigenous grape variety when I chose a Portuguese wines but Syrah can definitely deliver there.