Syrah and Shiraz are interchangeable names for the same grape variety, with Syrah being more commonly used in the US and France, and Shiraz in the rest of the world. Syrah was once considered an under-par grape but is now a popular red variety grown all over the world, producing full-bodied wines with mineral flavors and a dry finish.
Perhaps no other grape variety uses two names quite as interchangeable as Syrah, called Shiraz in many countries. It’s not unusual for two wineries in the same district to use different terms – or in some cases, for the same winery to label one wine a Syrah and another a Shiraz. In general, the term Syrah is used in the United States and France, and Shiraz is more widely used in the rest of the world. Some vintners choose to use the term Syrah to refer to smoother wines made from the Syrah grape and Shiraz for wines that are somewhat fresher.
In the past, Syrah was considered an under-par grape variety, with many vineyards in California and Australia uprooting thousands of acres of grapes. In Australia, many of these old vines date back to the early 19th century when the vine was imported from the Rhone Valley in France. By the mid-1980s, Syrah’s value began to be recognized by a number of major winemakers, and quality vines became a prized commodity. These days, Syrah is grown all over the world, easily making it a list of the ten most popular red varieties. While Australia and California have the largest producers and markets for Syrah, older vineyards in Spain, Portugal, Italy and France also produce respected wines from this grape, and a number of vineyards in Chile and South Africa have exciting Syrah wines. and daring.
Syrah creates a very dark wine with a very full and robust body. Syrah is one of the hotter wines, particularly when produced in more temperate environments such as the Rhone Valley or Northern California. At their best, these types of Syrah feature the quintessential black pepper flavor favored by many consumers.
Syrahs from warmer environments – Australia and Africa, for example – tend to feature less of this spice and are generally much higher in tannin than their more delicate cousins. At the same time, these Syrahs are generally much sweeter than their colder climate cousins. Rarely, however, is Syrah a particularly fruity wine, which is one reason some drinkers find it less appealing than Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. Syrah is marked much more by its varied mineral flavors and a drier finish than most.
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