Shiraz: The Maverick

Learn About Shiraz/Syrah

You go by the alias, Syrah, and are a very berry red wine, Shiraz. In a grand gesture of style you will express layers of sappy fruit with lots of spice, herb and smoke. Supple, you hit hard and detonate on the palate in your ready-to-drink red wine persona. But after some time in the bottle, Shiraz, you are rich, heady and earthy with notes of damp earth, dried fruits and braised meats. You are a cowboy riding off in the sunset after a long day of herding.

To say you are a workhorse, Shiraz, is an understatement and because of this you are subject to over cropping though your vines are not very vigorous. When yields are high you can taste like fusel oil or rubber tires but with low yields you become a rich and syrupy red wine with lots of spicy boysenberry.

You bud late and like to ripen mid season, Shiraz and you have a thick skin and dark almost black berries, which gives way to an equally dark violet red wine, chewy in texture and rich in spice and fruit aromas.

You have become an icon in Australia and prefer warm climates where you grow easily with no fuss. While in France you are known as Syrah and were taken from there to Australia, it is unknown why your name changed to Shiraz where you predominate the landscape.

You were called Shiraz in Persia from the name of the town in which you were discovered and that is probably the only reason the Aussies gave you distinction from your French roots of Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche.

Oxidation can be a problem for you, Shiraz as you prefer long cool fermentations which can often lead to overexposure. Oak aging can help tame your aggressive fruit-forwardness and tannins, of which places you among the four most tannic red wines available commercially.

Varietal Styles

New World
• Jammy
• Vanilla Bean
• Earth, Smoke
• Chocolate
• High Notes

Old World
• Spice, Pepper
• Lavender, Rosemary
• Musk, Game
• Mole Sauce
• Low Notes

Grape Styles
Blackberry | Raspberry | Jam | Rosemary | Anise | Mint | Lavender | Black Olives | Chocolate | Mineral | Tar | Smoke | Leather | Toast | Sweat | Char | Musk | Baked Earth | Game

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