Syrah - Shiraz Wine Tasting

September 7, 2013

Sight, smell, body, taste, aftertaste

Discuss as you like, don’t be shy

Score your wines if you like!

Learn about wine tastings in general • Different types, blinds, varietals, regions, vintages, horizontal, vertical

Provide a brief history of wine • Origin of discovery, appearances in history, archaeological finds

How to taste wines • Sight, smell, taste, body, aftertaste

Cover some general wine terms, information • Vintage, tannin, aromatics, new vs. old world, styles, regions

• labeling, sulfites, common red and white wines, glassware, aging wines

Check out food pairing strategies • Weight matching, contrast vs. compliment, drink what you like!

Not to be confused with Petite Sirah. For the Italian wine grape known as Shiraz White,

see Trebbiano. For the wine produced in Shiraz, Iran, see Shirazi wine.

Syrah or Shiraz is a dark-skinned grape grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine.

Syrah is used as a varietal and is also blended. Following several years of strong planting, Syrah was estimated in 2004 to be the world's 7th most grown grape at 142,600 hectares (352,000 acres).

DNA profiling in 1999 found Syrah to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse blanche.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petite_Sirahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petite_Sirahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebbianohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiraz,_Iranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirazi_winehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirazi_winehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirazi_winehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_winehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varietalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durezahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondeuse_blanchehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondeuse_blanchehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondeuse_blanche

Dureza, a dark-skinned grape variety from the Ardèche region in France, has all but disappeared from the vineyards, and the preservation of such varieties is a speciality of Montpellier.

Mondeuse blanche is a white grape variety cultivated in the Savoy region, and is still found in very small amounts in that region's vineyards today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ard%C3%A8chehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montpellierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy

The grape's many other synonyms are used in various parts of the world, including Antourenein noir, Balsamina, Candive, Entournerein, Hignin noir, Marsanne noir, Schiras, Sirac, Syra, Syrac, Serine, and Sereine.

Durif, or Petite Sirah, is a descendant of Syrah and Peloursin. Regions such as Rutherglen have achieved international regard for their Durif. This varietal is similar to Shiraz, but even more full bodied and tannic because of the smaller, thicker skinned grapes used.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durifhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloursinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherglen,_Victoria

In 1831, the Scotsman James Busby, often called "the Father of Australian viticulture", made a trip back to Europe to collect cuttings from vines (primarily from France and Spain) for introduction to Australia. One of the varieties collected by him was Syrah, although Busby used the two spellings "Scyras" and "Ciras". The cuttings were planted in the Sydney Botanical Gardens, and in Hunter Region, and in 1839 brought from Sydney to South Australia. By the 1860s, Syrah was established as an important variety in Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Busbyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Botanical_Gardenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Botanical_Gardenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Regionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Regionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australia

Syrah grapes are widely used to make a dry red table wine (sometimes marketed with the label "Shiraz"), which can be both varietal or blended. Four main uses can be distinguished:

Varietal Syrah or Shiraz. Of the better-known wines, this is the style of Hermitage in northern Rhône or Australian Shiraz.

Syrah blended with a small amount of Viognier. This is the traditional style of Côte-Rôtie in northern Rhône.

Syrah as a roughly equal blending component for Cabernet Sauvignon. In modern times, this blend originated in Australia, so it is often known as Shiraz-Cabernet.

Syrah as a minor blending component for Grenache and Mourvèdre. This is the traditional style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape of southern Rhône, and this blend is often referred to as GSM in Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitage_AOChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viognierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B4te-R%C3%B4tiehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B4te-R%C3%B4tiehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B4te-R%C3%B4tiehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabernet_Sauvignonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabernet_Sauvignonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenachehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourv%C3%A8drehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teauneuf-du-Pape_AOChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teauneuf-du-Pape_AOChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teauneuf-du-Pape_AOChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teauneuf-du-Pape_AOChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teauneuf-du-Pape_AOChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_(wine)

Hermitage, Cote Rotie

Aussies…

The rest?

Penfold’s Koonunga Hill

Peter Lehmann Clancy’s

D’arenberg Stump Jump

http://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-

content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-

Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdf

http://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdfhttp://www.matthewjukes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Matthew-Jukes-100-Best-2013-14.pdf

App… check the vintage chart…

The older the better?

Research… buy a magazine…

Or get a book from the library…

More $$$ is not always better

Know your store or staff

Experiment… with caution

Look up and buy down.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vintagechart-by-wine-spectator/id381341648

Sourced from 4 stores in Edmonton…

Port from tonight…

Edmonton • Devine Wines – 10111 104 St.

• Grapes and Grains – 2349 111 St.

• Liquor Outlet Heritage – 2148 109 St.

• Vines – 2331 Rabbit Hill Rd.

• Liquor Select, Sunterra, Chateau Louis, Bin 104

http://devinewines.ca/index.htmlhttp://vineswinemerchants.com/

Jean Keetch for convincing me to do this….

My wife Samantha for all kinds of patience….

All of you for coming out to have some fun!

Resources…

http://winetastingguy.weebly.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrah

Please drive safe.

http://winetastingguy.weebly.com/http://winetastingguy.weebly.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrah