| Syrah, another Argentinian icon? |
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| 11 de diciembre de 2008 10:29 | ||||||||
 Syrah Syrah is a well-known varietal around the world. Nevertheless, this grape has been able to gain worldwide recognition lately as a result of the wines produced in Australia. With regard to its origin, this variety is considered the oldest, originating in Persia, in the city of Shiraz. In many places it is called Sirak, while in France it is known as the female grape, Syrah. As for its major features, winemakers inquired by WineSur agreed on its plasticity and easy adaptation to all regions. However, they remarked the fact that it prefers warm climates, hence achieving a good development in the Calchaquíes Valleys, Catamarca, La Rioja, Mendoza (specially from Maipú to the East) and -most significantly- in San Juan (Tulum Valley). According to data provided by the National Winemaking and Grapegrowing Institute (INV), the total amount of vineyards in the country -as registered up to the 2008 harvest- was 26,194, adding up to 225,846 hectares. These figures indicate a rise by 1.26% compared to the previous year. Within that surface, Syrah was the variety with the highest growth in the past eight years. In 2000, the planted surface amounted to 7,915 and by the end of the 2008 harvest, it had reached up to 12,770, representing a 61% growth in crop investment. This varietal is also a winner when it comes to consumption, if we talk about growth rather than amounts. According to an audit by CCR Group, domestic consumption in the red wine market is growing towards varietals. In terms of volume, Syrah the varietal with the highest growth, which has grown by 121% since 2004; however, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon are still the ones with higher volume and turnover. It is important to notice that this variety is well accepted by consumers in both the domestic and foreign markets. However, for obvious reasons, exports are much lower than those of Malbec. Exports, consumption and planted surface have grown remarkably in the past few years. Nevertheless, the leading Syrah country is Australia, which has a 30-year advantage over Argentina. In spite of this, many winemakers and export managers inquired agreed that Argentina is able to produce a more elegant Syrah style, less voluminous or exuberant that Australia's. Argentina's Syrah exports According to MRT (Market, Research & Technology) consulting company, in the period from January to September 2008, Argentina exported 563,936 cases of bottled Syrah. This represents over 14 million dollars. On the whole, if we compare the same period of 2007, a 6% growth stands out in terms of case amount and a 10% increase in terms of FOB value, while price per case rose by 3%. The Syrah variety is being exported to over 100 countries, with the UK, the US and Canada accounting for almost 60% of exports - 22.8 %, 19.7 % and 14.5%, respectively. Gastón García, from MRT, commented that "despite these percentages, the UK shows a drop by 8.6% and the US a drop by 4% compared to the same period of the previous year, while Brazil (the fifth export destination) declined by 30%. On the other hand, Canada and Holland grew by 87% and 60%, respectively. The growths of Venezuela (245%), Switzerland (113%), China (77%) and Finland (60%) stand out". Syrah in the winery Finca Flichman was one of the pioneers of this variety in Mendoza. Today, its portfolio includes brands that are well positioned in export markets. Adrián Cura, the winery's marketing manager, commented that one of Argentina's first Syrah fine wines was Flichman Syrah de Barrancas in 1947, followed by Caballero de La cepa Syrah in 1957. "We believe that one of our strengths is to be known for our Syrah wines, and this is the result of the strong work carried out by our agronomist focusing on soil, irrigation, and vines and then matched by the job performed by our winemaker, Luis Cabral de Almeida." Manuel González, winemaker of Trivento's premium lines, talked about Argentina's potential with regard to this variety. "In the country, there are currently excellent wines in all price ranges. This variety adapted very well to our land and achieves different characteristics according to soil and climate differences. Personally, I believe that it could be recognized if it conveys the quality of Argentinian winemaking and also as part of Malbec blends." On the same line Daniel Pi, Trapiche's chief winemaker highlighted the popularity level that the wines produced with this variety are having as a result of the quality of Australian wines. "This contributes to people's awareness about Syrah, so they are not afraid to choose this variety. A few years ago, when Argentina was not as known abroad, it was perhaps easier to sell Syrah compared to Malbec. Today, the demand for Argentinian wine is clearly polarized towards the emblematic variety, despite having excellent Syrahs, it will be harder to sell them. It will clearly play a secondary role behind Malbec, but it may hold the third place after Cabernet Sauvignon and even the second place in markets like the UK's." Can Argentina continue positioning itself with this variety? In order to further position this variety, industry representatives agree on the need to invest in research, to define profiles and to work jointly towards a country strategy. They stressed that individual efforts are not enough in such a globalized market, where competitors have been working with Syrah for the past 30 years or longer. Gerardo Danitz, bodega Santiago Graffigna's winemaker, affirmed that one of the ways to position Syrah and other varietals is by catching consumers' attention worldwide. "I believe that we make excellent Syrahs, of great quality, but we have been pigeon-holed under Malbec's influence -I am not saying having an emblem is a problem- so I do not believe that we could sell as much Syrah as Malbec." Alejandro Vigil, Catena Zapata's winemaker, commented that there is still much pending work to be done with regard to Malbec, which opens the door for other varieties. Moreover, he highlighted that "we have great competitors, such as Rhone wines, whose high quality is recognized worldwide, Australian wines in all price categories, American wines with their varied styled, South African and Chilean wines and many others, which means that we are immersed in a competitive international environment." With regard to the position and recognition of Syrah wines around the world, Fabián Miranda, winemaker at Bodegas Callia, said that Argentinian Syrahs are not likely to become trendy because the country will keep being associated with Malbec production, despite having good Syrahs, and because Australia is the leader in this variety. However, he added that "there are excellent areas, such as San Juan and the North of Argentina, where Syrah is able to develop in all of its strength. The wines produced in Argentina with this variety display great diversity of aromatic styles according to their terroir, ripening and winemaking, which could lead to the growth of the variety in terms of both domestic consumption and exports."
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