Durif

Durif and Petite Sirah are the same grape, and the story behind the two names is the best thing about it. François Durif, a nurseryman near Montpellier, raised it in the 1860s. DNA testing in 1997 established the parentage: Peloursin pollinated by Syrah, which makes it Syrah's child and not a small form of Syrah at all.

It failed in France, where it was bred to resist mildew and did not do it well enough, and it succeeded in California, where it arrived in the 1880s under the Petite Sirah name and stayed. The berries are indeed small and they cluster very tightly, which raises the skin to juice ratio and makes the wine extraordinarily dark and tannic. Tight bunches also trap moisture, so autumn rain causes rot.

The wine is one of the most concentrated reds made anywhere: opaque, chewy, high in tannin and alcohol, tasting of blueberry, black pepper and dark chocolate. In California it is often blended into Zinfandel to give it structure. Australia grows it in the warm Rutherglen and Riverina zones under the Durif name, and makes an even bigger version.