Wines Like Syrah: Dark, Savory Underdogs to Try Instead

Syrah (or Shiraz, depending on the hemisphere) wins people over with a very specific mix: dark, brooding fruit, a savory edge of black pepper and cured meat, and enough body to fill the glass without tipping into clumsiness. The famous versions — Northern Rhône, top Barossa — get expensive fast, and the cheap ones too often taste like jammy sameness.

If what you love is the character — the dark fruit, the spice, the savory smoke — four underdog grapes deliver it, each from a corner of the map nobody's bid up yet.

Alicante Bouschet — the inky one

The signature grape of this whole site, and a natural Syrah swap for the depth alone. A teinturier with red flesh, not just red skin, it makes some of the darkest, most saturated reds there are — black fruit, full body, a savory mineral streak. If you drink Syrah for sheer brooding depth, start in Portugal's Alentejo. Read the Alicante Bouschet deep dive →

Touriga Nacional — the peppery, perfumed one

Portugal's flagship red gives you Syrah's dark fruit and pepper with an extra lift of violet and bergamot perfume, over a firm, structured frame. Increasingly bottled dry, it's the closest thing to a Northern Rhône experience the Iberian peninsula offers. Read the Touriga Nacional deep dive →

Aglianico — the savory, structured one

If your favorite thing about Syrah is the savory side — the iron, the cured-meat depth, the grip — Aglianico is southern Italy's answer. Volcanic, powerful, and age-worthy enough to be called the "Barolo of the South," it trades jammy fruit for structure and umami. Read the Aglianico deep dive →

Sagrantino — the brooding heavyweight

For the drinker who wants Syrah at its most uncompromising, Sagrantino — from Umbria's Montefalco — is the most tannic wine grape in the world by count: dense, dark, and built for the cellar. The bottle for big-red lovers who think most reds are too polite. Read the Sagrantino deep dive →

How to choose

Want the inkiest, most saturated pour? Alicante Bouschet. Want pepper and perfume? Touriga Nacional. Want savory structure and age? Aglianico. Want maximum brooding power? Sagrantino. Each one scratches the Syrah itch — dark fruit, spice, savory depth — while handing you a grape worth knowing.

New to the overlooked grapes? Start with the Underdog Starter List — ten bottles under $25 worth chasing. Or see the whole approach in Order This Instead.