Does Shiraz wine come from Iran?

(BBC) - Until the Islamic revolution, Iran had a tradition of wine-making which stretched back centuries. It centred on the ancient city of Shiraz - but is there a connection between the place and the wine of the same name now produced and drunk across the world?

"I remember my father bringing in the grapes and putting them in a big clay vat," says California-based wine-maker Darioush Khaledi, recalling his childhood in pre-revolutionary Iran.

"I would climb on top and smell and enjoy the wine."

Darioush's family was from Shiraz, a fabled city in south-western Iran, whose name was once synonymous with viticulture and the poetry and culture of wine.

He remembers happy evenings when the family would gather, sipping wine from clay cups, and reciting lines from the 14th Century Persian poet Hafez.

"It wasn't just about drinking wine," he says. "It was an adventure."

The world Darioush remembers came to an end in 1979 when Iran's new Islamic rulers banned alcohol.

They shut down wineries, ripped up commercial vineyards and consigned to history a culture stretching back thousands of years.