Shiraz

Syrah (or Shiraz) noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.

It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.

Explore two very different tasting wines made from the same grape.

Shiraz:South Australia, South Africa
Syrah:Columbia Valley (WA/OR), Sonoma, Paso Robles, and Northern Rhône Syrah.

Syrah and Shiraz might be the same grape, but the wines taste surprisingly different. The contrast comes from stylistic and strategic choices made by the winery, which include both the harvest date and winemaking methods that alter the way the wine tastes. By harvesting later, Shiraz wines have more jammy, blackberry notes. Also, it’s popular to oak Shiraz a little bit more in order to add sweet, smoky tobacco notes. Syrah, on the other hand, is usually picked slightly earlier, giving the wines more tart blueberry or olive notes. Many winemakers use neutral (used) oak to age these wines. The result is still smooth and round, but the profile of Syrah (vs Shiraz) tends to be more savory and herbaceous.