Another of the famous French diaspora grapes that is grown in virtually every wine producing country, but whose ancestry was long a mystery prior to DNA testing. It was assumed to either have been brought from Persia to France within the last 200 years or brought to the Mediterranean shores by the Phoenicians around 600 BC. It has more recently been discovered to be an offspring of the old French grape Dureza and is indigenous to the very place it is most famous for: France’s northern Rhône valley. On its own Syrah produces wines that are consistently full-bodied with softer tannin, jammier fruit and spice notes of liquorice, anise and earthy leather. In many regions the acidity and tannin levels of Syrah allows the wines produced from the grape to have favorable aging potential. Syrah is often blended with a variety of other Southern French grapes. When blended, it adds deep colour, black fruit, acidity and tannin which Grenache, for example, generally lacks.