As an American, when I was first introduced to Shiraz, I was confused because I saw "shiraz" one place and "shyrah" another place. It took me awhile before I realized it sort of is the same thing, just spelled differently, and then also the grapes come from different places too. Cuisine magazine took a look at New Zealand Syrah and Australian Shiraz and picked their top five. As reported by You Say Syrah, I Say Shiraz - Cuisine Announces the Best (drum roll please):

"Attractive", "lovely" and "pretty" were also some of the key descriptors used by the judges for Syrahs in the tasting, reflecting an emerging style that is more feminine and French than brutish and Barossa-like.

Traditionally recognised as a Hawke's Bay speciality due to its heat-loving character, it was no surprise that most of the wines submitted for the Syrah tasting were from this region. Hawke's Bay-grown wines dominated the Top Five line-up, produced the top wine (Vidal Reserve Syrah 2004) and emerged as the best buy of the tasting (Gunn Estate Silistria 2005).

The Top Five New Zealand Syrahs are: Vidal Reserve Syrah 2004 (Cuisine five stars), Craggy Range Le Sol 2005 (Cuisine five stars), Cottage Block Hawke's Bay Syrah 2005 (Cuisine four stars), Mudbrick Reserve Syrah Waiheke Island 2005 (Cuisine four stars) and Gunn Estate Silistria 2005 (Cuisine four stars). Judges selected a Top Five rather than a Top Ten from the 30 entries in the tasting for this more specialist grape variety.