Whether you call it Syrah or Shiraz, the grape variety is the same but the style of wine in the glass might be a little different.
South Australia and South Africa, Rhône and The Rocks AVA in Walla Walla Valley: one red grape rules supreme.
Whether labelled Syrah or Shiraz, the wine inside the bottle is from the same grape. The styles, however, may be quite different.
Syrah and Shiraz: the different styles
France’s Northern Rhône is the spiritual home of Syrah, from Côte-Rôtie through St-Joseph, Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage and down to Cornas.
As a general rule, wines from elsewhere in the world labelled as Syrah will follow this Northern Rhône style. Think fine-grained tannins, higher acidity and a lean fruit profile with moderate body and alcohol. And, if matured in oak, that oak will be French.
South Australia, meanwhile – particularly in the Barossa and McLaren Vale – is the home of Shiraz, which was how the Syrah grape became known Down Under.
Many countries use the Shiraz name for wines that share that traditional Aussie style. This is generally richer and ripe-fruited, and fuller in both body and alcohol. Maturation is often in American oak.
Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 18 great examples of Syrah and Shiraz wines around the world
These distinct styles first emerged as a natural consequence of the different growing conditions and climates (ie, the grapes in South Australia getting more baked from the sun and reaching higher potential alcohol than their Rhône counterparts). But winemaking decisions also influence the style of wine.
This is why producers in South Australia and beyond – particularly South America, South Africa, the US, Canada and even southern France – might choose to call a wine Syrah or Shiraz to easily denote its style.
Whatever the style, this grape can produce wines of great elegance that age beautifully. Some of its distinct characteristics are intense black fruit, savoury tapenade and distinct pepper spice, and medium to high tannins. There are often herbal liquorice notes as well as a violet lift.
Syrah/Shiraz is shown to contain more of a compound called rotundone, responsible for peppery aromas in wine.
The grape’s birthplace
The origins of Syrah were once a matter of much debate, many speculating it might hail from Syracuse in Sicily, ancient Persia (the city of Shiraz in ancient Persia, modern-day Iran, being the reason for its Australian name) or descend from an ancient Rhône variety known to produce fine wine in Roman times.
But in 1998 DNA profiling confirmed the variety’s parents as the white grape Mondeuse Blanche and the black-skinned Dureza. These rare varieties are local to the Rhône-Alpes region of France.
Studies also show that, with great probability, Pinot Noir is a great-grandparent of Syrah, and both Viognier and Mondeuse Noire seem to be closely related to Syrah, too.
Some northern Rhône growers distinguish between a small-berried, more concentrated version of Syrah, which they call Petite Syrah, and the larger-berried Grosse Syrah. Most ampelographers reject this distinction.
Petite Sirah (spelled with an i, not a y), on the other hand, is a crossing of Syrah with the obscure Rhône-Alpes grape Peloursin and popular in California for its robust, tannic, earthy nature. Petite Sirah is also known as Durif, notably in Australia.
France – home of Syrah
Until the 1970s, French Syrah plantings were mostly concentrated in and around the vineyards of the Rhône Valley. Since then, however, Syrah has had an extraordinary surge in popularity throughout southern France, particularly in Languedoc-Roussillon, and it now is the country’s third most planted red wine.
Syrah is the queen grape of the Northern Rhône where it makes the muscular, deep-coloured, ageworthy, savoury and peppery wines of Hermitage. In Côte-Rôtie it makes more perfumed, slightly floral and refined wines, namely when co-fermented with a small percentage of…
Source : https://www.decanter.com.master.public.keystone-prod-eks-euw1.futureplc.engineering/learn/syrah-shiraz-difference-51740/
