Red Grape · Tuscany
The northern Rhone's great red, grown on Tuscan sandstone until it loses its pepper and finds violets instead.
Syrah is the dark, structured red of the northern Rhone. Italy has quietly built its own version. In Cortona DOC it grows on the sandstone hills of the Val di Chiana. There it ripens leaner and more mineral than France or Australia tends to produce.
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Also known as
Taste · Where it sits
Forget scores out of five. Here’s Syrah described against grapes you already know.
Fuller than Sangiovese, lighter on its feet than an Australian Shiraz, because Cortona's cool nights hold the alcohol back.
Firmer than Merlot, far gentler than Nebbiolo. The tannins here are polished rather than chalky, which is why the wines drink well younger than Barolo.
Higher than most Syrah grown in warmer places, and the reason Cortona bottlings taste mineral rather than jammy.
Blackberry and dark cherry without the confected edge of a Barossa Shiraz. The fruit reads fresh, not stewed.
Key flavours
The map
Syrah is powerfully full, firm tannin, mapped against other red grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and grip resemble Syrah.
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Serving guide
Serve at
16-18°C
Below 16C the florals close up and the tannins read harder than they are.
Decant
30 minutes
Half an hour is plenty. Longer flattens the violet lift that makes these wines distinctive.
Glass
Bordeaux Glass
A Bordeaux bowl gathers the dark fruit without exaggerating the alcohol.
Drink within
3-5 days
Approachable at three years, though the tannins are polished enough to enjoy earlier.
Cellar
3-10 years
Good Cortona bottlings hold ten years, developing leather and dried herbs as the fruit recedes.
Buy it · three to start with
A curated trio across the price range, then every Syrah on sale in the UK right now.
12 of 134 bottles
6 retailers
Toscana
6 retailers
£19.00
£20.65
6 retailers
Toscana
6 retailers
£40.82
5 retailers
Sicilia
5 retailers
£12.95
5 retailers
Sicilia
5 retailers
£13.96
5 retailers
Bolgheri
5 retailers
£27.20
£32.00
5 retailers
Toscana
5 retailers
£52.67
£61.87
4 retailers
Maremma Toscana
4 retailers
£18.00
4 retailers
Bolgheri
4 retailers
£20.60
4 retailers
Bolgheri
4 retailers
£25.00
4 retailers
Toscana
4 retailers
£54.90
4 retailers
Toscana
4 retailers
£144.90
4 retailers
Toscana
4 retailers
£155.00
Denominations
The appellations where Syrah plays a starring role.
Where it grows
From galestro hills in Chianti Classico to the single Brunello rise of Montalcino and the sea-facing Cabernets of Bolgheri, Tuscany is Italian wine's stage in Read more
Volcanic Nerello on Etna's black terraces, sun-baked Nero d'Avola on the south-east coast, fortified Marsala in Trapani and UNESCO Zibibbo on Pantelleria Read more
The terroir
The same grape gives two quite different wines depending on where in Italy it is planted.
Cortona
eastern Tuscany, Val di Chiana
Violets, dark berry and liquorice with taut acidity and little or no black pepper. The mineral, elegant reading of the grape.
Sicily
largely the west and centre of the island
Riper and warmer, keeping much more of the peppery spice, and more often blended with Nero d'Avola than bottled alone.
Editorial
Syrah reached Tuscany long before it had a Tuscan identity. The vine is recorded arriving in the early 1900s. The Count of Montecarlo di Lucca carried it back after travels in France. Nothing systematic happened until 1967, when Tenimenti d'Alessandro planted Rhone clones on the hills above Cortona as a trial. The first results disappointed. It took the agronomist Attilio Scienza to identify the clone that actually suited the site. Cortona DOC followed another three decades later, in 1999.
It took a count, a disappointing first harvest and an agronomist named Attilio Scienza before anyone worked out which Syrah clone Cortona actually wanted.
Cortona DOC, granted 1999The place explains the wine. Cortona sits in the Val di Chiana, between 250 and 340 metres. Two soils meet there, which rarely happens. One is macigno toscano, a compact sandstone. The other is siliceous lacustrine sands, left by an ancient lake bed. Air moves constantly off nearby Lake Trasimeno. It keeps rot away and holds the annual average near 15C, despite generous sun.
What comes out of it is the surprise. Cortona Syrah is built on violets, dark berries, liquorice and a citrus lift. It has crisp acidity and fine tannins. What it notably lacks is the black pepper that defines the grape in the northern Rhone and in Australia. That marker comes from a compound called rotundone. On these sandstone hills it does not build up the same way.
The scale stays small. Ten producers make roughly 500,000 bottles a year from about 500 hectares, which is close to 1,235 acres. Stefano Amerighi, who presides over the DOC, is among the names that shaped its direction. Elsewhere the grape reads differently again. In Sicily it is riper and more overtly peppery, and it is more often blended than bottled alone. Against Tuscany's own Sangiovese it is darker and less savoury. Against Nebbiolo it is fruitier and far less tannic.
Good to know
Yes, they are one variety with two names. Syrah is the original French name, used where the style is cooler and more savoury. Shiraz is the Australian name, and it usually signals a riper, softer, sweeter-fruited wine. Italian producers label it Syrah, which is a fair guide to what is in the glass. Cortona bottlings sit closer to the Rhone end than the Barossa end.
Cortona DOC in eastern Tuscany is the serious Italian address for it. It was granted in 1999, after three decades of trial planting. Production is small: around 500,000 bottles a year from roughly 500 hectares, or close to 1,235 acres. The wines have built a reputation for elegance rather than power. Sicily also grows a meaningful amount, usually riper and more often blended than bottled on its own.
Violets, blackberry and dark cherry, liquorice, and a citrus lift that keeps it fresh. It is all carried on crisp acidity and fine-grained tannins. The striking part is what is absent. The black pepper note that defines the grape elsewhere is largely missing. It reads as mineral and taut rather than warm and spicy. That surprises people who expect a Rhone or Australian profile.
The peppery note comes from a compound called rotundone. How much a vine builds up depends heavily on site and climate. Above Cortona the soils are sandstone and lacustrine sands, at 250 to 340 metres, with constant airflow off Lake Trasimeno. There it simply does not build up the way it does in the northern Rhone. The result is a Syrah that leads with flowers and fruit.
Grilled and roasted meats are the safe route. Tuscan peposo alla fornacina is close to a local match. Wild boar ragu and aged pecorino both work with the tannin. Italian versions keep more acidity and less sweet fruit than an Australian Shiraz. That is why they also handle lentils, mushrooms and roasted aubergine without overwhelming them.
Explore by style
Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.
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