Editing Syrah (section)

=== France ===
[[File:Vignobles sur la colline dominant Tain l'Hermitage.jpg|thumb|Vineyards on the Hermitage hill are dominated by Syrah.]]
Syrah, as it is known in France, is grown throughout the [[Rhône Valley (wine)|Rhône valley]]. The wines that are made from it vary greatly, even over small changes in the location of the vines. The differences in the [[soil quality]] as well as the changes in the slope of the terrain tend to produce different styles of wine. Ranging from the mineral and tannic nature of Hermitage, to fruity and perfumed in the case of [[Côte-Rôtie AOC|Côte-Rôtie]].<ref name="oz_p_250" />

Syrah is also a key component to many blends. It may be used to add structure and color to [[Grenache]] in southern Rhône blends, including [[Côtes-du-Rhône]] and [[Châteauneuf-du-Pape]].<ref name="Jancis Robinson 2003&nbsp;g 152">{{cite book |title=Jancis Robinson's Wine Course |author=Jancis Robinson |pages=g 152 |year=2003 |publisher=Abbeville Press |isbn=978-0-7892-0883-5}}</ref> Syrah is also the only red grape used in the wines of the northern Rhône.<ref>{{cite book |title=Oxford Companion to Wine |editor=Jancis Robinson |pages=g 572 |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-860990-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc}}</ref>

In 1968, there existed only {{convert|2700|ha|acre}} of Syrah vineyards in France, primarily in the traditional appellations of northern Rhône, which at that time had not received much attention in the wine world for several decades, and the vineyards of which were not planted to full capacity. After the wines of northern Rhône were "rediscovered" by wine writers in the 1970s, plantings expanded considerably. This trend received an extra boost in the 1980s and 1990s, when influential wine writer [[Robert M. Parker Jr.]] awarded high scores, up to the "perfect" score of 100 points, to wines of some Rhône producers. The popularity of Australian Shiraz on the export market may also have played a role. In 1988, total French plantings stood at {{convert|27000|ha|acre}}, and the 1999 viticultural survey found {{convert|50700|ha|acre}} of Syrah vineyards. France thus has the world's largest plantations of Syrah.<ref name="OCW Syrah" />

While previously unused parts of the northern Rhône vineyards have been planted with Syrah as part of the expansion, the major part of the new French Syrah plantations are located in southern Rhône (which covers a much larger vineyard area than the northern part) and [[Languedoc-Roussillon wine|Languedoc-Roussillon]].<ref name="OCW Syrah" /> While southern Rhône produces relatively few wines where Syrah is in the majority, the proportion of Syrah in the blended wines of this region has been on the rise. Languedoc-Roussillon uses Syrah to produce both Southern Rhône-like blends with [[Grenache]], Australian-style blends with [[Cabernet Sauvignon]], and varietal Syrah.

Syrah vines in France often suffer from a form of dieback characterised by the leaves turning red in late summer, deep cracks developing in the stem above the [[Grafting|graft]], and the premature death of the vine. The syndrome was first observed in 1990s in the [[Gard]] and [[Hérault]] [[Departments of France|departments]] of [[South of France|Southern of France]], but is now widespread. It is believed to be caused by mismatch between the [[rootstock]] and scion rather than an infection by a fungus or a virus.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dépérissement de la Syrah |url=http://www.vignevin.com/recherche/vigne-et-terroir/deperissement-de-la-vigne/deperissement-de-la-syrah.html |publisher=Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin |access-date=4 August 2014 |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808055617/http://www.vignevin.com/recherche/vigne-et-terroir/deperissement-de-la-vigne/deperissement-de-la-syrah.html |archive-date=8 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brochures techniques: Dépérissement de la Syrah |url=http://www.vignevin.com/publications/brochures-techniques/deperissement-de-la-syrah.html |publisher=Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin |access-date=4 August 2014 |language=fr |archive-date=23 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423074610/http://www.vignevin.com/publications/brochures-techniques/deperissement-de-la-syrah.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>