There are many conflicting stories to the actual origin of this grape. In 1996 Carole Meredith’s research group in the Department of Viticulture and Enol­ogy at University of California, Davis used DNA typing and extensive grape reference material from the viticulture research station in Montpellier, France to conclude that Syrah was the offspring of the grape varieties Dureza (fa­ther) and Mondeuse Blanche (mother). Dureza is a dark-skinned grape vari­ety from the Ardèche region in France that has all but disappeared from the vineyards, and the preservation of such varieties is a specialty of Montpellier. Mondeuse Blanche is a white grape variety cultivated in the Savoy region, and still found in very small amounts in that region’s vineyards today.

The wines that made Syrah famous were those from Hermitage, the hill above the town Tain-l’Hermitage in northern Rhône. During the 18th and the first half of the 19th cen­turies, most Hermitage wine that left France did so as a blending component in Bor­deaux wines. This was a time when “clarets” were less powerful than today, and before appellation rules, red wines from warmer regions would be used for improvement of
Bordeaux wines. Top Bordeaux châteaux would use Hermitage to improve their wines, especially in weaker vintages.

Today Shiraz is seen as Australia’s red wine variety. Exported there in 1831, by Scotsman James Busby, who is often called “The Father of Australian viticulture”. He made a trip back to Europe to collect cut­tings from vines (primarily from France and Spain) for introduction to Australia. One of the varieties collected by him was Syrah, although Busby used the two spellings “Scyras” and “Ciras”. The cuttings were planted in the Sydney Botanical Gardens, and in Hunter Valley, and in 1839 brought from Sydney to South Australia. By the 1860s, Syrah was established as an important variety in Australia. The most famous example being Penfold’s Grange created in secret in 1950 by their winemaker Max Schubert wanted to make an Australian Bordeaux style wine.

The beauty of these wines is what you smell is what you taste. The style is power­ful yet well balanced – a characteristic of classic Old World wines.

What’s the difference be­tween an Old World Syrah and a New World Shiraz?
With a Syrah from France’s Rhone, in the glass the colour is a nearly opaque ruby red. It’s generally accepted that on the nose there is the aroma of freshly ground black pepper as well as other spices such as cumin and cardamom combined with earthy perfumes that range from leather to mushroom to wet dirt and rocks. In addition rich fruit flavours of raisin, prune and dried fig. The beauty of these wines is what you smell is what you taste. The style is powerful yet well balanced – a characteristic of classic Old World wines.

In the New World the colour we find the colour is an inky ruby-purple. On the nose the aromas there is a sensation of overripe and wild raspberries and boysenberries and sweet concentrated elements of home made jams. Hav­ing been matured in oak brings a sweet, coconut-vanilla overlay to the fruit making it exotic. The spicy scent of black pepper we found in the old world wines are also found here, but some New World versions show some of the sweeter spice family as well such as cinnamon, clove and spice. Again the aromas flow seamlessly into the taste that’s bold with exotic flavours satu­rated with fruit and oak.
Perhaps the easiest way to explain in general the differences in character of the two styles of wine is to describe them as if they were a Diva; the old world personification would be Edith Piaf while the new world Tina Turner.