Wills Wine Syrah “du Plateau” 2024
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The Land
Syrah in the Rhône is normally discussed in terms of slopes: the terraced hillsides of Côte-Rôtie, the granite wall of Cornas. This wine comes from the other place, the plateau, the flat ground on top of the hills that nobody photographs. Three separate parcels, each at a different altitude with a different exposure, planted on granite and schist. Those are northern Rhône soils, decomposed and sharply draining, and they are what give Syrah its iron and pepper rather than its fruit. The tops of the hills run cooler and windier than the famous slopes below, which is why the finished wine lands at 12% alcohol in a region where 14 is increasingly normal. Old vines, 30 to 60 years, do the rest.
The Wine
100% Syrah from three plateau parcels, harvested across two weeks in late September and early October, vinified separately and blended just before bottling. Everything is fermented 100% whole bunch with spontaneous fermentation, then aged 11 months in old oak of varying sizes, demi-muid and barrique. No filtration. The whole-cluster stems are doing structural work here that the low alcohol would otherwise leave missing, and using only old wood means nothing is added on top. Violet, black olive, cracked pepper, blood orange, smoked meat, and graphite, with taut acidity, fine grippy tannin, and a savory close. Arnold's own read is that it drinks well now and will improve with several years in the cellar, which matches what low-alcohol whole-cluster Syrah usually does.
The People
Will Arnold works parcels scattered from the southern Beaujolais down through the northern Rhône to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, buying from growers he returns to every year so he can learn the sites rather than sample them. The method does not vary much across the range: whole bunches, native yeast, old barrels, no fining, no filtration, low alcohol by design. Several of his wines are declassified to Vin de France for practical reasons, including that his cellar sits outside the Châteauneuf appellation boundary. The labels are casual. The winemaking is not.
Food Pairing
Peppery, low-alcohol Syrah is one of the most useful reds you can have at a table. Grilled lamb with herbs, duck breast with black pepper and cherry, a mushroom and lentil ragù, or grilled eggplant with tapenade and feta. The acidity handles char and smoke, the modest alcohol means it will not amplify chile heat, and the olive and peppercorn character lines up with herb rubs and cured olives. Serve it cool, around 58 to 60 degrees, and decant if you are opening it young.
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The Rhône Valley is a diverse and historic wine region, divided into two distinct areas. The Northern Rhône is the birthplace of Syrah, with steep, terraced vineyards that produce some of the world's most revered wines, such as those from Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. The Southern Rhône is much more expansive, offering a wider range of styles, but typically based around Grenache-based blends, with wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape known for their complexity and power. While the region is celebrated for its reds, it also produces incredible textured whites, and as a whole the region displays the spectrum of French wine and the incredible differences that can come from small geographic changes.
Rhone Valley
Syrah is a dark-skinned grape of French origin, specifically from the Northern Rhône Valley, where it produces some of the world's most powerful and complex wines. Known as Shiraz in Australia, Syrah is capable of displaying a wide range of aromas and flavors. Cool climate Syrahs tend to express floral notes like violets, along with savory elements like olives, while those grown in warmer climates like Australia are more likely to show black pepper and dark fruit notes such as plum. The grape's versatility allows it to adapt to various climates and soil types, but it maintains its unique characteristics no matter where it is planted.
