Q: How to Pronounce Shiraz?
Question from Chris: The varietal Syrah is pronounced Syr-RAH by Americans and SYR-a by Austrailians; similarly, we say Shir-AHZ and they say Shir-AZ. Is one correct and one incorrect, or is it simply a case of toe-MAH-toe and toe-MAY-toe? Merry Christmas!
Answer: And a belated merry Christmas to you, Chris!
I think you hit the nail on the head – it’s a case of to-may-to, to-mah-to. Syrah’s origins have been the subject of much debate. Some have associated it with Syracuse in Sicily and others to Shiraz of Ancient Persia, thinking the Crusaders could have brought it back in their saddle bags. The current thinking is that it’s indigenous to the northern Rhone. Stay tuned!
However, the Aussies are quite definate about saying shir-az and will correct you if you say “shir-ahz”, something to keep in mind when you visit Australia.
I hope this is helpful to you. Cheers! Nancy
It’s not necessarily a tomay-to/to-mah-to issue. Some people are just more wrong than others
Only kidding. It’s just that people are not taught correctly, and people who are incorrect don’t like to be told they’re wrong, so they perpetuate ignorance.
Syrah = French. Pronunciation: See-rah.
Shiraz = Australian. Pronunciation: Shi-razz (rhymes with pizazz).
I think a lot of people pronounce the latter as “shi-rahz” because they aren’t sure and they want it to sound French. Becoming popular in Australia the name changed slightly. It should also be noted that the production style and resulting wines are quite different.
Cheers!
Hi, Ryan! Thanks for the additional info. Of course, my reference is American and if we go around saying “see-rah” folks will think we’re incredibly pretentious, so we just say things in ‘Merkan: si-rah. I think we can get away with Shi-razz OK.
Cheers! Nancy