Syrah
The Northern Rhône remains the reference point for cool climate Syrah but there are wines of comparable elegance today grown in the coastal vineyards of South Africa, the slopes of Santa Barbara, California, and even the Barossa Valley – once synonymous with riper, more powerful Shiraz (as Syrah tends to be known as Australia). Syrah is most at home on granite soils, and the wines are often made with a proportion of wholebunch fermentation and aged in larger oak casks. Wherever they hail from, the best of them combine latent power with freshness and lift.
