The many faces of shiraz

"dry port tasting of crushed ants"

I can't remember why now, but in my Italian class yesterday shiraz was mentioned - as was syrah, and I think somebody said they were two different grapes, which I thought was incorrect and swore to myself to look up. I didn't argue because it was said in such an authoritative tone. To be fair though it may have been the other way round - that somebody said they were the same. But I don't think I would have disagreed with that, and therefore would not have been looking anything up.

Anyway for whatever reason, here I am investigating shiraz - Australia's favourite wine grape - far and away the most planted - well ahead of cabernet sauvignon, almost twice as much in fact, and also planted in many different regions. And yes I am right, Syrah is exactly the same grape and is the name usually given to it around the world. It's only the Australians, South Africans and Canadians who call it Shiraz. Syrah is the same grape, but here in Australia the name is increasingly being used to denote a different style of Shiraz - amore French style in fact. In France the Syrah grape is grown in the Hermitage area of the northern Rhone and the nearby region of Côte Roti.

Worldwide Syrah as it is most commonly known is the 6th most planted wine grape. The top one being Cabernet Sauvignon and the others as follows:

1. Cabernet Sauvignon, 840,000 acres (340,000 hectares)

2. Merlot, 657,300 acres (266,000 hectares)

3. Tempranillo, 570,800 acres (231,000 hectares)

4. Airén, 538 700 acres (218 000 hectares)

5. Chardonnay, 518,900 acres (211,000 hectares)

6. Syrah, 470 000 acres (190,000 hectares)

7. Grenache Noir, 402,780 acres (163,000 hectares)

8. Sauvignon Blanc, 299 000 acres (121,000 hectares)

9. Pinot Noir, 285,000 acres (115,000 hectares)

10. Trebbiano Toscano / Ugni Blanc, 274,300 acres (111,000 hectares)

Forbes Magazine

Airén, which we don't know at all here is a Spanish grape.

So where to begin? Maybe at the beginning.

I believe it used to be thought that it was called shiraz because it was named after the beautiful Iranian town of Shiraz, from where it was said the wine originated, back in very ancient times. Apparently not so.

Shiraz in ancient Persia was indeed famous for its wine and the legends say that the grape was exported to France. The first version has the Phocaeans bringing the grape to their colony in what is now Marseilles around 600BC. The problem with this is that the grape disappeared from that area and the Phocaeans never colonised the northern Rhône, so how did it get there? Actually to my mind this is a bit of a feeble reason for it not being true. The second version has a crusader, otherwise described as a hermit, Gaspard de Stérimberg bringing it to the Rhône where he built a chapel on a hill in a spot which was then named Hermitage. But this also is doubtful - for a start he is highly unlikely to have made it into Persia. The crusades were centred on the Holy Land after all, These versions of the legend that I found also said that the Shiraz wine was white and therefore unlikely to have been made from a dark skinned grape. Mind you that lovely picture of a Persian banquet seems to have red wine on the table, not white.

The real proof is that in recent times these legends have been disproved by DNA testing of the grape. And this testing shows that the grape is a hybrid of two French grapes, Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche - a white grape. Dureza has since disappeared, except in collectors labs, and Mondeuse Blanche is also disappearing. A tiny amount (a few acres) is grown in the Savoie region of France, but that's it. It is also not known when the cross pollination occurred, but everyone now seems to be pretty sure that it has its origins in the northern Rhône region of France. South of Burgundy.

There is also Petite Shiraz which I shall come to eventually. But that's a different grape.

As to the difference in name well we think this goes back to scotsman James Busby, and said to be the father of the Australian wine industry, who brought the grape to Australia in 1832. He called it, 'scyras' or 'ciras'. It is now thought that the name shiraz is an Australianisation of one or other or both of these two words. Which definitely makes sense.

In France it is certainly true that the wine made from syrah is grown around Hermitage where Gaspard de Stérimberg built his chapel and hermitage. A beautiful spot as you can see from this photograph and such a tiny chapel to inspire such a heritage. A good spot in which to be a hermit though.

The French, of course, do not put the grape types on the label - you're just supposed to know that Hermitage, Côte Rotie and Crozes Hermitage are made from the syrah grape.

Syrah is also used in blended wines such as Côtes du Rhône and these days I believe a lot of the old vines that were used to produce vin ordinaire in the Languedoc region of France have been uprooted and replaced with Syrah. It is often said that this is because they have noticed the success of Australian shiraz and also that their climate is very similar. It is also said that many Australian winemakers have been helping with this transformation, but this may just be a bit of Australian wishful thinking,

Initially, and I remember this, the Australian shiraz wines were called 'hermitage' - hence the name Grange Hermitage, which has somehow been allowed to remain. Because, the French started to get shirty about the widespread use of their wine region names by upstart new world growers, 'hermitage' as a name disappeared, except from the aforesaid Grange - now often just called Grange I have to say - to be replaced by 'shiraz'.

The late Max Schubert produced the first Grange Hermitage back in 1951 but it wasn't until the following year that it was produced commercially. However, it was not well received - that quote at the top of the page is an example of the reaction and so Schubert was forbidden to work on it. However, he did so in secret and as these wines aged the true glory of the wine was discovered and the rest is history. The latest vintage I could find at Dan Murphy's is 2014 and costs $752.00. We used to have three bottles of a 1970 something vintage that I had bought at a bargain price in the supermarket, and in recent times my husband sold them at auction for a few hundred dollars I think. He would have got more if he had allowed the Grange clinic people to taste it to see if it had gone off. If it hadn't it would have been topped up and sold at a much higher price. If gone off - well that was it, so he declined the testing. Personally I think it is sad that we didn't taste it ourselves. I mean why have some Grange Hermitage if you're not going to drink it? I'll probably never taste a Grange now.

