In the beginning there was syrah. Start again. In the beginning there was Bordeaux and Burgundy. Rhône barely registered across the palate until the American writer Robert Parker wrote a book extolling its virtues. Syrah today has taken its rightful place alongside Bordeaux’ cabernet sauvignon and Burgundy’s pinot noir in the pantheon of grape fame; from voluptuous drink me now Crozes-Hermitage such as the cracked pepper and blackberryish 2011 Chapoutier Crozes-Hermitage Les Meysonniers, £13.71 - £16.20, The Drink Shop, Tanners, Sainsbury’s Fine Wine, to the heights of a violet-scented 2010 Côte-Rôtie Les Bécasses, £39.95, Berry Bros & Rudd, all rosemary, tapenade and crushed peppercorns.

The Aussies had been plugging away with it under the name of shiraz for some time, Penfolds’ Max Schubert for instance producing the first Grange in 1951. Australian red is all about shiraz, often coupled with viognier as in the easy-drinking level of wines such as the 2011 Willunga 100 Shiraz Viognier, £11.79 - 99, Noel Young Wines, Oz Wines, with its sweetly ripe, almost chocolatey, dark berry, mint-tinged fruit. But some cooler climate producers are reverting to syrah in recognition of the style and it shows in the 2010 De Bortoli Yarra Valley Syrah, around £19, Peter Graham Wines, Vinoteca, Planet of the Grapes, an aromatic, tar and pepper spice red which has enough black fruit richness behind the herbal, savoury notes to deliver an satisfying Oz-meets-St.Joseph style.

As other New World producers realized that this was a grape that could produce potential wonderfully scented, spicy reds more easily and more profitably then either cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir, syrah has spread throughout the southern hemisphere like wildfire. But what to call it? New Zealand calls almost all its Rhône-style reds syrah deliberately to distinguish them from Aussie shiraz. Typical of the style is the 2011 Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Syrah, £12.50 / 12, in bond, Farr Vintners, a fragrant paprika and liquorice scented red full of juicy, savoury dark berry fruits.

The northern Rhône name is increasingly the default setting in Chile ‘s coastal regions such as Elqui Valley where the 2010 Viña Mayu Syrah Reserva, £10.99, Sainsbury’s, for instance, made high in the hills inland from the Pacific in Chile's North, with spice and tarry-scented blackberry fruit, flecked with cracked pepper, the elegant tannins giving it a Crozes-Hermitage-like feel. The Cape started out big on shiraz, but as the style has refined and become more elegant, we’re finding South Africans increasingly plumping for syrah, from the vivid spicy, rich 2011 Bellingham The Bernard Series Syrah, £11.99, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, at the commercial level, to the 2011 Mullineux Syrah, around £18.95, Swig, Vincisive, a beautiful red with smooth-textured dark cherry richness tinged with pepper spice and rosemary and a beguiling succulence of texture and freshness.

Something for The Weekend

Night In

2013 Tesco Finest* Côtes de Gascogne Gros Manseng Sauvignon Blanc

Refreshingly herbal in aroma, this appetisingly dry south-west French new vintage blend has a vibrantly juicy quality with a zesty grapefruity dry flourish on the aftertaste. £5.99, or buy 4 = £4.79, down from £7.99.

Dinner Party

2011 Malbec Luigi Bosca, Vistalba

A serious, pure and beautifully-crafted Argentinian malbec at an excellent price, this brooding, young Mendoza red shows scented spice aplenty and a rich, black cherry fruit quality moulded into voluptuously textured shape by French oak. £15.99, buy 2 = Majestic.

Splash Out

2011 Insoglio del Cinghiale, Campo di Sasso, Bibbona, Toscana

Stylish Tuscan rosso from Lodovico Antinori blending Bordeaux varieties with syrah for a wine rich in primary dark berry fruit, stylishly crafted with sinewy texture and spicy oak for moreish drinkability. £18.95, corneyandbarrow.com, 020 7265 2438.

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