The history--or legend, as the case may be--of the grape's origin has been a matter of some debate. It was long believed that the grape was a native of Persia, hailing from the ancient town of Shiraz in what is now Iran.
As the story goes, the grape was first taken to France back in the 13th century on the return trip of some enterprising French crusader. This explains why in Australia, into which the grape was imported in the 1830s and where it is now that country's most widely planted variety, winemakers have favored the name "Shiraz" over Syrah. Some North American winemakers have also chosen Shiraz, but it's mostly an Australian moniker.
In recent years, however, science has muscled its way into the debate. By applying DNA testing to the grapes, scientists from the University of California at Davis and L'Ecole Nationale Superiore Agronomique de Montpellier came to a definitive answer as to Syrah's actual origin, with some residual loss of romance.
Turns out, Syrah's true place of birth is none other than France; the variety's parents turn out to be Mondeuse Blanc, a little-known relative of Mondeuse Noire (a variety known in the Loire) and the even lesser-known Dureza, indigenous to an area just west of the Rhone River in the northern Ardeche region of France.
Sorry, Shiraz. A grape by any other name is still Syrah.
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