Syrah du Monde is the world’s top competitions for assessing Syrah and aims to find wines showing the best Syrah varietal character. Organised by the Forum Oenologue, a panel of international judges assessed 384 wines from 23 countries, following strict judging conditions and criteria. In the 2008 awards, the Dignité Syrah 2005 received a silver medal – a stellar accolade for the first ever vintage!

Origins, however humble, can produce great wine – provided you see their potential of course. And that’s just what winemaker Eric Monnin has done with Dignité. When the opportunity arises, he becomes a ‘garagiste’ – a term originally used in reference to a group of innovative winemakers in the Bordeaux region, producing “Vins de garage” (Garage wine). These rebel winemakers would aim to produce reds that are bigger, bolder and fruitier (perhaps more in line with the New World philospohy you might say), but essentially making top quality wine in minute quantities.

Such an opportunity arose in 2006 during a private tasting, when a 2005 Syrah was quietly slipped into the mix. An overwhelmed Eric Monnin was completely blown away by the complexity and potential on offer. He was delighted that the grower, whom he knew very well, wanted to entrust him with its élévage in barrel to realise its full potential. Not unlike a top secret military operation, he nicknamed the wine ‘Top Syrah’, and immediately went to work on taking it to the next level.

Eric lovingly oversaw the evolution of the ‘Syrah Top’ over the next 2+ years. He decided to age a small proportion (20%) in new oak for 20 months, whilst the majority 80% he felt needed older barrels for a shorter time and was therefore aged in 2 year old Allier oak barrels for 12 months. The final assemblage is a micro-cuvée of 12,000 bottles of modern classic – a concentrated and very refined Syrah called Dignité.

Although you wouldn’t be mad for thinking this is from Australia, the Dignité Syrah remains classically French, with these 50 year old Syrah vines producing incredibly low yields and carrying a wonderful expression of terrior.

Keep your eyes out next week for our blog post on the Syrah’s younger sister, and Eric’s astonishing sequel to the Dignité series.

Tasting notes for Dignité Syrah 2005: Rich and powerful, brimming with blueberry, black plum and blackberry fruit flavours. The oak aging adds nuances of cedar spice, coffee and cocoa with a final lick of pepper to the silky smooth tannins.