Shiraz, Syrah, ‘Shee-Rahz’ or the latest high brow attempt ‘Shi-ra’. Shiraz, in its many forms, is the mainstay of the Aussie wine industry: The ‘go-to’ variety that initially put Australian wine on the map; the shining mascot of our dynamic and modern wine industry. The question is, why do we call it Shiraz? A grape variety that on its traditional European soil is known as Syrah (and has been for centuries), yet over just 180 years we have given transformed Syrah into Shiraz – giving Syrah the ‘Strayan’ treatment and came out with our much loved ‘Shiraz’!
Historically, Shiraz was one of the first varieties to arrive in Australia, (with references by the wine pioneer, James Busby, to the early misspellings of the word Syrah). However, it wasn’t until the late 1980’s that Shiraz really begun to garner worldwide attention. In 2006, there is no doubting the domination of Aussie Shiraz, both here and abroad. Almost one quarter of the wine produced in this country comes from Shiraz & it continues to be our most exported variety – with our eSnormous export growth fuelled by a parallel growth in Shiraz production.
In world terms, few grape varieties express their national character like Aussie Shiraz. The constant undertone of ripe, rich and luscious fruit characters is stamped into Shiraz Australia wide. Even the coolest of cool climate Shiraz shares this sunny, generosity & flavour. Shiraz has evolved to the point where it’s now a brand name – a wine formula that is copied worldwide, yet nowhere is this fruit intensity achieved on the same broad, consistent scale.
Stylistically, Australian Shiraz runs the whole gamut of flavours and fashions, reflecting the range of regional and climatic conditions where Shiraz finds its home. They range from: elegant, peppery, cool climate styles (Grampians, Vic or Pemberton, WA); intensely flavoured, savoury, spicy styles of Coonawarra and Margaret River; powerful and minty (Clare Valley); sweet and chocolatey (McLaren Vale); muscular, and ripe-fruited (Barossa); or leathery and rich (Hunter Valley).
Every style has emerged from Shiraz, which has traditionally been blended in both cool and warm climates with Cabernet Sauvignon is also blended with Grenache and Mourvedre in warm climates.
In recent years, with the availability of increased plantings of Viognier in Australia, winemakers have increasingly blended Shiraz Viognier combinations. Typically, Shiraz Viognier blends have a perfumed aroma and softer tannins, transforming occasionally gruff Shiraz into a softer, sexier style & crafting wines suitable to enjoy while relatively young.
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