Glassware

A glass determines which part of a wine reaches you first, and with Syrah from San Juan, there's a lot at stake. The reason lies in the aroma. Black pepper sits in light, volatile molecules that simply escape from the wrong glass before you even bring your nose to it.

Too narrow, and alcohol crowds out the fruit. At the fifteen percent ABV a sun-drenched Syrah from the Valle de Tulum can reach, that's a real risk. Too wide, and the pepper dissipates before it reaches the nose. The middle ground is a glass with a broad, tall bowl and an opening that narrows noticeably, similar to glasses used for Syrah from the Rhône, just with a bit more volume to handle the vintage's warmth.

Temperature makes more of a difference with this variety than with most others. Sixteen degrees Celsius is enough for a young Syrah from Tulum. A denser Pedernal Syrah, with its higher acidity, can happily be served at seventeen to eighteen degrees. Any warmer, and the fruit quickly turns jammy, with alcohol drowning out the pepper entirely.

A young, powerful Syrah from the foothills benefits from half an hour in a decanter, since the dense fruit otherwise stays closed. A lighter Bonarda or a blend from the Tulum valley doesn't need this. It's approachable from the start and tends to lose freshness rather than gain complexity from extra air.

Even the pour follows a simple rule: fill to the widest point of the bowl, no higher. Above that, space remains where pepper and fruit can gather before reaching the nose.