|
Dear //FirstName//
Well my last email back in July confirmed what I have always suspected, the average Langmeil subscriber is anything but average! The thirst for knowledge is equal to, if not greater than the thirst for wine. The “Variety in Focus” exposé on Tannat opened a floodgate of questions about the origins of several other varieties not the least of which was Shiraz. This is not surprising when you consider the various mythologies enshrouding our most famous grape.
Never wanting to let the facts get in the way of a good story, let's look at a few of the legends before DNA testing somewhat doused the romantic fire.
Sharing the name with an ancient Persian city (now modern day Iran) it was widely believed that the variety originated in or around the ancient Persian capital. The area’s historic reputation for wine, traces of which date back some 7000 years, added weight to this belief. How it found its way to France has three basic versions spanning 1800 plus years.
Some believed that the ancient Ionian Greeks introduced it via their colony then known as Massilia (now Marseilles) around 600 BC. More popularly, Gaspard de Stérimberg a wounded French knight brought it with him upon his return from the crusades in 1224 AD. He built a small chapel as a refuge on top of a hill in the Northern Rhône where he lived as a hermit, hence the origin of the name “Hermitage”. A third legend based on the name Syrah is that it was brought from Syracuse around 280 AD by the legions of Roman Emperor Probus who in times of peace were employed on ‘useful works’ such as planting vineyards.
While all are plausible, logical and romantic possibilities they were proved erroneous in 1998 when DNA testing found it to be the offspring of two all but vanished varieties from southeastern France. The red Dureza and the white Mondeuse Blanche.
With that mystery solved it is no less intriguing how Shiraz found its way to Australia. Scottish immigrant and viticulturist James Busby could be topic for a thesis in his own right but in a nutshell he returned from a trip to Europe in the early 1830s with a multitude of vine cuttings including Shiraz. These were cultivated in Sydney’s Botanical Gardens and brought to South Australia in 1839.
Formed by wealthy British merchants to develop the new settlement, ‘The South Australian Company’ was also importing vines from South Africa having their ships from England pick up cuttings in Cape Town on route.
One thing of which there is no doubt, Shiraz has found its niche here in the Barossa, consistently producing exceptional wines the embodiment of everything the grape has to offer as again recently highlighted by “The Drinks Business” Global Masters Tasting in the UK.
The Global Masters is a series of blind tasting competitions drawing entries from across the world. Having been judged blind by a global panel of Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers and senior buyers the best competing wines are awarded medals from bronze through to gold and ultimately “Master” for exceptional examples. In testimony to Paul’s winemaking skill as much as the Barossa’s viticultural pedigree, Langmeil received a string of accolades not the least of which saw both the Valley Floor and Orphan Bank Shiraz awarded ‘Master’ status (follow the link to peruse a few ‘Global Masters’ selections we’ve put together to commemorate this achievement).
Trusting you are all now Shiraz experts, remember that knowledge is power!
Kind regards as always
Jonathan Bitter
Cellar Door Manager
|
