---
title: Syrah/Shiraz
description: Whether it goes by Syrah or Shiraz this grape produces gorgeous spicy and sizzling wines.
---

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# Syrah

Oh that schizophrenic beauty: Are you an understated, earthy gem as in the Rhone or a buxom, blowsy, bodacious babe from down under in the Barossa Valley? Or is your very charm your pygmalion like ability to suit yourself to whatever the terroir needs?

 

Syrah /Shiraz is in fact the same grape, but adopts different monikers depending upon region and style, but they are very much the same grape.

![Syrah-Grapes](https://www.wineforrookies.com/hs-fs/images/Syrah.jpg "Syrah-Grapes")

Viticulture

This bad boy is prone to vigorous growth, with medium size tight bunched berries. It is late to bud, but erly to harvest and needs canopy management to maintain good quality and avoid the pitfall of overripening early. All of the above attributes means thatthe finished wine is oftenhigh alcohol. It thrives in shallow, rocky well drained soils, of either granite or schist

Viniculture

Syrahs can sometimes be made using [Carbonic Maceration](https://www.wineforrookies.com/Wine-101/wine-terminology/#cm), yeah it's not Beaujolais that's weird to us to.   
WInemakers will often use warm fermentation to extract more flavors and color  
Malolactic Fermentation  
Oak aging: adds texture, richness, and toast   
Old World producers use Old French Oak barrels  
New World producers use new French or American oak barrels (or oak chips in the case of value wines) which lend vanilla spice  
Micro-oxygenation: use of tiny amounts of Oxygen during fermentation to speed up softening of tannins.  
 especially in Australia

| Old World | New World |
| --- | --- |
| Northern Rhone: Mono-Varietal Cote Rotie Steep slopes with named vineyards Two soil types: “brune” and “blonde” (clay and limestone) Permissible blending with Viognier Hermitage Granite hill with named vineyards St Joseph Cornas Southern Rhone: Blends of GSM Blended with Grenache & Mouvedre (among others!) Mistral: Wind that blows from the North and Northeast, reaching speeds up to 90 km/hr Allows grapes to retain acidity by cooling vines during growing season and keeping them dry and free of mold |   California (Syrah) Rhone Rangers: growers that believed California was better suited to Rhone than Bordelaise varietals Santa Cruz Santa Barbara Napa Washington Australia (Shiraz) Barossa Valley McClaren Vale Wide variety of styles but the common thread is big ripe fruit S. Africa Stellenbosch Chile Argentina |

 Common Descriptors

Color: Concentrated black-berry red with jumpy purple rim (can look like Cab sometimes, so always check tannins; as Shiraz tannins are always lower)  
Aroma: Black currant, black berry, raspberries, violets, tobacco, tobacco leaf, carnations, leather, wood, smoke, rosemary, meatiness, (S. Rhone) vanilla spice from oak  
Acidity: Medium  
Alcohol: Medium to medium plus  
Tannins: Medium plus  
Flavors: Blackberry, raspberries, black pepper, dark chocolate, sweat, leather, black olives  
“Le garrique” lavender, rosemary, thyme, - dried or fresh, herbs de provence