For a long time, it was believed that Shiraz was a variety of grapes coming from the historical city, with the same denomination, in Iran. The natives of the Persian region between Iran and Georgia have been known since six thousand years before Christianity to grow this kind of grapes and to consume their wine. The legend says that a Persian king who was incredibly fond of grapes wanted to store them, to be able to eat them and enjoy them, all throughout the year.

Once, he sent his slaves, to bring him some, from the cellar in which the grapes had been stored. The slaves did not come back, so the king decided to go in person to see what had happened to them. It turned out that the slaves had been poisoned by the carbon dioxide coming from the fermented fruits. In a moment of distress, one of the king’s mistresses, thinking that the juice resulted from the fruits fermentation was lethal, drank from the fermented liquid in order to kill herself.

Instead of killing her, the juice put her in a great and totally changed mood. This was the moment when the king reached the conclusion that the juice coming from the fermented grapes had the ability to turn sad people into happy ones.

It was also said that the French Crusaders brought the Shiraz variety of grapes, into France, during the 1300′s. It is not known how the denomination was transferred, though, to a different variety of grapes… Recent DNA research has proven that the Shiraz grapes used for making the wine we consume, today, come actually, from France, from more recent times. They come from the vineyards of Rhone Valley and not from Iran. The popular title in Europe for this variety of grapes is Syrah.

One of the reasons the Shiraz grapes and wine are growing in popularity, worldwide is because the fruits are of a very strong variety. They are mildew resistant and remain immune to different factors that affect other kinds of grapes. They can grow wherever there is cool climate, which is favorable, to them. They grow in very large, tasty bunches of berries, sometimes thirteen hundred on a bunch. The berries grow in long and loose bunches and they are very resistant to diseases.

Shiraz is the premium wine of preference, particularly in France and Australia. The grapes are grown, in these countries, in high percentage, around 40% of the red varieties. Shiraz grapes are used in the making of Grange Hermitage, famous and appreciated all over the world.

There are other varieties of grapes, originating from Shiraz, like Grosse Syrah and Petite Syrah. They differ from the original, only in the size of the berries and the content of tannin. In their turn, these varieties produce different kinds of wines. Some are rich, tannin dense, peppery tasting wines and others are lighter, sweeter, fruit tasting, refreshing wines.

©2010 The Shiraz Guide – Shiraz: Myth and Reality

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