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This high-quality red-wine grape gained its reputation in France’s Rhône region. Thought to have originated in the Middle East, the ancient Syrah grape has been grown in the Rhône valley at least since Roman times. In the northern Rhône, Syrah is the principal grape of the esteemed wines from Cornas, Côte-Rôtie, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, and Saint-Joseph. When young, these wines are deep-colored and tannic, with strong tar, spice, and pepper qualities. Syrahs are long-lived, and as they slowly mature, they take on characteristics of sweet blackberries, blackcurrants, and plums, with hints of smokiness. In the southern Rhône, Syrah is used to contribute flavor and structure to the multivariety wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape and côtes-du-rhône. France’s languedoc Roussillon region has been planting large amounts of new Syrah acreage because it’s one of the grapes recommended for improving the quality of that region’s wines. shiraz, as Syrah is called in Australia, made its way there in the 1830s and is now that country’s most widely planted red grape. Because this grape’s so widely cultivated in Australia, an extensive variety of wine styles are produced there—from jug wines to very serious wines of international renown. The best of these auspicious wines come from Coonawarra and the barossa and hunter valleys. The most famous shiraz is the incredibly rich and complex grange Hermitage, produced by Penfolds. In California, the Petite Sirah grape was long thought to be Syrah, but some enologists now believe it actually may be the Durif variety. True Syrah has been increasingly planted in California over the years, and there are now many more Syrah wines and Rhône-style blends appearing on retail shelves. Syrah has not significantly established itself in other parts of the world. It’s also known as Hermitage, Marsanne Noir, Petite Syrah, and Sirac.