Australian shiraz has been among the biggest selling wines in the UK over the last 20 years, yet prior to 1980 few here had ever heard of it. However, with that popularity has come a lot of disappointing, dilute wines.
Shiraz was – and in some ways still is – Australia's workhorse grape. Planted by settlers in 1830, it was used to make everything from white and red fizz to hefty, fortified wines. In the mid-1980s, many of the old shiraz vines were pulled up to make
way for cabernet sauvignon.
Some growers, such as Tyrrell and Penfolds, resisted replanting, often blending their shiraz with cabernet. Astonishingly, Australia still has more 100-year plus ungrafted vines than in syrah's homeland in France's northern Rhône. These venerable vines make superstar wines such as Jim Barry's Armagh, Henschke's Hill of Grace and Grange from Penfolds.
Today, shiraz is grown everywhere from Margaret River in Western Australia to the Hunter Valley, but its real home is South Australia's Barossa.
There are two styles – the slightly lower alcohol French Rhône style, at around 13 per cent, with a peppery spicy edge. The best are found in the cooler Adelaide Hills and Victoria's Heathcote – and are matured in new French oak.
If you prefer your shiraz sweet and plummy, you'll find the second style in Barossa Valley, where alcohol tends to be higher at 14-15 per cent. It is often matured in American oak, which gives cloves, cinnamon and spice – but fewer peppery notes.
Many wines at our tasting lacked balance; they were too alcoholic, too oaky or too sweet, particularly in the under £12 section.
Regional diversity was marked in the more expensive wines. For sweet, rounded plummy fruits with velvet smooth tannins, Barossa shiraz from Charlie Melton or Grant Burge Miamba fit the bill. For purer fruit, head to Clare Valley. My favourite, with its savoury undertones and milk chocolate notes, came from historic McLaren Vale.
• Rose Murray Brown hosts a tasting of shiraz on 12 November at 28 Queen Street, Edinburgh, tickets £35. Tel: 01334 870731,
www.rosemurraybrown.comTaste test: Sugar and spiceUnder £12TESCO AUSTRALIAN SHIRAZ 2006
(£3.49, Tesco)
Light, sweet blackberry fruit, but one-dimensional with short length. 12.5/20
THE LACKEY SHIRAZ 2006 Kilikanoon
(£8.99, Raeburn Fine Wines, Edinburgh)
Good aromatics, quite spicy, firm tannins; bitter length. 14.5/20
BERRY BROS AUSTRALIAN SHIRAZ 2006 Elderton
(£8.50, Berry Bros, 0870 900 4300)
Rich plummy fruits, spicy, chunky – very good for the price. 16.5/20
GRANT BURGE MIAMBA SHIRAZ 2006
(£10.99, Luvians, Cupar/St Andrews; Peckham's)
The chunkiest of Burge's shiraz; gutsy, plummy, dark chocolate notes. 15/20
MAJELLA SHIRAZ 2005
(£10.99, Henderson Wine, Edinburgh)
Tight minty eucalyptus undertones, acidic. Disappointing. 13/20
Under £20HEWITSON MAD HATTER SHIRAZ 2005
(£19.50, Berry Bros)
Dense blackcurrants, savoury undertones, lovely texture. 17/20
CHARLIE MELTON SHIRAZ 2002
(£19.99, House of Menzies, Aberfeldy; Henderson Wine)
Soft, sweet, richly textured, spicy. 16/20
BISHOP SHIRAZ 2004 Glaetzer
(£18.95, Villeneuve Wines, Edinburgh; Luvians)
Spicy, liquorice undertones, dark chocolate, firm tannin. 15.5/20
ST ANDREWS SHIRAZ 2001
(£19, Luvians; Raeburns)
Inky black, deep dark brooding spicy, rich, sweet succulent fruit, smoky length. 16.5/20
SHAW & SMITH SHIRAZ 2006
(£17, Henderson Wine; Luvians; Lockett Bros, North Berwick)
Peppery, spicy, restrained black fruit, complex. 16/20
THE BEST DEALS THIS WEEKENDFizz CHAMPAGNE OUDINOT 2002
(£19.99, reduced from £23.99, Marks & Spencer until 2 November)
Considering the recent price hikes, a good buy for crisp sleek vintage champagne.
White ST MONT 2007
(£4.99, reduced from £6.49, Marks & Spencer until 2 November)
Quirky, unoaked, nutty, peachy, blend of gros manseng, arrufiac and petit courbu grapes.
White LOURENSFORD VIOGNIER 2007
(£6.99, Tesco)
Peacy apricot aromas from South Africa. Juicy creamy mouthfeel: good for Cape viognier at this price.
The full article contains 657 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
