Syrah

Syrah is the great grape of the Rhone region of France, where it has been grown since Roman times. It is known as Shiraz in Australia, where it is widely planted. While there have been small amounts of Syrah planted in California, it has only been within the last six or seven years that large plantings of Syrah have been made. This makes Syrah a "wine to watch" in California, as more and more producers will be releasing syrah wines in the next few years.

Syrah is a very vigorous and disease resistant vine, but attention must be given to keeping crop yields under control, and managing vine canopy in order to produce the highest quality wines.

Syrah typically produces a dark colored, well structured wine with aromas of ripe berries, smoke and roasted meat. Winemakers disagree over the amount of new oak aging to use with Syrah, with opinions ranging from None! To 100%. Syrah can often age very well in the bottle.

Syrah thrives on sunny, well-drained hillsides which could make Fair Play an ideal location for this grape.