Que Sera, Sera

All grapes have a home and native land and Syrah is no exception. There  are many speculations as to where Syrah is from originally, but to me one hypothesis stands out. It is that Syrah, also known as shiraz (see below) is from Shiraz in ancient Persia, ie modern day  Iran. It has been thought that Syrah was introduced from Persia to Marseille by the Phocaeans around 600 BC, or from Persia to the Rhone Valley by the Crusaders between 1095 and 1291. However, the shiraz hypothesis is doubtful, at least, because the crusaders were mainly focussed on the holy land, and did not venture out as far as Persia. Since shiraz is the Australian name for Syrah, some authors even argue that the Australians had maintained the original name while the French had “Frenchified” it.

However, it is hard to argue with science, and genetic testing done in 1998 by UC Davis and the National institute in Montpellier confirmed that Syrah is from the Rhone-Alpes region in France, and more specifically, from Isère. Isère is a French Department just south-east of Lyon. Its capital is Grenoble.

It was discovered that Syrah is a natural crossing between Mondeuse Blanche and Dureza. Mondeuse Blanche is a variety from Savoie, and Dureza is from Ardeche. This natural crossing must have taken place where both were cultivated making it very likely that this took place in Isère.

And so why is it called shiraz?

In 1832 a Scottish man by the name of James Busby, whom many consider to be the godfather of Australian wine, brought with him cuttings of vines called Scyras to Australia. Today, some of the oldest Syrah or Shiraz vines in the world can be found in Barossa Valley Australia.

The name "Shiraz" has been used primarily in Australia in modern times. The name "Scyras" was used to describe the grape in the earliest Australian documents, and "Shiraz" has been speculated to have come about through the "strinization" of the original word, a process of changing vowels as is characteristic of Australian slang. However, while the names "Shiraz" and "Hermitage" gradually replaced "Scyras" in Australia from the mid-19th century, the spelling "Shiraz" has also been documented in British sources back to at least the 1830s. That there was documentation of Shiraz being used in Britain, it only makes sense for a Scottish man like James Busby to bring the word along with it to Australia

So while the name or spelling "Shiraz" may be an effect of the English language on a French name, there is no evidence that it actually originated in Australia, although it was definitely the Australian usage and the Australian wines that made the name popular.

Today, using "Shiraz" as opposed to "Syrah" on wine labels is common among New World winemakers who fashion their wines in the Australian spirit of rich, lush, fruit-forward wines.

Here in Canada, the oldest Syrah vines were planted in British Columbia’s Naramata Bench in 1991 at Nichol Vineyard and the wine is available through their website.

Syrah can have many different guises depending on where it is planted, but it reaches its apogee in the Northern Rhone Valley in villages like Cote Rotie, Cornas and of course, Hermitage.

Wether you prefer the fuller bodied, richer style Shriaz or a more elegant Syrah wines there is a wine for you.

And as Doris Day said, which ever style is in your glass, whatever will be will be!

This was from a talk I did at the Toronto Vintners Club on March 19, 2024. You can read the entire talk here.