Syrah 1830s. So while the name or spelling "Shiraz" may be an effect of the English language on a French name, there is no evidence that it actually originated in Australia, although it was definitely the Australian usage and the Australian wines that made the use of this name popular. Another legend of the grape variety's origin, based on the name Syrah, is that it was brought from Syracuse by the legions of Roman Emperor Probus sometime after AD 280. This legend also lacks documentary evidence and is inconsistent with ampelographic findings. The wines that made Syrah famous were those from
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