Once upon a time, years and years ago, King Jamshid lived in his royal palace in the city of Shiraz in Persia (now a city of two million people in Iran). He loved the wild grapes that grew on his land and one year, to enjoy them for a longer time, he came up with the idea of storing a few large vats of them in his cool cellar.

Sadly, after a few weeks it was observed that the fruit had split open and the resulting juice was bubbling violently in the vats, and the temperature was rising alarmingly as well.

The king ordered for them to be labelled poison and to be avoided.

It so happened that at the same time, the king had decided to retire a princess from his royal harem and send her home to her family.

Overwhelmed with sorrow she decided to poison herself by drinking from a vat in the cellar.

The king caught her in the act and noticed that instead of sadness, there seemed to be a wide smile and a twinkle in her eyes that reminded him of days gone by, so much so that the king decided to indulge in the juice himself.

The news soon spread throughout the court that the king seemed remarkably relaxed and happy. The princess ended up staying in the palace – and I think that you know how this story ends!

The truth of the matter is that Syrah/Shiraz was quite possibly the very first wine grape about seven thousand years ago and the first wines were made in this area, so let us discuss a few now.

Critic Jeb Dunnock flirts with perfection with a score of 96/100 and the following review on 2016 Chapoutier Hermitage “Monier de La Sizeranne”.

“The 2016 Hermitage Monier de La Sizeranne checks in as 100 per cent Syrah that's from a multitude of terroirs on Hermitage, and it spent 16 months in 25 per cent new French oak. It's the finest vintage of this cuvée I can remember and offers sensational notes of currants, blackberries, smoked earth, new saddle leather, and graphite.

“Just a classic Hermitage, with sweet tannins, a rounded, sumptuous texture, and a serious core of fruit, don't miss this beauty! It’s going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and have 2-3 decades of prime drinking experience”.

Currently, it is only available at Discovery Wines on Bakery Lane. $90.00. Stock #9440. Biodynamic.

2018 Chapoutier Crozes Hermitage “Les Meysonniers”, from the Rhone Valley in France, shows how the grape thrives in this area with a score of 93/100 from Jeb Dunnock and this.

“The deep purple-hued 2018 Crozes-Hermitage Les Meysonniers offers beautiful upfront dark fruit, smoked earth, olive, and graphite notes to go with medium to full-bodied richness, ripe tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish. It's concentrated and a stunner of a Crozes Hermitage”.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate is just behind with 92 points and this opinion. “Black cherries and black olives appear on the nose of the 2018 Crozes Hermitage les Meysonniers. It's more savoury and complex than the la Petite Ruche bottling, being medium to full-bodied, with a silky texture and decent length. The 2018s look very successful at Chapoutier, and this sexy Crozes is no exception”. $34.00. Stock #9421. Biodynamic.

Moving on to Australia, that has its own language, such as a raincoat being a “driza-bone” – it keeps you dry as a bone – and a MollyDooker being a left-handed person, as the founders of the MollyDooker Winery are, let us consider 2021 MollyDooker “The Boxer'' Shiraz.

I should also mention that they call Syrah grapes Shiraz. If you are hankering for vanilla, black cherry, black pepper, black plum, blackberry, blueberry, chocolate, eucalyptus, liquorice, and sweet spice, just crack the screw cap and pour!

Aged in a mixture of new and old American oak, this wine offers a swathe of lush, velvety berry fruit, and layer upon layer of sweet spice, vanilla, and dense, polished tannins. King Jamshid would be amazed at what has been achieved with his grape over the past few thousands of years! $39.90. Stock #6096.

Not once, but twice, MollyDooker “Carnival of Love” Shiraz has been on the Wine Spectator’s “Top 100 Wines in the World list” and the intense-in-colour, flavour and aroma, of 2021 Carnival of Love Shiraz captivates the palate from the first sip.

Powerful yet delicate, lifted aromas of red cherry, blackberry and Turkish delight evolve, while subtle hints of mocha linger. Infectious chocolate cherry, fresh plum and liquorice add to the complexity, while creating a seamless structure and lingering finish.

National Syrah Day was last Friday, but hopefully a tardy celebration with such wine will be forgiven and joyful. $97.00. Stock #6090.

How fortunate we are to be on this world, rather than any of the other six billion Earthlike ones estimated to be in our own Milky Way galaxy.

I say this as I suspect we are alone in making a wine such as Grange. In fact, Burrows Lightbourn/Discovery has in stock Penfolds Grange 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 vintages. Consecutively they rate 100/100, 100/100, 99/100, 97/100 and 100/100.

Australia’s top winery tells us that “Grange Bin 95 Red Wine 2014 is the original and most powerful expression of Penfolds multi-vineyard, multi-district blending philosophy, Grange is arguably Australia’s most celebrated wine and is officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia.

“Crafted utilising fully ripe, intensely-flavoured and structured Shiraz grapes, the result is a unique Australian style that is now recognised as one of the most consistent of the world’s great wines. With an unbroken line of vintages from the experimental 1951, Grange clearly demonstrates the synergy between Shiraz and the soils and climates of South Australia”.

The British Decanter magazine scores this vintage a perfect 100/100. If you would really like to experience a perfect example of this ancient grape, why not get a few friends together, to share the cost, and just place an experience in your memory banks that you will always remember.

I, for one, will never forget each of the few times that I have done so with Grange. $850.00. Stock #7200.

Happy belated Syrah/Shiraz Day.

• This column is a paid-for advertorial for Burrows, Lightbourn Ltd. and Discovery Wines & Spirits written by Michael Robinson. He can be contacted at mrobinson@bll.bm. The Burrows Lightbourn retail store is located Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355). Discovery Wines & Spirits stores are in Hamilton (Corner of Queen & Reid Street, 232-0090) and Pembroke (Bakery Lane, 296-9463). A selection of their wines, beers and spirits are available online at discoverywines.bm