Syrah Serine, and Sereine. Legends of Syrah's origins come from one of its homonyms, Shiraz. Because Shiraz, Capital of the Persian Empire (modern-day Iran), produced the well-known Shirazi wine, legends claim the Syrah grape originated in Shiraz and then was brought to Rhône. At least two significantly different versions of the myth are reported, giving different accounts of how the variety is supposed to have been brought from Shiraz to Rhône and differing up to 1,800 years in dating this event. In one version, the Phocaeans could have brought Syrah/Shiraz to their colony around Marseilles (then known as Massilia), which was
Chatus (wine grape) Chatus (wine grape) Chatus is a red wine grape variety native to Ardèche, France. Before the Phylloxera epidemic, Chatus was grown primarily in the sandy soils of Bas-Vivarais, though scattered plantings could also be found in Drôme and Isère. The vines were traditionally grown on meter-high terraces, each supporting autin-trained vines. This form of training was very labor-intensive, often taking three to four times as much work as other vines to maintain. The wines created from Chatus were sought after in their own right, but they were also often boiled in order to sell to locals, a process which improved