Tails from the Trellis— Syrah Origin

Hi! Po’Boy Fowler live from the Santa Ynez Valley where all of Slouch Hat Wines grapes are grown. One of the best grown varietals in the Valley, and in Ballard Canyon AVA specifically, is Syrah. I decided to dive into Syrah’s origin story because I’ve overheard a lot of drunken debates about where it originated from, and they can’t all possibly be true! Also, who doesn’t love a good origin story? So, where is it from – Persia? Sicily? France? Read on to find out!

Syrah’s history is heavily debated. For centuries, it has grown very well and made incredible wines in both the Northern and Southern parts of the Rhone Valley of France. In fact, it is one of only 14 grape varieties that are allowed to be blended in the Southern Rhone Valley and the only grape variety allowed to make red wine in the Northern Rhone. Naturally, if something is going well humans feel obligated to create an awesome, marketable origin story for it (e.g., any popular superhero). Fortunately for us, poor 18th century spelling led to multiple theories as to where Syrah originated and fueled over a century long debate.

A Scotsman named James Busby created most of the chaos entirely because of his inept spelling abilities. Busby is responsible for introducing viticulture in Australia, for which he deserves a thank you.

Before heading Down Under, he traveled Europe to study viticulture and collect cuttings for his journey. One of those cuttings was Syrah, which he misspelled in almost every conceivable (and inconceivable) way possible in his journals. Eventually all his misspellings morphed into “Shiraz,” which is why Syrah from Australia is called Shiraz. Yes, they are the same.

The name “Shiraz” along with a few of his other misspelled Syrah variations such as “Scyras” and “Ciras” resulted in over a century of theories about the origination of Syrah. Two major theories prevailed.

The first theory is that it came from the Island of Sicily. More specifically, it is believed to have come from the city of Syracuse in Sicily. A little history and some logic make this a compelling theory. Syracuse sat at the crossroads of empire expansion for millennia and it was the Greeks, and later the Romans, that introduced most grape varieties to French soil. Regardless of whether it came from the Greeks or the Romans, Syracuse looks like a great possibility for the Syrah origin.

The second theory is that Syrah came from a city in Persia, modern-day Iran, called Shiraz. Archeologists discovered six ancient clay jars around Shiraz in the 1960s. One of these jars was determined to have wine residue at the bottom. As it turns out, the Persians were drinking wine nearly 7,000 years ago. We also know the citizens of Shiraz were cultivating grapes around 2,500 BC. Fast forward a couple of millennia to the First Crusade and supposedly a crusader named Gaspard de Stérimberg returned to France with a couple of Persian vine cuttings hidden in his robe. After his return, de Stérimberg became a hermit on a hillside in the Northern Rhone where he lived in peace and grew grapes. Guess what? That hillside became Hermitage, which is one of the most famous appellations in France. Oh, and as earlier mentioned, the Northern Rhone makes only one kind of red wine – Syrah! Shocking!

I won’t give my opinion on how far reaching that theory is, but the story is a little too perfect. Maybe the French just understand the marketing power of a good story.

So, what’s the truth? In 1998, science finally got involved in the debate when a very persistent geneticist named Carole Meredith figured out how to use plant DNA to trace the lineage of grape varietals. Meredith learned that Syrah is the offspring of two obscure grapes, Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche. She then mapped where these two varieties exist and there was only one place where they overlapped – the Northern Rhone. There we have it! Syrah originated from the Northern Rhone where it is still the only red wine made. Clearly, humans did not start ignoring science in 2020, but have been doing it for at least decades. Maybe drunk debating is just fun!

Finally, it turns out James Busby knew the Persian theory about Syrah. That doesn’t excuse his spelling skills, but it is possible that he eventually settled on “Shiraz” to help solidify the theory and provide wonderful marketing material for Australian wine.

Thank you for tuning into this lengthy report! This should end all drunken debate on the subject, but I’m sure it won’t. We sent this newsletter out the day before Thanksgiving, so you and your family won’t have to have a serious debate about Syrah. Instead, you can all focus your efforts on a much less divisive topic, like politics.

Cheers!

Po’Boy Fowler

Chief Field Correspondent

Slouch Hat Wines