Health and other associated issues - Tips, Information and Guides
Syrah and... the Sex Appeal?
by: David Roberts It is a well established standard practice to apply all sorts of
descriptors wine that go well beyond simply describing the taste, aroma, and
texture. Indeed it has become somewhat of a tradition to characterize wines with
such adjectives as bold, timid, dramatic, subdued, flagrant, and so on. So much
so, in fact, that to the novice many adjectives may seem to say a little too
much about a wine and even come off as downright humorous. Are critics in earnest when they use these expressions? Doubtless there
are some charlatans out there in the wine community who use colorful
descriptions of wines to conceal their own lack of knowledge, but in general,
the more one tastes wine, the more one begins to understand how some of these
words actually might apply. In that case, how far does it go? Can a wine be tragic? Angry? Maybe
that's too far. What about sexy? Some people certainly think so. The Syrah grape
(also known as Shiraz) for one produces deep, intense wines that are often
referred to as such. So what makes them “sexy?†Put briefly, it is probably the
combination of darkness and intensity that earns Syrahs that moniker, but
perhaps a closer look at the more concrete attributes of the Syrah grape and the
wines it produces will give readers a better picture. Full, rich, intense and spicy are all adjectives you may find used to
describe these long-lived wines, but of course nothing but your own palette can
really inform you about the character of a wine beyond the most basic
descriptions. They are usually dark with a slightly higher than average alcohol
level and an aroma that can be best characterized as spicy. Syrahs can be relatively straightforward, but more often lean towards a
complexity of flavor. Part of this is due to the capacity to blend well with
other grapes, the resulting wines running the gamut from spicy to fruity to
smoky. Like most popular varieties of grapes, Syrahs can be found in one form or
another almost anywhere the climate is amenable to vineyards (including South
Africa and most of southern Europe), but France (where the grape originated) is
far and away the largest producer, making roughly fifty percent of all Syrah in
the world. A close second is Australia, where the grape is known as Shiraz or
less often as Hermitage. Not to be outdone, California is the world's third
largest supplier and is fast growing. Together, these three regions make up the vast majority of Syrah
production, and each region has its own characteristic tendencies. French Syrahs
are considered to be the classic incarnation and are said to pair better with
foods than their Australian and Californian counterparts, which stand better on
their own. Australian Shiraz is often blended wine, generally with Cabernet, and
Californian varieties are perhaps the spiciest of the three main producers. When picking a Syrah for yourself, keep in mind that as with most wines,
the designation of a specific subregion usually denotes higher quality than a
broad region. A wine labeled simply “Australian†Shiraz is likely
not to be quite as good as the one that identifies a particular region,
vineyard, and winery. Also, although the big three producers mentioned earlier
make many excellent examples of Syrah, don't be afraid to try other regions
– variety is a good thing. So no matter what you find Syrah to be, sexy or otherwise, we hope this
brief survey has been enlightening. Remember: keep trying new things and
expanding that palette.
About The Author
David Roberts is a writer for the online wine resource
www.savoreachglass.com where he considers is his holy mission to
spread the good word about grapes. |
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