Syrah

Main Characteristics

Syrah is a world-renowned technical grape variety of French origin, primarily intended for the production of high-quality red wines. The grape variety belongs to the eco-geographic group of Western European varieties (Vitis vinifera). Historically, it demonstrates a stable expansion of commercial vineyard areas in the leading wine-growing regions of the world due to the valuable technological properties of the crop.

The ripening period of the grapes is late. Bud break is recorded in the third decade of April, with an average lag behind other classic varieties (such as Sangiovese). The vine bloom stage occurs in the first decade of June. The transition of berries to veraison and coloring begins at the end of the second or third decade of August, and full technical maturity is reached in the third decade of September. The variety is characterized by abundant and stable productivity. There is an average of two inflorescences per shoot, and the initiation of the first fruitful buds begins from the 2nd–3rd node. Under standard growing conditions, lateral shoots feature extremely low fruitfulness or are completely infertile.

Morphological Description of the Syrah Grape Variety

The detailed morphological description is compiled based on long-term studies of the vine in the experimental ampelographic collection of the Institute of Woody Plants at the University of Florence:

• Young shoot (10–20 cm long): the apex is medium or globose, characterized by dense cottony (tomentose) white pubescence with a distinctly pronounced carmine margin along the edges of the lobes.
• Apical leaves: the first three leaves are folded like a gutter, have a white color with a faint carmine edge and intense cottony pubescence.
• Basal leaves of the shoot: starting from the fourth leaf, the blades are fully unfolded, white in color with a slight reddish tint, retaining remnants of cottony or arachnoid pubescence.
• Shoot during blooming: the apex is semi-open or expanded, of a whitish-green hue, and pubescent. The herbaceous shoot has an elliptical cross-section and a rather angular contour, colored green, often with very faint reddish reflections. Tendrils are long, thick, green, generally bifid, and less frequently trifid.
• Inflorescence and flower: the inflorescence is of medium length (16–20 cm) and loose. The Syrah grape variety features a fully hermaphroditic (perfect) flower type. A characteristic varietal feature is the persistent retention of dried corollas (caps) on the flowers during blooming, which imparts a specific brown coloration to the entire inflorescence.
• Formed leaf: large or medium, pentagonal in shape, three- or five-lobed. The petiolar sinus is U-shaped, often a closed lyre or with overlapping margins. The upper surface of the leaf blade is smooth or slightly wavy, matte, and dark green. The lower surface is covered with arachnoid pubescence of a light green shade with slightly protruding whitish main veins. Lateral teeth are small, irregular, convex, with a wide base. The petiole is medium-long, thick, green with a reddish tint.
• Cluster and berry characteristics: the mature bunch is of medium size (length 15–20 cm), with an elongated cylindrical shape. The cluster structure is semi-loose, irregular, and sometimes distinctly winged. The berries are of medium or medium-small size (transverse diameter 10–12 mm), with a regular oval shape. The skin color is intense blue-black, with an abundant matte waxy coating (pruin). The skin texture is tender or medium-dense. The pulp is very juicy, the juice is clear (colorless or slightly colored), and the taste is sweet, pleasant, and neutral without foreign varietal undertones. Each berry contains an average of two small seeds with an elongated thin beak.

Viticultural Features

The Syrah variety vines possess good general vigor. The shoots are long, thick, robust but elastic, with an average internode length of about 13–14 cm, and are characterized by the active development of lateral shoots. The growth habit is spreading, which must be taken into account when choosing training systems and fixing vines to the trellis. The Syrah grape variety demonstrates standard, moderate resistance to common fungal vine diseases, such as downy mildew and powdery mildew. At the same time, the grape variety is distinguished by excellent natural resistance to bunch rot (botrytis), which allows the harvest to be preserved on the vines even under high humidity conditions during the harvest period. The variety shows good compatibility and normal results when propagated by bench grafting onto common rootstocks.