Syrah around the world

The pale, dry, herb-scented rosé that set the international template for pink wine.

Against its siblings: lighter, leaner and more cutting, less tannic and softer.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.

Cool-climate Syrah at its most savoury: black pepper, olive and cured meat over dark fruit, with firm structure at moderate alcohol.

Against its siblings: more savoury, earthier, riper and less green.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Grenache-led Mediterranean blends — warm, herbal and generous, and among the most reliable value in French wine.

Against its siblings: more herbal and green, less tannic and softer, less oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

High-altitude Mediterranean blends of Cinsault, Syrah and Cabernet from one of the oldest wine regions on earth.

Against its siblings: earthier, riper and less green.

• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Peppery, floral, medium-bodied Syrah made deliberately in the northern Rhône idiom — one of New Zealand’s best-kept secrets.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, riper and less green.

• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Dense, savoury, affordable red from hot inland Murcia — among the best value in Spanish wine.

Against its siblings: earthier, riper and less green, stronger and warmer.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Mediterranean blends from France’s largest wine region — warm, herbal and increasingly serious.

Against its siblings: more herbal and green, less oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.

Low-intervention Syrah and GSM blends from old dry-farmed Swartland vines — the centre of South Africa’s new-wave movement.

Against its siblings: more herbal and green, earthier, less oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

A distinctive American Syrah: savoury, smoky and often startlingly close to the northern Rhône in character.

Against its siblings: earthier, riper and less green.

• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre blends from Paso Robles and the Central Coast.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, less tannic and softer, stronger and warmer.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

The DO encircling Priorat, producing similar old-vine Garnacha and Cariñena at far lower prices.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, less oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

The southern Rhône’s flagship: a warm, powerful, herb-scented Grenache-led blend from stony vineyards near Avignon.

Against its siblings: more herbal and green, earthier, rounder and creamier in texture.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Dense, mineral Garnacha and Cariñena from steep slate terraces in Catalonia — one of only two Spanish regions at the top classification tier.

Against its siblings: earthier, riper and less green, more tannic and structured.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

A commercial category rather than an appellation: ambitious Tuscan reds that fell outside the DOC rules, usually built on Bordeaux varieties.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, more oaky, fuller and richer.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Prominent oak. Barrel ageing adds vanilla, toast and spice, and rounds the texture.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Coastal Tuscan Bordeaux blends — the appellation created to give the Super Tuscan idea a legal home.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, more oaky, fuller and richer.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Prominent oak. Barrel ageing adds vanilla, toast and spice, and rounds the texture.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

New World ripeness with Old World structure — a product of desert heat and extreme diurnal swing east of the Cascades.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, riper and less green, fuller and richer.

• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.