Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/457084
{ SOMMjournal.com } 7 Vineyards of Spain and France. Busby had toured vineyards of Spain and France in the fall of 1831, collecting cuttings from both countries, including almost 450 dif- ferent varieties from the Montpellier Botanical Gardens in Southern France. In that book, Busby identified the grape Scyras, an early name for Syrah. Busby had already established two vineyards in 1825, one at Mate Orphanage in Sydney and the other at Kirkton in the Hunter Valley, where Busby planted some of those cut- tings he obtained at Montpellier, the rest were planted in an experimental garden in Sydney. There is strong evidence that John Macarthur brought the first Syrah grape vines to Australia. Macarthur had estab- lished a vineyard called Elizabeth Farm near Sydney in 1793 and traveled to France with his two sons on board the ship Lord Eldon in 1817, shortly after the fall of Napoleon. Noted in Macarthur's "List of plants [grapevine cuttings] remaining alive from the Lord Eldon" were Hermitage and Syracuse, both historical names used for Shiraz. He propagated these vines at his nursery in Camden Park and cuttings from these vines would eventually spread throughout the colony. Although records from that point forward are less definitive, the first commercial Shiraz vineyard was more than likely developed by George Wyndham in the lower Hunter Valley in 1828. So where did the synonym of Shiraz originate? Hermitage, Allobrogica, Syrac, Serine, Syracuse and Scyras are just some of the names that Syrah (or grapes similar to Syrah) went by at the time the grape migrated to Australia. Use of the word "Shiraz" as a grape name can be traced back to documents in the mid-nineteenth century. It is most likely that the word is an English derivative of the French word Scyras or the adoption of the Shiraz, Persia origin theory, perhaps both. Nevertheless, the name was enthusiastically adopted in Australia and it is now used in other viti- cultural regions around the world, includ- ing South Africa. Shiraz continued to spread throughout Australia after its Sydney origins, reaching Western Australia in 1829, Victoria in 1834 and South Australia in 1837. Its reliability and productivity were a definite plus as grapes became a more significant part of Australia's agriculture. Despite the impact Yalumba "Paradox" Shiraz shows ripe fruit and prominent oak. RIPE FRUIT / PROMINENT OAK STYLE BALANCED FRUIT / ALCOHOL / OAK STYLE COOL-CLIMATE STYLE Angove 2013 "Family Crest," McLaren Vale (14.5%, $20) Jim Barry 2010 "McRae Wood," Clare Valley (14.3%, $47) Yalumba 2010 "Patchwork," Barossa (14.1%, $19) Langmeil 2012 "Valley Floor," Barossa (14.5%, $29) Henschke 2012 "Mt. Edelstone," Eden Valley (14.5%, $85) D'Arenberg 2010 "The Dead Arm," McLaren Vale (14%, $65) Brokenwood 2010, Hunter Valley (13.5%, $36) Giaconda 2011 "Warner Vineyard," Pyrenees (13%, $75) Jasper Hill 2012 "Georgia's Paddock," Heathcote (13.5%, $85)