Well, if you can't beat them...copy them. Guess its a form of flattery to
some...or lack of creativity for most.

Sad


"Hunt" > wrote in message
...
> 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
>