Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/590181
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m N o v - D e c 2 015 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 2 3 hat's the difference between a case of Syrah and a case of the clap? You can get rid of a case of the clap." So goes a joke that journalists have been stuck on for the past six or seven years. Like most good jokes, it's funny because it's true. Or at least it was for a while. I had dinner with Qupé's Bob Lindquist last month, and I asked him if it's still true that Syrah is hard to sell. He cocked his head slightly and narrowed his eyes before answering: "No, that's not really what I'm seeing." MARKET WATCH TIM TEICHGRAEBER In my little corner of northern California, I see Qupé Syrah on display a lot, often with a glowing review from a store's staff and a price tag of under $20. Qupé's entry- level Syrah is a benchmark California take on the variety, and it's hard to believe that it was ever a tough sell. It was refreshing to hear that there actu- ally is a market for Syrah, a grape that I adore and regard as one of the true greats. The constant drumbeat over the past 10 years has been that nobody wants to drink it, and that's a frustrating thing when you really love the stuff. BEYOND THE NUMBERS While Syrah sales have been lackluster at the gro- c e r y s t o r e l e v e l , s o m e higher-level American pro- ducers have a different per- spective. L i n d q u i s t s e l l s Q u p é w i n e s i n a l l 5 0 s t a t e s . A b o u t 3 0 o f t h o s e a r e "active" markets that order and re-order more than once a year. Qupe produces about 40,000 cases of wine each year, and two-thirds of that is Syrah. Lindquist was one of the very first producers to tackle Syrah in California, and from the beginning Qupé has been devoted to a relatively cool- climate style. To hear Lindquist tell it, Syrah did go through some growing pains, but that's mainly because of general + America's best Syrah pro- ducers see demand for their wines improving. + The difficult stretch for Syrah during the past decade can be attributed to overproduction and a gen- eral economic downturn. + Varied styles of Syrah from France, Australia and the U.S. created some con- sumer confusion, but Ameri- can Syrah appears to be coalescing around a cool- to-moderate climate style. + U.S. consumers are devel- oping an understanding and appreciation of Syrah. As the Syrah varietal brand strengthens, so does market pull-through. AT A GLANCE Syrah Strikes Back Producers say sales are on the upswing Bob Lindquist of Qupé sees Syrah sales rising as the U.S. economy improves.