You say Syrah, I say Shiraz

B uzz: Hey, Marnie, the guy on the bar stool next to me said Shiraz and Syrah are the same thing. I bet him $10 he's wrong. He can't be right, can he?

Marnie: You're out 10 bucks, Buzz. The French Syrah grape goes by another name in most of the Southern Hemisphere: It's called Shiraz in Australia and South Africa.

Buzz: Wine isn't confusing enough, huh? They have to mix up the names, too?

Marnie: Many synonyms for grape names derive from different ways to spell the same word. If you try saying both Syrah and Shiraz with a French accent, you'll see how they could sound alike.

For most of history, wine grapes weren't named on wine labels. Since only the growers discussed grapes for centuries, different regions and dialects often had their own variations. There are lots of grapes with multiple or misleading names as a result.

Buzz: Besides Syrah? Like what?

Marnie: Well, the most common example is probably pinot grigio. Its original name is pinot gris, which means the same thing in French, but it can also be found under other names like grauburgunder or rulander in German-speaking areas.

The red grape known as grenache in France is of Spanish origin and is called garnacha or garnatxa there. California's zinfandel grape is known as primitivo in Italy. These are all synonyms, different names for the same vine variety, but the name game is played in the other direction, too. Some grape names are misleading, suggesting a family relationship that doesn't exist.

Buzz: Now you're making my head spin.

Marnie: It makes sense if you think about the historical context. Vintners in lesser regions whose local grape made great wine faced strong temptation to name it after a more famous wine of similar style.

French and Italian grapes have been named after a legendary Hungarian dessert wine from Tokaj, called Tokay and Tocai, respectively. My favorite aspirational grape name is albarino. You might not catch the reference if you don't speak Spanish, but the word means "white Rhine."

Albarino may be native to Spain's Galicia, but its wines had such finesse and grace that they were named after the era's finest white wines - the German rieslings of the Rhine Valley.

Buzz: This is so confusing I'm not only out $10, I gotta order a double albarino just to clear my head.

wine author. Buzz's musings are

interpreted by Daily News Assistant