Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Syrah? You bet Shiraz!

See, for that to sound right, the way I meant it, it needs to be spoken, or thought, with a long “A” sound. Like “spazz”, “razmatazz”, or “Fran”, like Fran Drescher. In fact, imagine Fran Drescher speaking it. “Syrah? You bet Shiraz!” Good. Now that we’re on the same page, I’ll continue.

This week it’s one of my favorite red wine varietals. To review what we’ve learned from my previous newsletters, Syrah is the same as Shiraz. Shiraz got its name from its original home, the city Shiraz in Persia, which is now modern-day Iran. Knowing that, technically it should be more of a mystery why people call it Syrah. Traditionally, only Australian and African wine growing regions called it Shiraz, but marketing moves in other regions have been capitalizing on the reputation of those regions and using Shiraz on labels instead of Syrah. To make things even more confusing, some of the regions that traditionally use the word Shiraz, now sometimes call it Syrah. If only we could make it a hemispheric thing. North gets Syrah, South gets Shiraz. The only real difference is 7 points in a Scrabble game.

Sometimes you hear people refer to it as “Sheerah”, a blend of the two words, which is entiely wrong and usually only occurs after drinking too much of that “Sheerah”. (She-Ra is the warrior princess counterpart of He-Man. She is not a grape, but may be as strong and full-bodied as some wines I’ve had.)

At any rate, it’s mostly the same juice, grown in differerent regions. Every place has different growing conditions, and every winemaker has a different way of doing things, so not every Syrah/Shiraz (Sheerah) is the same. I’ve thrown together a great cross-section of different Syrahs/Shirazzes from around the world. Ravenswood, an American producer we all know and love, has flown across the ocean to produce an Australian Shiraz that I just had to try (If for nothing else, for the Kangaroos on the label in place of the Ravens.) Also featured are examples of the American wine regions, as well as the traditional French Syrah region Crozes-Hermitage of the Northern Rhone, and the not-so-traditional Spanish Syrah of Mallorca.

Are they all good? You bet Shiraz!

So Friday, June 25th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Sheerah! Warrior Wine Grape of the World!
Ravenswood 2002 Vintner’s Blend Shiraz, Australia
Graffigna 2001 “G” Syrah Don Santiago, Tullum Valley, Argentina
Willow Crest 2001 Syrah, Yakima Valley, Washington
Seven Sinners 2002 Syrah, Incahouts-Paso Robles, California
Jezebel 2002 Syrah, Columbia Valley, Oregon

The Extra-Special Premium Pours:
Finca Son Bordils 2000 Syrah, Mallorca, Spain
Jaboulet 1999 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert, Northern Rhone, France

Next week is Northwest White Wines!
M