Que Syrah, Sirah

Syrah, Shiraz, Petite Sirah?

Same, same, but different.

This post comes from my Uncle Tracy—who introduced our family to Silver Oak—decades ago—before it was a household name. Thanks, UT, we owe you one. He thought the Francey Not Fancy community might benefit from a breakdown of these three wines.

So what is the difference between Syrah, Shiraz, and Petite Sirah?

Let’s start with what’s the same:
These are all grapes.
They are all black grapes.
They all make red wine.

Now, the differences:

🍇 Syrah
Syrah comes from the Rhône Valley in France. What are some French wines made with Syrah? In the Northern Rhône: Hermitage, Cornas, Côte-Rôtie, and one of my personal favorites: Saint-Joseph. In the Southern Rhône, Syrah is blended (typically with Grenache and Mourvèdre) to make: Côtes du Rhône, Gigondas, and Châteaneuf-du-Pape. Syrah wines tend to be medium to full bodied with medium acid and medium to high tannins. They often smell and taste like meat or game, dark fruits, and white pepper.

🍇 Shiraz
Shiraz is the same grape as Syrah. It’s just called Shiraz in Australia (and in other New World countries like South Africa). Even though they’re the same grape, Shiraz and Syrah wines can taste very different. Australian Shiraz is often fuller, jammier, and higher in alcohol because of the hotter climate in Australia. It also tends to be more heavily oaked, which is the style in New World countries (like Australia & The U.S.)

🍇 Petite Sirah
Petite Sirah a different grape entirely. But, it’s actually related to Syrah. A French botanist created Petite Sirah by crossing a Syrah grape with a Peloursin. His name was François Durif. Petite Syrah is also called Durif after him. Petite Syrah (Durif) isn’t grown much in France anymore, but is pretty popular in California. It’s often blended with other grapes, like Zinfandel, but it can also stand alone. In Wine Grapes, Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding, and Jose Vouillamoz describe Petite Sirah wines as deeply colored, and full-bodied, with good aging potential. Petite Sirah typically has more tannins than Syrah. It’s dark purple in color, and like Syrah it has dark fruit flavors, and some peppery and earthy notes.

No surprise, it’s often confused with Syrah. They’re related!