Shiraz Wine

Shiraz is the name given to the Syrah grape when grown in Australia, and is virtually synonymous with Australian red wine, in particular the bold, fruit-driven styles for which the Barossa Valley has become known. It has also been known as Scyras and Hermitage, in homage to the eponymous Hermitage hill in France's Rhone Valley.

Over the past three decades Shiraz has continued its astronomic rise to become Australia’s national grape, performing a similarly ‘iconic’ role as Carmenere in Chile, Malbec in Argentina and even Pinotage in South Africa. Not only is it the nation’s most successful wine export, it is also the most widely planted variety in the majority of Australian wine regions, rivaled only by the enormously popular Chardonnay. Shiraz grapes are used to make some of Australia’s most famous, and most famously expensive, red wines. Penfold’s Bin 95 ‘Grange’, Henschke’s Hill of Grace, Torbreck’s The Laird, d’Arenberg’s The Dead Arm are prime examples of what determined Australian winemakers can do with their beloved national grape. In the early years of the 21st century these wines have commanded prices between $50 and $1250, and their value continues to rise year on year.

During the 1990s and early 2000s the robust, highly extracted, super-ripe style in which much Australian Shiraz was made earned itself a following as strong as its reputation. With aromas and flavors leaning towards dark chocolate and jammy, stewed blackcurrants (rather than the earthier, more peppery styles found elsewhere in the world) Australian Shiraz was a powerfully seductive wine style. During this time some wine authorities, particularly those more used to the more subtle old world styles, judged many of the wines to be unsubtle and overpowering, but that did little to dampen the popularity of this rich, unashamed style among the world’s wine consumers.

In spite of this huge success, and perhaps in response to the criticism their wines were subjected to, a number of Australian winemakers began to shift their weight towards a more refined style of Shiraz. Between 2000 and 2010 there was a tangible shift in the way that much Australian Shiraz was made, with cool climate styles coming into their own and complexity gaining ground over sheer power. A new generation of wines began to emerge, working towards the elegantly spicy styles of the northern Rhone (names like Hermitage, Cote Rotie and Saint-Joseph).

As in its Rhone homeland, in Australia Shiraz is often blended with Grenache and Mourvedre, creating what has become widely known as 'GSM'. The dark chocolate and cassis of the Shiraz, coupled with the plummy richness of Grenache and the earthy, gamey strength of Mourvedre makes for a rich, opulent style often greater than the sum of its parts. Cabernet Sauvignon is another popular blending partner for Shiraz; Cabernet-Shiraz wines now account for a sizeable proportion of Australian red wine blends. Viognier, another Australian success story (albeit on a more limited, more exclusive scale) is regularly added to Shiraz in Australia, in a blend mirroring the idiosyncratic wines of the Cote Rotie. Australian Shiraz-Viognier has proven consistently popular in many spheres of the wine world of the past few decades.

The name Shiraz has become so widely recognized and so highly marketable that the name has been used to label Syrah wines in countries other than Australia. In South Africa winemakers use both Syrah and Shiraz forms of the name, and have even been label bottles as Shiraz when destined for one market and Syrah when bound for another. Even the famously tradition-bound French have begun to capitalize on the popularity of Shiraz, with wines from the Languedoc and Roussillon brazenly bearing the name on their labels.

The origins of the Syrah/Shiraz grape have long been disputed, with the ancient middle-eastern city of Shiraz held by many as the origins of both the grape and its name. However, DNA profiling and historical research in the late 1990s have strongly suggested that the variety did not originate from Persia (modern day Iran), but was a natural crossing of two varieties (Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche) long established in the Rhone valley, around Vienne.

For information on Syrah and its uses, as distinct from Shiraz, see Syrah.