Alain Graillot Syrocco Syrah

The new vintage of Alain Graillot’s elegant, juicy 2008 Syrocco Syrah from Morocco has just arrived. Graillot is one of the world’s great Syrah producers, arguably the finest in the Rhône’s Crozes-Hermitage appellation, and this is the 2nd vintage of his Moroccan project that we have shipped.

We don’t buy this wine simply because Alain is involved. We ship it for the same reason that we ship any wine; because we think it’s outstanding. We tasted the 2007 release masked, with our wine team, and the general consensus was that it was from the Northern Rhone and that a fair price would be around $50! This is a fascinating red and well worth the $33.30 per bottle (in straight or mixed dozens).

The story has it that Alain Graillot was cycling in Morocco (hence the tandem bike and palm tree on the label) when he stopped off at Domaine des Ouleb Thaleb, 40km inland from the Atlantic Ocean in the lee of the spectacular Middle Atlas Mountains. A conversation with the Domaine’s oenologist, Jacques Poullaine, and a close look at sites in Rommani (pictured here) and Benslimane convinced Graillot of the potential for producing highly elegant Syrah. Et voilà, a... read more