Three Bottles of Shiraz Part 1

Angella Aiello: Hi, there everybody. I’m here with Tony Aspler, a great a Canadian wine ambassador and we’re going to be trying some Syrah and Shiraz today for comparative tasting so you can figure out next time when you’re in the LCBO, what you like and from where you like it. We’re going to be trying a few different Shiraz and Syrah over here and I brought in a big wine guy here. So, we’re going to be opening some bottles and trying some wines and bringing you along with us. So, Tony maybe you can give us a run down about the grape, and where we’ll be tasting our wines from? Tony Aspler: Well, Syrah originally is the grape of Northern Rome and the Southern Rome where it is blended with other grapes. And on the Northern Rome, it’s used by itself for the great wines like Hermitage, Croze Hermitage, Cote Rotie, etc. Australia popularized the great Shiraz and so what you find now, and it’s probably the most popular grape in the world at the moment, the red grape is that it depends what style the wine maker wants to make. If he wants to make a light style, he will call it Syrah. If he wants to make a really rich heavy style he will call it Shiraz. In fact, there’s a winery in British Columbia called Mission Hill that makes a Syrah and a Shiraz. The Syrah is aged in French oak and the Shiraz is aged in American oak. Angella Aiello: So the name of that, they decided to name the bottle as indicative of how they’re going to make. Tony Aspler: Stylistically, yes. Angella Aiello: Okay. Tony Aspler: Or as a marketing thing, which they think they will sell best for them. As you’ll notice the Red Bicyclette from the Languedoc region in southern France is a Syrah, and the South African, in the middle is Two Oceans and that’s a Shiraz and the Australian one of course is a Shiraz. So, you get the two names, but it’s the same grape and what determine the flavor is the soil and the terroir, the exposure to sunshine etc, and the wine making technique. So, expect from the Syrah, Red Bicyclette more of a restrained kind of black berry, pepper and a little sort of herbal note. The Two Ocean South African Shiraz will be sweeter and be more fruit forward. Angella Aiello: And that’s due to climate? Tony Aspler: Well, it’s climate and wine making style and the use of American oak. Angela Aiello: Okay. Tony Aspler: The Lindeman Shiraz again will be quite sweet and fruit forward, very new world style. Angella Aiello: And I know that there are some Shiraz and Shiraz done actually in the Niagara region as well. You know Creekside is doing a broken fresh Shiraz which is fantastic. So, there are something’s locally as well that we didn’t bring into the tasting, but can also be found in the LCBO. Tony Aspler: As I said it, the Syrah or Shiraz is probably the most popular grape at the moment. It’s the flavor of the month as it were. Angella Aiello: So, we all need to know about it. Tony Aspler: Yes. Angella Aiello: So this is the great segment for anyone to watch. Excellent, well let’s pop them open.