LWF lines up first rare grape tasting

Next week’s London Wine Fair will host the first ever public tasting of wine from the Dureza grape, the recently rescued parent variety of Syrah.

The Dureza grape is seeing a surge in interest after it was revealed to be the father of Syrah (Photo: Wiki)

The extremely rare Dureza variety will be shown at a masterclass and tutored tasting presented by co-authors of Wine Grapes, Julia Harding M.W. and Dr José Vouillamoz, as part of the London Wine Fair’s “Wine Grapes 2015 – Syrah & Grüner Veltliner” celebration.

The French-native Dureza grape nearly became extinct in the late 80s when just one hectare of the variety remained planted.

However, in 1998 DNA tests conducted at both the University of California-Davis and at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Montpellier discovered that Dureza was the father of the Syrah grape, with Mondeuse Blanche the mother.

Since then, interest in the variety has increased, and producers like Pascal Jamet have taken to planting and harvesting Dureza for use in single-varietal wines.

At the London Wine Fair next week, “Wine Grapes 2015 – Syrah and Grüner Veltliner: their origins, relatives and flavours” will take place in the Masterclass Theatre between 14.45 and 16.15 on Monday, 18^th May.

Eight wines will be presented – including the Dureza from Pascal Jamet – that will aim to demonstrate the current form of Syrah/Shiraz and Grüner Veltliner.

This tutored tasting of wines from France, Austria, Switzerland, Australia and California “sets out to reveal where these two varieties come from, physically and genetically, and their status and reach in the world today”, according to organisers.