Carol's wine column

Syrah/Shiraz

Syrah is a red wine grape also known as 'Shiraz' in some countries. Syrah is the main grape in the Northern Rhône region of France and is used as a blending grape in the Southern Rhône region in wines such as Châteauneuf-du- Pape and Gigondas, which I think is one of the nicest red wines to have on a cold Winters evening.

Shiraz is the most widely planted grape variety in Australia and is often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Viognier among others. It has even been made into a sparkling Australian wine, but it definitely wouldn’t be my first choice of sparkling.

The two grape names indicate different styles of wine. Syrah has a crisp, spicy, red fruit character (redcurrant, raspberry) and is usually drier than Shiraz. Shiraz has a richer, dark chocolate, black fruit style (blackberry, plum, black cherry) typical of warmer climate wines. Syrah/Shiraz is usually full bodied with a richly textured flavour and often shows quite strong spice and pepper qualities. This wine often has vanilla notes, due to oak ageing, and it has quite a powerful flavour. Over time, the wine can take on leather and truffle aromas.

Syrah/Shiraz goes well with tomato pasta dishes, beef, barbecued or grilled meats, and spicy foods such as Mexican. It should be served at a temperature of 18-20°C with the bottle just cool to the touch.

Rosemount Estate Shiraz, 2004

This popular Australian wine is familiar to almost everybody. It has an intense, dark ruby colour and is very fragrant with warm black fruit and spicy aromas.

This medium to full-bodied wine has rich, rounded flavours of ripe berry fruits and soft tannins with spice flavours developing in the glass due to the wine being matured with oak. It is ideal to drink now. It has quite a high alcohol content of 14% and is available at €11.49 from most good wine shops.

Gérard Bertrand Collection Syrah
This Syrah from France is very aromatic with intense flavours of liquorice and red fruit. It is a rich, full bodied wine with a smoky finish and goes well with red meats and cheese. It is ready to drink now and is available from O'Brien's wine also at €11.49. It has a slightly lower alcohol content of 13.5%.

Carol Doyle, Power Generation