You say Shiraz, I say Syrah? Same grape or not? OK, you don’t need wine courses to know the difference.
If you thought yes you are right What’s their prize Bob? You mean besides a group of steak knives? OK, no ginzus but what about the remainder of the tale.
In the early 1800′s when Napoleon was gallivanting thru Europe, one of the battles he fought was in Egypt.
We all know to the victor go the rewards so one of his rewards was a local wine called Shiraz.
He was fond of the wine so much that he took vines back to France to be planted but thought the name was too Arabic, so he modified the name to the more proper French sounding “Syrah”
Here’s where the syrah vs shiraz story takes a turn. Remember one of the things your mummy told you as a child: What comes around, goes around. Well, she was right.
The ending to this small ditty is that that a few decades ago, our mates the Australians were studying wine methods in France and thought the syrah grapes had potential in their climate, so they took some vines back home
The vines did very nicely. But a funny thing occurred.
They thought the name “Syrah” sounded too French so they adapted the name back to the Arabic name Shiraz and the rest as they say is history.
So in recent times, although the grape is mostly called syrah in Europe and Shiraz everywhere else, it’s actually the same grape.
The winemaker selects to pronounce it syrah or shiraz based primarily on the how they choose to produce the wine.
The Syrah you get from Europe will often be a little drier.
The Shiraz from California or Australia is bold, spicy, dramatic, great wine for seasoned red meat. The spice is what truly stands out here. To most people the specific flavour is pepper.
So here’s the wine skinny on Shiraz
Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape
Shiraz has a definite pepper flavour
Great wine for foods like steak au poive or in English “pepper steak
This is a distinct wine that people either love or hate. This wine is the spicy hot wings of the wine world! There is such a fanatical following for this wine that when you try it you can never return to other wines!
So enjoy the great debate! syrah vs shiraz!
Mark Adams is a pro winemaker, previous winery owner, writer and frequent speaker on wine. He now teaches wine classes and helps people learn about wine through the US.