Why is shiraz wine called shiraz

Shiraz is certainly the most widely planted red grape in Australia. The Shiraz grape was once thought to have originated in Persia, but recent research indicates the grape is a native of the Rhone Valley, in France.

Yes, Shiraz was a city that made wine for centuries—until the revolution. Shiraz is known for its spicy blackberry, plum, and peppery flavors. Often there are additional notes of licorice, bitter chocolate and mocha.

Sirah is more commonly used as the name for the wine of that grape in the United States. That is a wine of a different grape.

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Why is the Syrah grape called Shiraz in Australia? Does it have anything to do with the town of Shiraz in Iran? The first evidence of grape cultivation in Shiraz came around 2, BC, when vines were brought down from the mountains to the plains of south-west Iran, the professor says.

By the 14th Century, Shiraz wine was immortalised in the poetry of Hafez, whose tomb in the city is still venerated today. He attended elaborate banquets and recorded the first European account of what Shiraz wine actually tasted like. But is there a connection between the "dark red wine that smells like musk" immortalised by Hafez, and the Shiraz wine drunk across the world today?

The first stop in my research is one of France's most famous vineyards in the Rhone valley in the south and home to the Syrah vine. According to local legend, the Hermitage vineyard was founded by a 13th Century knight called Gaspard de Sterimberg, who brought back a Persian vine from the Crusades.

The names Syrah and Shiraz are often used interchangeably. Could Syrah be a corruption of Shiraz and prove a Persian connection? The definitive answer came in when DNA testing was carried out on the local vines to pinpoint their origin.

So wherever the name came from, it seems there is no genetic connection between Syrah grapes and the wines of ancient Shiraz. Outside of France, the biggest producer of Syrah in the world is Australia and the wine is always called Shiraz.

His first consignment of vines was labelled "scyras" which many thought was a misspelling of Syrah. But when I re-read his journal, I came across a line which proved he knew about the Hermitage Persian vine legend. At that time European wine-makers sometimes imported wine from Persia to add sweetness and body. So perhaps Busby hoped the ancient name Shiraz would add some Persian mystique and flavour to his New World wine-making endeavour.