Syrah is to shiraz as a violin is to a fiddle
The PourMan
If you’ve ever asked what the difference between a violin and a fiddle is, you may have been subjected to the pithy response: “The way it’s played.”
I guess it’s not an outand-out untruth, but it’s also not the clearest path to the real answer, which is that “violin” and “fiddle” are two names for the same thing: the string instrument thatwas developed in 16thcentury Europe and is played with a bow. Classical musicians usually refer to their instrument as a violin, and most folk players call it a fiddle. But if an Irish or Appalachian fiddle player chooses to call her fiddle a violin, regardless of howshe plays it, she’s not going to be wrong.
In the wineworld, the French grape variety syrah is a violin, and shiraz (as it is known inAustralia and other parts of theNew World) is a fiddle. They are two names for the same grape, of course, a so-called international variety that doeswell in many parts of theworld. Just as Itzhak Perlman plays Bach’s Concerto inDminor on his violin in a different style than LizCarroll plays “The ChicagoReel” on her fiddle, syrah and shiraz can be notably different styles of wine.
Both styles arewelcome, in music aswell as in wine. In fact, I have seen Perlman playing klezmer (another shiraz style of music that features that bowed string instrument), and although it is not the style he is known for, when you’re good, you’re good.
Syrah is good, too, even when it’s shiraz. Eitherway, this is generally a big wine — often much closer to Beethoven’sNinth Symphony than any Baroque concerto or Irish traditional dance tune. In some iterations, you could even think of it as sort of an alternative to cabernet sauvignon. For the most part, the darkskinned grape creates wines that aremedium- to fullbodied, with deep, dark color, grippy tannins and good acidity, especially in OldWorld versions. In warmerNewWorld regions, expect brighter fruit, in some cases to the point of being jammy, with less acidity.
OldWorld syrah and classical violin might present more gravitas to the taster or listener, but in the right hands, shiraz and the spirited, livelier folk fiddle can awaken a soul in a completely different but no less profoundway. And don’t count outAustralian shiraz entirely when it comes to gravitas; some of those wines can be as big and bruising as any other.
Aromas and flavors in these syrah-based wine styles could begin with floral notes and raspberry, along with blackberry, blueberry or other dark fruits, andmove into more savory elements of olive, herbs, tobacco, bacon, roasted meats, leather and smoke, possibly accompanied by some combination of anise, eucalyptus, mint, clove, vanilla, baking spices, chocolate or coffee, plus the grape variety’s signature closer, pepper.
This is not a casual sipper wine. This big red calls out for food partners such as beef, lamb and game, and if that meatwas cooked on the grate and open flames of a grill, all the better. These wines, especially theAussie versions, often do just fine with the smoke and char of succulent, hearty meats.
Scientific research carried out in California and France has concluded that the syrah grape variety— the child of dureza and mondeuse blanche varieties — was born in theRhone Valley of France and not, as previously believed, in the Middle East or on the island of Sicily. (The grapewas thought to have been named for the Persian city of Shiraz or the Sicilian city of Siracusa.)
Northern Rhone syrahbased wines include those fromthe regions ofHermitage, Cote-Rotie, Cornas, Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph. While grenache is the dominant grape variety in the southern Rhone, syrah does make appearances in Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas and Cotes du Rhone wines in varying degrees. Syrah also shows up as a blending grape in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, to thewest of the RhoneValley along the country’s southern coast.
Australia is the place that most visibly refers to the grape as shiraz. It is the country’s most famous red grape variety, and it thrives in both the BarossaValley andMcLarenVale regions around the wine-centric city ofAdelaide in South Australia. Besides its widespread use inAustralian varietal wines, shiraz is also a key player in another famous DownUnder wine style, the blend that goes by the initialsGSM(for grenache, shiraz and mourvedre), drawing inspiration fromthe classic grapes and blends of the RhoneValley. InAustralia, shiraz is also commonly blended with cabernet sauvignon.
In SouthAfrica, where the grape arrived even before it reachedAustralia, both shiraz and syrah monikers end up on labels, and the same is true in other parts of theNewWorld, where the grape thrives— in California andWashington, and in Chile and Argentina, among other places. Winemakers in these locales are free to use either name on their labels, and perhaps in choosing one over another, they are telegraphing to the consumer the style of wine that awaits in the bottle.
Obviously thewords create expectations, just as violins and fiddles do, and once you knowthat you definitely like the sound of that legendary bowed instrument, or the taste of wines composed of that legendary grape variety, you have a lot of lateral roomto explore.
If you like generally big, robust red wines, there is a syrah or a shiraz out there for you. Whether you listen to classical or folk music during dinner is up to you.