TASTING VINDICATES CALIFORNIA SYRAHS.

Byline: - Larry Lipson

The results of a Rhone-style tasting in New York in December pitting New World and Rhone newcomers against each other incurred the wrath of a local wine-tasting group when they read in this column that no California syrahs placed in the top 10.

The group, which calls itself Cheers and meets every Friday at Oliva restaurant in Sherman Oaks, gathered for a protest tasting last week at the Studio City home of attorney Hugh Lipton. There a dozen syrahs or Rhone-style blends, predominantly made with the syrah (or shiraz) grape, were uncorked.

The wines were tasted ``blind,'' meaning the bottles were brown- bagged, and poured in flights of three. They were voted on by up to 13 of the group members and yours truly, with the best of each flight and best of night noted as the winners.

The New York tasting was a mite different in that it poured 10 Rhones from France along with 10 New World wines, the latter bottlings represented by the United States, Australia and Argentina.

The Studio City tasting resulted in a huge surprise.

The lone South African wine, the 2000 Fairview Cyril Back shiraz from the Paarl Valley region, priced at $19.99 a bottle, received 10 votes out of 14 in the third flight and won undisputed wine-of-the-night honors.

I gave it 17.5 points out of 20, describing it in my notes as a very even wine with good follow-through and unquestionably producing the best finish of the evening.

My runners-up for the night, both with 17 points - and both from the Santa Ynez Valley - were the 2002 Jelly Roll syrah ($26.99) in the first threesome of wines, which won that flight, though barely, with six votes, and the 2003 Margerum syrah ($26.99), which came in second in the second flight, also with six votes.

The Jelly Roll nosed out the French 2001 Mas des Aveylans ($11.99), which garnered five votes, and another Rhone, the 2000 Domaine des Amouriers ($29.99) from the Vaucluse area. The latter collected three votes. I noticed a ``slightly musky nose,'' and guessed it as being older than the other two in the flight.

Winner of the second flight was another Californian, the 2002 Kunin syrah ($22.99) from Santa Barbara County. It collected seven votes. Chateau Mourgues du Gres, the 2003 from Costiere de Nines and only $9.99, failed to get a single vote in that flight.

The two remaining wines in the third flight, 2000 Domaine la Soumade ($19.99), a Cotes du Rhone, picked up two votes, as did another Californian, the 2002 Kenneth Crawford syrah ($28.99) from Santa Rita Hills.

All three wines (two French and one Californian) in the last flight, a 2001 Chateau Cesseras ($9.99) from Minervois, the 2001 Domaine des Bosquets ($18.99) in Gigondas and the 2003 Tensley syrah ($32.99) from the Thompson Vineyard in Santa Barbara County, received negative votes, evidently being compared to the excellent South African shiraz tasted previously.

Interestingly, no Australians, nor a single South American placed in the tasting.

The breakdown was six French, five Californians and one South African, with the obvious winner the latter.

But three of the domestic bottlings, all from Southern California, scored well in their flights, with only one French offering in the first flight making a reasonably good showing.

Anyway, cheers to the Cheers group led by Joel Framson for defending their home state.

SIPS & NIBBLES: Popping Corks.com tells us that 72 percent of respondents in a recent survey feel that the country of origin is somewhat to very important to them when they choose wine. ... And for those who want to know more about Chilean wine, Rodrigo Alvarado has authored a new book ``Chilean Wine: The Heritage'' (Wine Appreciation Guild; $29.95) that's set for release March 4. ... They're beaming in Kentucky. The 10 millionth barrel of Jim Beam bourbon was sealed last week by Frederick Booker Noe III, the great-grandson of ol' Jim himself.

Larry Lipson, [phone]

larry.lipson(at)dailynews.com