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 marching through Europe, one of the campaigns he fought was in Egypt.
Everyone knows to the victor go the spoils, so one of his spoils was a local wine called Shiraz.
He liked the wine so much that he took vines back to France to be planted but thought the name was too Arabic, so he changed the name to the more correct French sounding "Syrah"
Here is where the syrah vs shiraz story takes a twist. Remember one of the things your mother told you as a child: What comes round, goes around. Well, she was right.
The ending to this little ditty is that that one or two decades back, our pals the Australians were studying wine techniques in France and thought that 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 believed the name "Syrah" sounded too French so they changed the name back to the Arabic name Shiraz and the rest as they say is history.
So in modern times, though the grape is generally called syrah in Europe and Shiraz everywhere else, it's truly 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 usually be a little drier.
The Shiraz from California or Australia is brash, spicy, dramatic, fantastic wine for seasoned red meat. The spice is what actually stands out here. To the great majority of people the distinctive flavor 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 really distinct wine that people either love or hate. This wine is the spicy hot wings of the wine world! There's actually such an obsessed following for this wine that after you try it you may never go back to other wines!
So enjoy the great debate! syrah vs shiraz!
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 marching through Europe, one of the campaigns he fought was in Egypt.
Everyone knows to the victor go the spoils, so one of his spoils was a local wine called Shiraz.
He liked the wine so much that he took vines back to France to be planted but thought the name was too Arabic, so he changed the name to the more correct French sounding "Syrah"
Here is where the syrah vs shiraz story takes a twist. Remember one of the things your mother told you as a child: What comes round, goes around. Well, she was right.
The ending to this little ditty is that that one or two decades back, our pals the Australians were studying wine techniques in France and thought that 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 believed the name "Syrah" sounded too French so they changed the name back to the Arabic name Shiraz and the rest as they say is history.
So in modern times, though the grape is generally called syrah in Europe and Shiraz everywhere else, it's truly 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 usually be a little drier.
The Shiraz from California or Australia is brash, spicy, dramatic, fantastic wine for seasoned red meat. The spice is what actually stands out here. To the great majority of people the distinctive flavor 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 really distinct wine that people either love or hate. This wine is the spicy hot wings of the wine world! There's actually such an obsessed following for this wine that after you try it you may never go back to other wines!
So enjoy the great debate! syrah vs shiraz!
About the Author:
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.