Is Shiraz/Syrah the next Cab?
“I’m a big fan of Shiraz…great quality and value.” –Francis Ford Coppola
While virtually every wine lover is familiar with Syrah from the Rhone Valley in France and Shiraz [sha-RAZZ] from Australia, I am more and more impressed with the quality of Shiraz/Syrah from areas not traditionally known for this grape, such as Washington and California in the United States as well as Chile and South Africa. It is beginning to look like Shiraz/Syrah might become the new Cabernet Sauvignon; a grape that dominates some regions but also makes good wine almost everywhere it is grown.
For example, legendary Penfolds Grange winemaker John Duval from Australia not only has his own Shiraz/Syrah label Down Under [Entity] but also has projects in Washington State [Sequel] and Chile [Pangea].
In California, the Wine Spectator’s James Laube says that Syrah is proving to be that state’s most versatile grape, with two dominate styles emerging. He says that “one features spicy, peppery, wild berry flavors, with tight tannins and pleasant earthy notes, modeled after the wines of Northern Rhone. The other is a riper, more opulent, berry-centered style, more reminiscent of Aussie Shiraz.”
Speaking of Australian Shiraz, many wine aficionados mistakenly think Australia is a newcomer to the wine production business because their imports to the United States have only exploded since the 1980’s. However, when you visit Australia, you quickly realize that the wine industry there is actually older than in the USA when you see winery cornerstones dated from the 1840’s and 1850’s. In fact, Australia has some of the oldest continuously producing vineyards in the world, some over 100 years old. The reason for these ancient vines is that Australia has been free from phylloxera, the pest that ravaged the vineyards of France and California making it necessary to replant vines in those areas by grafting onto phylloxera-resistant rootstock.
It will be interesting to follow the evolution of Shiraz/Syrah in the many new areas of production and see if it will in fact become the next Cab.
What is the best Shiraz/Syrah that you’ve ever had?
We followed the same format as last time for the tasting. All four of us Wine Peeps got together one afternoon, put all 13 bottles out on the table and tasted them one-by-one, discussing them as we went.
This blog is for busy people who enjoy wine and want to be savvy wine consumers, but who do not have the time or inclination to do the research themselves. We want to be your Wine Peeps. As a regular reader of this blog, we hope that you will learn everything you need to know about selecting, tasting, and enjoying good wine. You’ll be able to impress your friends with your knowledge of wine. 