Barbecuing? Shiraz is your Mate!

Well, unlike the chicken and egg story, we can confidently say that the grape variety was known as Syrah long before the name Shiraz came along. Syrah can be traced back to the northern Rhône valley, very much its spiritual home, and is thought to date back to sometime during the Roman era. Its popularity has grown enormously over the past 30 years, so much so that it moved into the Top 10 most planted wine grape varieties in the world shortly after the turn of the Millennium.

In the northern Rhône, if you see names like Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie, Crozes-Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Cornas attached to red wines, you’re looking at wines made more or less exclusively from Syrah. I say more or less because the exception here is Hermitage, which often sees a tiny proportion of the white grape Viognier blended in to give a floral lift.

The climate here can reveal extremes in both winter and summer but on the whole, it’s tempered by the consistently brutal Mistral wind which can be a blessing as much as it can be a blight. Why? As well as taking off a few degrees in the middle of a scorching summer, it quickly dries out the vines after heavy rainfall which helps to prevent rot and disease. On the flip-side, if your vines are in any way exposed towards the north, you run the risk of damage when those gusts hit up to 80 mph as is not uncommon.

So now that we associate the name Syrah with more temperate climates, you’ll see examples coming from elsewhere in southern France such as the southern Rhône, Languedoc and Provence regions (all recipients of the effects of the Mistral), as well as elsewhere in Europe, South America, California, New Zealand and most parts of South Africa.

The wines are medium to full-bodied with noticeable tannins, fair acidity, a more restrained fruit structure and a subtle smokiness which becomes more pronounced as the wines age. In hotter vintages, the wines can take on a meatiness too. All these characteristics are ideal for matching up with anything that’s thrown on the BBQ.

The Shiraz moniker stems from Australia and is thought to be an Anglicisation of the old name for the Syrah grape ‘Scyras’, when the first cuttings were brought across in the early 19^th Century by Scotsman James Busby.

First established in the early 1830s in the Hunter region on the edge of Sydney, within a decade, cuttings were introduced to South Australia and quickly established themselves across what is now the Barossa Valley and beyond.

As we know, temperatures here in the summer frequently top 40°C which increases Shiraz’ fruit ripeness and alcohol levels, softens acidity and tannins and adds a distinctive black pepper bite to the finish. Oak barrel ageing can also add vanilla, coconut and tobacco nuances depending on the type of oak used, whether American or French.

Again, these big jammy monsters work brilliantly with Australia’s preferred mode of cooking, “the barbie”, and consequently, Shiraz is the most planted grape variety by a country mile.

You can also find examples of ‘Shiraz’ from the hotter, inland regions of South Africa and parts of southern Spain too.

The answer to this question is ‘yes’ and ‘no’. A lighter weight Shiraz or Syrah, possibly even as part of a blend like a Cotes-du-Rhône or a New World Shiraz Cabernet, will pair with a wider range of ingredients be they meat, fish or vegetables. Whereas a more premium, concentrated style of either will be leaning more towards meat, especially red meat and game, as well as stronger, spicier flavours.

We have a pretty extensive range of wines either made exclusively from Syrah/Shiraz or where it forms a key component in a blend. Please do get in touch if you’d like to know more.