There seems to be a prime competition for world Syrah wines - The Global Syrah Masters and in 2017, six out of the ten masters awards went to Australian wines - with these words from one of the judges.

"The excitement in 2017 were the Australian Shiraz wines. It is superb that the Aussies are keeping all that lovely blueberry, blackfruit and black pepper, but toning down the high alcohol and the American vanilla and chocolate oak. Elegance seems to be on the rise with delicious freshness and supple tannins in exquisite balance with concentrated flavour. Alcohol levels also seem to be a little lower and in balance with fruit, oak and structure. Yummy, whether Barossa, Mclaren Vale or elsewhere in Australia." Patricia Stefanowicz

Another judge (Patrick Schmitt), said this: "a pure expression of great Australian Shiraz in all its juicy, spicy and textured glory", although I confess that I don't know which wine he was referring to now. The 2017 Australian Masters wines were:

Langmeil Valley Floor Shiraz 2014 (Barossa)

Wakefield/Taylors Wines St Andrews Shiraz 2015 (Clare Valley)

Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz 2013

Kalleske Johann Georg Shiraz 2015 (Barossa Valley)

Chateau Tanunda 50 Year Old Vines Shiraz 2014 (Barossa)

Sons of Eden Remus Eden Valley Shiraz 2014 (Eden Valley)

So no Grange Hermitage but a St Henri.

In 2018 there was not quite as good a showing but still dominant.

Hayes Family Wines Vineyard Series Ebenezer Shiraz 2016

Savitas Reserve Shiraz 2015

Levantine Hill Melissa’s Paddock Syrah 2015

Jackson Family Hickinbotham Brooks Road 2015

Kalleskie Wines Moppa Shiraz 2017

"Australia has regained its pride in what is the country's most planted wine grape variety, which can taste of baked pencils in the Hunter Valley, cough syrup in the Barossa Valley (arguably its spiritual home), chocolate in McLaren Vale and black pepper in cooler parts of Victoria and New South Wales." The Guardian

Australian shiraz has long been derided for it's oomph for lack of a better word. It tended to be high in alcohol and a bit over the top. Very in your face. Wikipedia describes it thus:

"In hot climates, Syrah is more consistently full-bodied with softer tannin, jammier fruit and spice notes of licorice, anise and earthy leather."

Words such as elegant and refined are often used for the French versions. So it is interesting to note that some Australian winemakers are now referring to their shiraz as Syrah when they make it in a more French like style. They are also, increasingly, blending with a very small amount of Viognier, so small (5%) sometimes that it isn't declared, but these days it is increasingly being marketed as a Shiraz Viognier blend.

Another shiraz thing that is uniquely Australian is sparkling shiraz, which the literature seems to think is a popular Christmas drink. Personally I think a sparkling red wine is completely wrong. Bubbly should be light and sparkling shiraz is not. But I won't deny its popularity. It was apparently invented here way back in 1881 by the Victorian Wine Company and a French winemaker, Auguste d'Argent but it was not a success and was redeveloped by another Frenchman Edmond Mazure in SA. Seppelts claim to be the first, or among the first, in 1893. Here's their description of their version:

"A wine of glorious complexity and timelessness, sparkling Shiraz offers a rich and sumptuous style; exploding on the palate, with generous plum and savoury spice flavours, and indulge."

As far as I know, nobody but the Australians make a sparkling shiraz, indeed a sparkling red wine. Maybe, like me, they all think it's the wrong thing to do. But then again it seems to be the French who actually developed it, albeit here in Australia.

"(It is) a prejudice born from being used to champagne, which is predominantly white and occasionally pink, but never red. The most negative knee-jerk reaction to the sight of a frothing opaque-purple wine comes from European consumers and, ironically, the more experienced and knowledgeable the wine drinker, the more he or she is inclined to ridicule the product." Tom Stevenson

It wasn't all that popular until recent times. Nowadays it is often seen at parties - even as a more sophisticated drink than ordinary bubbly. But then again let's not forget the rise of Prosecco.

And my final shiraz fact. Many of the original European vines have died through disease, leaving the Turkey Flat vineyard in Tanunda as the oldest commercially producing shiraz vines in the world.

And Syrah has left another legacy - durif. A grape known as petite shiraz in France, which is a descendant of Syrah and Peloursin. It is a created grape - from experiments at the University of Montpellier, which seems to be one of the specialised institutions exploring vines. It's called after its maker, a nursery man called Durif who was looking for a grape resistant to downy mildew. And once again it is the Australians who have taken it to its heart. Not the French. There are only token plantings there. But durif is increasingly popular here. Apparently it is almost black in colour. Even more masculine, if that's the right word, than shiraz. Let's face it, Australians are blokey and these two reds are definitely blokey. They go with barbecues too.

POSTSCRIPT

It was pointed out to me that Grange Hermitage is a blend. And yes indeed it is. Small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon are sometimes blended with the shiraz. But the bulk of the blending is of shiraz from several different vineyards - not always the same ones.