Syrah and Shiraz tasting

Make the sheets View: A4 · Letter

This page is a flight of four headed Syrah: one portrait sheet with a column per wine, each headed by its numbered ring and colour, and the name when you taste open. The rows run across all four, seven short scales from colour depth to how long it lasts, three words each to circle, then a Rank box per wine and a line at the foot, The difference, in my words. With Syrah the useful lines are weight and mouth-watering: a Northern Rhône bottle such as Crozes-Hermitage tends to be medium in weight and fresher, a Barossa Shiraz full and soft, with more warmth. The aromas to look for, though they are not on this sheet, are black pepper and violet in the cool styles, and blackberry jam, liquorice and chocolate in the warm ones. It suits one taster or two, comparing the grape across the world.

A good four: a Northern Rhône Syrah, a Barossa or McLaren Vale Shiraz, a cooler Australian or New Zealand Syrah, and one from Chile, Washington or South Africa. Pour all four at once, small tastes, and fill each row across the four before moving down, which makes the differences obvious. Rank once every line is done, then write the difference while it is fresh, usually something about pepper against jam. Ask someone to pour them blind if you want to test whether you can spot the Shiraz. Print one sheet per taster, and the full notes page for any wine you want to study in depth. Syrah is often high in alcohol, so spit, rinse with water, and come back to the first glass at the end to see how it has opened.

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