Explore Oregon Wines: Wineries | Varietals | AVAs | Cellar 503 Selections
Sweet Cheeks Winery Fernandes Syrah
A tale of Two Cities
There are two things “you never forget” about Sweet Cheeks Winery. One being the name, and second being our Founder, Dan. Those who visited the winery from opening day to December 2018 had a likely chance encounter with Dan. He had an unmistakably deep voice, the best for storytelling. Guests would swap fond memories with Dan as his beloved black lab would trot around the patio, saying hello to each table.
In his early elementary years, Dan was in boarding school in Germany and afterwards lived on a military base in Germany with his mother and step-father. He then decided to join the Navy and explore the world. Post-Navy, he found himself in the Los Angeles area. Still fascinated with machinery, he took an apprenticeship with refrigeration.
In the 1960s, Dan was ready for his next adventure. One of Dan’s hobbies was driving around and exploring roads. When he made his way up to Oregon, he took a few turns and found himself on a winding gravel road. Coming out of the tall Douglas Fir trees, he discovered a valley. Nestled away, just minutes from Eugene – he had found himself in the community of Crow. He knew this would be his home.
Over the years, he built friendships that would feel like family – and continued his tinkering with machinery. With a partner, he invented a Fire & Ice Machine – it would help tanks heat and cool with precise temperatures. This machine is ideal for breweries, wineries, or other fermentation or refrigeration needs.
Dan’s father-in-law, Charlie, lived with him at the time. The two of them would sit on their porch, overlooking the valley, and dream of adding on to the vineyard that was started. In the early 1980s, Dan purchased the property and began to plan the vineyard. The plans of planting a vineyard to sell grapes to other wineries quickly turned into a dream to open a tasting room and share this place with others.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Sweet Cheeks Winery, Eugene, Oregon
Fernandes Syrah
Syrah hints at dried apricot on the nose and opens into flavors reminiscent of raspberry pie, nutmeg, and vanilla spice on the finish. Ready to drink now.
The Vineyard
100% Syrah Sourced from our longtime friends and partners, Serra Vineyards in the Applegate Valley AVA and Carpenter Hill Vineyards in the Rogue Valley AVA of Southern Oregon.
The Harvest
Aged in all French oak barrels for 19 months. 16% new oak, 16% 2nd used oak and 68% neutral (hybrid barrels 75% American oak, 25% French oak).
“I use the hybrid barrels because the Syrah does really well with the qualities of an American oak - it adds that touch of vanilla or even a little touch of nuttiness. Using the hybrid barrels allow for 25% French oak influence, and encourages those slight white pepper notes to come out of the Syrah.” - Leo Gabica, Winemaker
The Vintage
Our estate experienced a cool and wet spring which resulted in a late bud break followed by an average bloom and veraison. This was followed by Oregon’s 8th warmest year on record which lead to an extremely bountiful harvest
Back to School
Let's start clearing up any confusion: Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape variety. Except that Syrah is what it is known and called in its place of origin, France, as well as the Old World; while Shiraz is the name given to it in Australia and other New World countries.
According to the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation, Syrah is the world's 6th most planted wine grape variety (4th among reds). Almost every wine-growing country has dedicated some vineyard space to Syrah, from Sicily to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley to Mexico's Baja California .
A study on the origins of Syrah performed in 1998 discovered the grape to be a genetic crossing of the far more obscure varieties Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche. Interestingly subsequent research also revealed Syrah to be a great-great-grandchild of Pinot Noir . In addition, Syrah appears to share a certain but vague genetic relationship to Viognier, with whom Syrah co-habitates in the vineyard slopes of Côte-Rôtie. Viognier might be a grandparent to Syrah, or potentially a half-sibling. Which makes sense as magic happens when they co ferment together
Exactly where Syrah was born is a more complicated question – and one that has given rise to legend. Many believe Syrah to derive from the ancient Persian city of Shiraz – whose name lends itself to the Australian term for the variety. Some further hypothesize that Syrah was first brought from Persia to the Rhône Valley during the Crusades. Others point to the grape Syriaca, described in antiquity by Pliny the Elder, as a possible ancestor to Syrah. Scientific investigation has now proven the Persian and Syrian connections to be doubtful.
Today scientists believe Syrah's true birthplace lies near to where it continues to accomplish its most classic expression: France's Northern Rhône Valley. Here, in the appellations of Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage , as well as Cornas , St. Joseph , and Crozes-Hermitage , Syrah achieves an uncanny ability to illuminate the nuances of place - much in the same vein as the great Pinot Noirs of Burgundy due north (and here in the Willamette valley). France's highest acreage of Syrah, however, comes from its southwesterly Mediterranean corner of Languedoc-Roussillon , cultivating nearly two-thirds of the country's total plantings.
After France, Syrah is most highly cultivated in Australia . Down under, the grape more commonly goes by its alias Shiraz and is found growing all over the country, though most famously in the Barossa Valley , Eden Valley , and McLaren Vale . Shiraz most likely first came this way at the hands of James Busby, the "Father of Australian Viticulture" who collected vine cuttings from France in the early 1830s.
In his 1920 "Notes on a Cellar-Book," British scholar and wine connoisseur George Saintsbury famously described Hermitage as "the manliest French wine I ever drank." Connotations of gender aside, in the 19th Century, merchants would notably blend a bit of Hermitage to Bordeaux wines to add some extra umph and subsequently raise the price. No matter where Syrah is grown, it is celebrated for its sweaty, gamey savory flavors –"bacon drippings" often finds its way in tasting notes – and brooding, muscular structure.
A Cellar 503 selection in September 2024, Back to School Rogue Valley | Syrah
