“I’m a Pinot Noir winemaker, but my inner beast has always been Syrah,” says Josh Bergström, owner, CEO, and director of winemaking at Oregon’s Gargantua and Bergström Wines.
Gargantua is Bergström’s Syrah-dedicated project. The project came from humble beginnings.
“I always wanted to make Syrah”
A Portland native, Bergström’s inner beast was first awakened studying abroad during college. He lived in Lyon, France, with the Rhône Valley to the south and Beaujolais and Burgundy to the north. Bergström was able to enjoy the bounty of both regions, including Syrah, Gamay, Aligoté, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay.
“I met all of these varietals for the first time, tasted them all, loved them all,” he says. Bergström subsequently moved to Beaune in Burgundy to study making Pinot Noir. However, his interest in Syrah remained.
“I always wanted to make Syrah as I became a winemaker,” Bergström says. “Syrah is one of the wines that I personally taste and drink and enjoy more than any other varietal in the world.”
After starting Bergström Wines with his father and mother, John and Karen, in 1999, Bergström made Syrah at the winery in 2001 and 2002 using fruit from Paso Robles, California. However, it was quickly clear that doing so was problematic for the Pinot Noir-focused winery.
Pinot Noir producers are always rumored to be blending Syrah with their Pinot to darken its notoriously light color. Bergström didn’t want any such confusion with his customers, so he locked the beast away.
“I didn’t touch [Syrah] again for more than 11 years,” Bergström says.
“The Oregon Syrah…was unique”
After this long pause, Bergström decided to rejoin working with Syrah. He took an unusual approach to help inform his direction and style.
For a full year, Bergström dedicated himself to tasting Syrah from around the world. (NB: Bergström did the same before making the winery’s Sigrid Chardonnay.) What he discovered surprised him.
“I was expecting that my conclusion would be that, well the Northern Rhône is king,” Bergström says. “Although those are great wines, I was actually blown away at how many west coast Syrahs were of equal quality if not slightly better.”
This revelation made him decide to focus on west coast Syrah with his new project. Bergström started out in 2013 using fruit from California and Oregon. He subsequently added Washington. However, taking the wines into the market, the response to one wine in particular stood out.
“People kept coming back to the Oregon Syrah because it was unique,” Bergström says. “They didn’t know anything about Oregon Syrah.” He subsequently decided to focus exclusively on Oregon Syrah going forward.
“It’s very difficult to make wine from afar”
For the wine, Bergström draws from diverse vineyard sources. Fruit comes from the Columbia Gorge, Willamette Valley, Rogue Valley, Umpqua Valley, and Applegate Valley appellations.
“We found that aromatics out of the Willamette Valley were spectacular, but I couldn’t get alcohols above 11%,” Bergström says. “So we needed Southern Oregon to bring in the body and then the Gorge to bring in the beauty.”
The specific composition of the wine varies with the vintage. “We never know each year what the final blend is going to be,” Bergström says. “All those sites that are picked separately, fermented separately, aged separately, and then we’re putting the best wine together to really capture a full state view.”
While this provides a pan-Oregon look at Syrah, there are challenges with the approach compared to Bergström’s work with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The appellations and vineyards he sources Syrah from are physically distant from each other.
“It’s very difficult to make wine from afar,” Bergström says. “I’m in the vineyards 300 days a year, and, doing that, I can see what’s happening and we can make real-time decisions.”
“One plus one equals three”
Bergström has a strong view on how best to make a Syrah that represents Oregon. He is looking to craft a wine that brings aromas and flavors of pepper, game, herb, saline, garrigue, and grilled meat. To get there, he uses whole cluster fruit, stems and all.
“For me, whole cluster wines have that one plus one equals three equation,” Bergström says. “There’s just more magic. There’s more completeness of expression.”
Bergström also eschews the use of new oak when aging the wine. “New oak is the enemy of food,” Bergström says. “Clovey, spicy, oak toast just numbs the tongue to receiving flavors for food. We are trying to make wines that people drink at a restaurant or drink with food that they’re making at home.”
During the time that Bergström spent away from making Syrah, his wine style changed. His Pinot Noirs went from a dense, tannic, riper style to more delicate, acid-driven wines. This change surely informs Bergström’s Syrah. The wines are fresh and vibrant, humming with liveliness.
“It’s Oregonian”
Of course, Oregon in general and Willamette Valley in particular are known worldwide for Pinot Noir. That is unlikely to change any time soon. Pinot Noir makes up 59% of the state’s plantings. Syrah is only 4%. Still, Bergström believes in Syrah’s potential.
“The same things that make Pinot Noir here famous will also work for Syrah,” he says. “I think Oregon Syrah has a fantastic future.”
Across varieties, wines from Willamette Valley in particular lead with natural acidity and brightness of fruit expression. This shows in Bergström’s Syrah. Still, Oregon Syrah is an unknown quantity. That has pluses and minuses.
Tasting his Syrah with sommeliers and critics, Bergström says they are often uncertain where to place the wine. While that might be confusing to the taster, Bergström sees it as a good thing.
“It’s Oregonian,” he says. “Oregon Syrah is just as valid as any wine that comes out of New Zealand or Australia or the Rhône or California if it is made correctly with the intention of making a wine in that style.”
“A peasant wine”
When Bergström rejoined making Syrah, he knew that the wine needed its own label. He named the brand Gargantua.
The name comes from the novel Gargantua and Pantagruel by the French Renaissance writer François Rabelais. The two characters were hedonistic giants in stories intended as satire and social commentary. In this way, the name seems apt, as it is a contradiction for Bergström’s wine.
“Gargantua, that word speaks of enormity, but we’re actually trying to make very balanced Syrah, very elegant wine,” Bergström says.
The label image shows a painting of a man. His shadow is a beast. “I’m a Pinot Noir winemaker whose shadow is Syrah,” Bergström explains.
Production of the Gargantua Syrah is small, less than 1,000 cases. Still, like other west coast Syrah producers, Bergström says selling the wine can, at times, be challenging, despite the high quality.
The irony of that is not lost on a Pinot Noir producer. Bergström fell in love with wine at the intersection between the Rhône Valley and Burgundy. The two regions have, however, had very different trajectories. Top-end Burgundy costs stratospheric prices and flies off the shelf. Comparable Rhône wines, meanwhile, can provide exceptional value and often move more slowly.
“There’s always been this aristocratic/peasant mentality,” Bergström says of the two regions. “The Rhône wines were for peasants. Burgundy was for the aristocracy or the nobility or the kings etc.”
However, Bergström sees this perception as an opportunity for Syrah. “If it’s a peasant wine, let’s drink it daily.”
Images courtesy of Bergström Wines. Recent Gargantua wines are in the wine review database.
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Josh is one of the good guys.
So many appellations in Oregon are capable of producing top-notch Syrah. I’m fine with keeping it as “our little secret”, but I’m absolutely certain it won’t stay that way. Great article.