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In article .com>, tb
says...
>
>Well unlike all the other examples you quote Richard, Shiraz is not a
>geographical name from Australia. The word could be said to have a
>Persian clang, Shiraz being a large city in ancient Persia/ today's
>Iran.
>
>Lore has it that the grape was brought by returning crusaders from the
>Orient to the Rh=F4ne valley, where it took the spelling of Syrah, being
>not too far from a francophilic pronunciation of the Persian Shiraz
>(the i in Persian being pronounced more as an e would be in the
>European languages and the y in French not at all like "my" or "thy" in
>English). This is most likely false, but makes for a nice story.
>Certain documentation suggests that it was brought to Australia from
>France in the 19th century under the spelling Scyras, which became
>Shiraz either as an articulative simplification or due to the romantic
>era infatuation with the Orient.
>
>I have seen, bought, tasted Shiraz at various occassions from South
>African (never had a chance to taste a truly impressive one
>unfortunately) and even from Chile and the US quite naturally, without
>wondering why they have chosen the name Shiraz and not Syrah. But
>coming to think of it, this may just be an attempt to position
>themselves distinctly from European products, or just to piggyback on
>the reputation built by the Australians.
>
>Cheers


Good piece, TB. When I first encountered "Shiraz" outside OZ, I too was
puzzled. It was Voss Napa Shiraz (quite good with the fare it was paired with
too), so I questioned the sommelier. He was at a loss, as to the naming
convention, and brought the bottle over for me to examine. He was 100%
correct, as to the naming on the bottle. A bit of research yielded that the
winery owner's wife was from OZ, so he chose that convention to name his Syrah
offering - in honor of her heritage. As to the SA offerings, I think you are
probably correct, as to why they chose to call it Shiraz. As the SA wine
market gets "back on its feet," so to speak, they are looking for marketing
hooks, and Shiraz is certainly very popular, and familiar in much of the world
market. The UK wine lists that I have encountered are fairly heavy in OZ
Shiraz, though one sees a lot of Rhone offerings, as well. Unlike the US wine
lists, when geographical names are used, like Hermitage, the grape varietal(s)
are usually not stated along with the vintage, producer, etc. Some Cape
version of a Madison Ave marketing person, said, "hey, the world now knows
Aussie Shiraz, let's call our Syrah offering Shiraz too!"

Hunt