Wine Grape Wednesday: Syrah/Shiraz

This isn't really a new feature, just a reflection of a very busy week.  We enjoyed some Syrah wine from Argentina in a soon-to-be disclosed recipe last week, from the Uco Valley in Mendoza.  I really have trouble describing the taste of wine (and honestly, I don't want to) but this was a very nice wine.

History: This red wine grape, Syrah, has enjoyed surging popularity but has certainly been around longer than Australian wines have.  The origin of the grape was in the northern Rhone, possibly as long as 2,000 years ago.  It pretty much stayed obscure and in France until the 18th century, when wines from a hill called Hermitage (named after the hermitage on the top) started attracting international attention for their extreme quality.  Syrah was the primary grape in these wines.  The grape was also brought to Australia in 1831 and whether through bad spelling or what, was eventually morphed into "Shiraz."  The popularity really took off in the 1990's with the introduction of cheap, good Australian wine.  Syrah is now in the top ten of popular grape varietals.  

Worldwide Production: 137,643 hectares.

Growing: Syrah likes hot climates and poor soil, which explains its success in rather arid regions including Argentina, Chile, and Australia.

Harvesting: Most of us have read Grapes of Wrath, and grape harvesting remains fundamentally a work of hard labor.  However, mechanical harvesters have been around since the 1960's, and some countries, like Australia, can't even find enough human labor to do the job, so must use mechanical harvesters.  Even with the softest rubber fingers, these machines don't quite meet the same standards that discerning human pluckers can.

Processing: Close to 100% of syrah grapes are destined for wine.  The most famous blends that include Syrah are Hermitage, Cote-Rotie, and Cornas.  40% of Australia's grape production is Shiraz, mostly destined for single varietal wine.

Health Information: I'm going to defer a discussion of the health benefits of (red) wine for another time.

Sustainability: Remember, wine shipped by boat from Australia or South America is fairly sustainable because of the high efficiency of water traffic.  Plus, this is a grape for the global warming era, given its love of hot climates.  When Napa hits an average temperature of 115 F perhaps Syrah will become the #1 grape in the world!!

Get Some: The inexpensive and really pretty good stuff from Australia (like Yellowtail) is very easy to find.

Relevant Website: Syrah du Monde: A site devoted to finding the best Syrah in the world.  The top two from the contest this year are both from South Africa.

References:
1. Wikipedia
2. Image of Shiraz from Flickr Creative Commons