Popular wines made from Shiraz varietal grapes:

• Syrah
• Hermitage
• Scyras

These wines have a large amount of mouth-drying tannins, and it is known to be full-bodied, which means it feels heavy in your mouth; the wine features flavours such as berries, pepper, tobacco, and even smoked meat.

Syrah and Shiraz are the exact same wine. When Syrah (Sih-Rah) arrived in Australia from its birthplace in France, Australian winemakers took to calling it Shiraz (Shi – RAZ), instead of the grape’s original name, Syrah. We like to chalk this renaming up to the Australian accent and their penchant for making many common words more fun to say.

Characteristics

Taste: Aromas of black and red fruits with flavours of blackberry, blackcurrant, redcurrant and raspberry. Has a spicy black pepper character and as it ages develops smoky aromas, with notes of licorice, cloves, leather, coffee, caramel, vanilla and dark chocolate.
Tannin: High
Acidity: Medium to high
Age: Drink simple wines in the first few years, better wines need up to five years and the best required ten years to fully open up.
Potential Alcohol By Volume: 12.5%
Volume: 10 litres
Weeks to Make: 4 Weeks
Makes: 23 litres