Syrah, Sirah or Shiraz and are all names used for wine made from grapes purported by some to have originated in ancient Shiraz. But, in reality, the grape is French and the name is an Australian affectation.
The grape is called Syrah in the US, France and many countries. In Australia it is called Shiraz, where it is considered the finest red wine grown there. Shiraz is certainly the most widely planted red grape in Australia. Now that Shiraz has become well known and popular, some wineries in the US who are making an “Australian style wine” with this grape are calling their wines Shiraz as well.
The Shiraz grape was once thought to have originated in Persia, but recent research indicates the grape is a native of the Rhone Valley, in France. Yes, Shiraz was a city that made wine for centuries—until the 1979 revolution.
Shiraz is known for its spicy blackberry, plum, and peppery flavors. Often there are additional notes of licorice, bitter chocolate and mocha.
Sirah is more commonly used as the name for the wine of that grape in the United States. But do not confuse Sirah with Petite Sirah, also known as Durif in Australia and France. That is a wine of a different grape.
Dr. Francois Durif was a botanist and vineyardist in the Rhone Valley during the late 1800s and a strong proponent of the fruity quite tannic grape named after him. While bearing characteristics of its cousin sirah or syrah, its popularity was hampered by susceptibility to mould and other vineyard diseases.
Visitors from California’s nascent wine industry brought rootstock back with them and found it successful in their drier hotter vineyards.
Having the appearance of syrah but with smaller berries, they called it petite syrah, later swapping the “y” for “i” for easier distinction.
Australians can lay claim to spreading the use of the name Shiraz for the grape called syrah in France and much of the rest of the world.
As their wine exports grew in the 1980s, Aussies needed to eliminate consumer confusion between their syrah and those of other countries, so they decided on Shiraz as the best option.
