Eight fabulous syrah wines from France and Australia

Syrah is one of the most ubiquitous of red grapes – grown relatively easily in warmer and Mediterranean climate-style regions around the globe, it is a reliable deliverer of dark, rich wines, mostly medium to full bodied and mostly powerful, with characteristically forward flavours of blackberries, liquorice, black pepper and mint. While well-made syrah can be drunk with a couple of years of ageing, poorly made, cheaper young wines can be harsh and lacking subtlety. However, its normally high tannins allow long ageing in which the flavours develop both complexity and mellowness, and it is these wines that can often attract very steep prices. Syrah is equally at home as part of a blend, adding complexity, spice and structure. A great winter warmer wine in any role, it is a lovely match for big casseroles and roast meats that we need now to keep out the cold.  

There are two countries where syrah is most grown, both of which produce those blends and the big, long-lasting wines: France and Australia. It has been established as recently as 1999 that the grape originated in ancient times in the Rhone Valley in France as a cross between two obscure local varieties – dureza, which has now largely disappeared, and mondeuse blanche, still cultivated in small quantities in the Savoy region. It is in the northern Rhone that syrah first achieved a fame which continues with the great wines of Hermitage, Cornas and Cote Rotie.  

For textbook examples of northern Rhone syrah, seek out the wines of one of the great producers Michel Chapoutier, who makes a wide range of excellent biodynamic wines. The fabulous Chapoutier Sicamor Crozes-Hermitage 2017/2018 (£29.50, oldbridgewine.co.uk, £161.94 for six bottles, northandsouthwines.co.uk) is still comparatively youthful, with some brighter fruit notes but there a reliable undertow of darkly powerful black fruits and it remains intense and smooth in the mouth: typically rich and warming, a perfect sip for a winter’s evening. 

In the southern Rhone, syrah in most often found in blends, often forming a trio with grenache and mourvedre, or sometimes just a duo with the former, the proportions varying with the vintage. In Chateauneuf du Pape in the southern Rhone, Chateau Du Vaudieu is a good name to look out for and for that special occasion bottle, try the Chateau de Vaudieu Chateaunuef-du-Pape 2012 (£68.56, laywheeler.com) where syrah is 25 per cent to grenache’s dominant 75 per cent: mature, elegant and accomplished, it is full of rich black fruit flavours, spice and hillside dried herbs. A leg of organic lamb with anchovies and rosemary would be the deal here I think. 

If you find these prices a little forbidding, try the wines of the Cotes du Rhone Villages appellations, which offer fantastic value and quality, such as the Cotes Du Rhone Villages Cairanne, Domaine Romain Roche 2018 (£18.50, leaandsandeman.co.uk) a grenache, syrah and carignan blend: the herbal touches ramped up a bit to balance the intense dark fruits.

In the Languedoc-Roussillon region, syrah pops up in different ways in all manner of blends, often with cinsault and carignan. Here, Chapoutier makes one of my favourite wines, the stunning Domaine Bila Haut Occultum Lapidem Rouge 2017 (£15, frazierswine.co.uk) where the syrah is a dominant 50 per cent, with 40 per cent grenache and 5 per cent each of mourvedre and carignan. Big, big flavours, immense concentration and yet still with a lightness of touch on the palate, it is a tribute to the art of careful blending.  

But beware the 14.5abv – many syrah and syrah-based wines often have alcohol levels at the high end, particularly those made in hotter areas, such as parts of Australia, which has become the world’s other syrah epicentre. In 1830, it was a Scottish merchant who took the first syrah cuttings from France to Australia where it became known both as Hermitage because of its French origins and also as shiraz partially because of the mistaken belief the grape originated in the Iranian city of Shiraz, former capital of the Persian empire, a fact which has never been substantiated. Shiraz latterly dominated both as the name and as the most popular red grape grown down under. In the warmer regions, such as the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, shiraz becomes even richer and bolder, with some of the herbal flavours of the Rhone diminishing in favour of jammy, plummy and even more peppery flavours, often with violet aromas. 

For a classic Barossa shiraz, the Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz 2018 (£29.99 or £21.99 as part of a mixed six-bottle purchase, majestic.co.uk) fits the bill admirably, one for a big organic steak or rib of beef. A slighter softer and more subtle take on shiraz can be found in the very well-priced Robert Oatley Signature Series McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016 (£12.80, vinvm.co.uk; £12.95, thevinorium.co.uk) made by top notch winemaker Larry Cherubino; some herby sausages and vegetable mash would be fine here. 

And as in the Rhone, shiraz here works well in blends, such as the very French-influenced Penfolds Bin 138 Barossa Valley SGM 2017 (£35, frazierswine.co.uk), another special occasion wine from one of the big names in Aussie wines, where 68 per cent shiraz is complemented by 23 per cent grenache and just 9 per cent mataro, as mourvedre is known in Australia. This is full of gorgeously velvety, brambly fruit flavours and some subtle spice notes. It’s fine for drinking now, but will age beautifully for some years. 

And finally, coming full circle, one Australian wine pays jocular tribute to the wines of Cote-Rotie in the Redheads Coco Rotie 2018 (£13.99, laithwaites.co.uk) where, as sometimes in the northern Rhone, a small amount of viognier is added to the blend to give added aromatic qualities, with some oak ageing to give vanilla notes and smoky complexity and delivers a more serious, hight quality wine than the label suggests. And like all these wines, ideally should be decanted or opened at least an hour in advance, allowing the flavours to open up. All the better to warm us through this winter…