The Corkscrew | Syrah: the unsung hero grape of France’s Rhône Valley

It has been a few years since I got excited about syrah (as it tends to be known in the old world), or shiraz (as it’s called in many other countries), but, on my recent travels to Australia, I was inspired by what winemakers are doing with this storied grape.

In France, syrah is the most widely planted red wine grape, with more than 70,000 hec­tares under vine. That might surprise some, considering the fame of other red grape varieties, such as cabernet sauvignon and merlot in Bordeaux, and pinot noir in Burgundy.

Syrah’s natural home is the Rhône Valley, with the Northern Rhône hosting the top appellations. The grape really shines in the appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) areas of Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie and Cornas. These highly regarded crus account for about 5 per cent of wines made in the Rhône Valley.

Depending on the rules specific to each area of the Rhône, syrah can be blended with grenache, mourvèdre and viognier, to name a few. Why viognier? The floral qualities of the white wine grape, with its lush aromas of ripe peaches and apricots, along with honeysuckle blossoms and a mellow acidity, are wonderful at balancing the spicy heat that syrah can attain if the growing season has been warmer than usual.

In the Côte-Rôtie, viognier can be added to syrah at a ratio of one part to four. One of the top drops here is Guigal’s Côte-Rôtie called Brune et Blonde, which is a blend from two vineyards – Côte Brune, which gets lots of sun, and the much smaller Côte Blonde, which is located on the cooler side of the hill.