Petite Sirah

Petite Sirah is not Syrah, and it is not petite in any sense that matters. It is Durif, a variety created in the 1860s in France by François Durif, who found it as a chance seedling — DNA later established it as a crossing of Syrah with Peloursin.

The petite refers to the size of the berries, which are notably small. That is precisely what makes the wine what it is: a very high skin-to-juice ratio produces enormous colour, formidable tannin and considerable extract. The wines are close to opaque, purple-black, with blackberry, blueberry and black plum over liquorice, black pepper, dark chocolate and a dusty, earthy depth.

It failed in France, where its tight bunches rotted in the damp and it was largely abandoned. In California, where it arrived in the 1880s and where the dry growing season suits it, it thrived, and it has been part of the state's vineyard ever since.

Much of it is in old field blends alongside Zinfandel, planted by nineteenth-century growers who valued its colour and structure as a corrective to Zinfandel's softness — a role it still plays.

As a varietal wine it is uncompromising and ages for decades. Producers in Lodi, Napa and the Sierra Foothills make serious examples.

Australia grows it as Durif, particularly in Rutherglen, where it makes similarly dense and powerful wine.

It is one of the few grapes routinely described as needing a knife and fork.