Australian Shiraz: Panel tasting results

Already the country’s most widely planted grape, increased stylistic diversity and an expansion into new terroirs point to an even brighter future, says Anthony Rose...

• 165 wines tasted with two rated Exceptional and eight Outstanding

• The panel tasters were: Tina Gellie, Roger Jones and Anthony Rose

Accounting for nearly half of Australia’s red wine harvest, Shiraz is the country’s signature grape variety. With a crush of half a million tonnes last year – more than both Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon – Shiraz throws sand in the faces of its closest rivals. But it’s not just about size; Shiraz also impresses with the expanding spread of regions where it is able to flourish.

From a French perspective, Syrah is at its best in the marginal climate of the cool northern Rhône. In the southern Rhône, it needs Grenache and Mourvèdre to bolster it. If that were true of Australia, Shiraz should only by rights flourish in the cool climates of South Australia’s Coonawarra and Eden Valley, or the Grampians and Yarra Valley in Victoria.

The fact that it flourishes elsewhere is down to unique circumstances in Australia. As Brian Croser says: ‘In the benign climate belt between 32° and 38° south, on the oldest geology and soils on the globe, Australia’s unique latitudinal 5,000km southern coastal interface with the globe’s coldest ocean… provides unique growing circumstances for this most adaptable of varieties.’

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Scroll down to see the top wines from this panel tasting

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On the right path

In this way, Shiraz is capable of retaining the acidity, aroma, generosity of fruit and fine texture required to produce different styles from a broad diversity of terroirs. Styles divide broadly between the powerful opulence of hot Barossa Valley (and to an extent the inland regions); the more restrained, spicy reds of warm McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Heathcote, as well as milder Yarra Valley, Eden Valley, Coonawarra and Great Western; then the intensely perfumed, elegant wines of the cooler Adelaide Hills, Canberra and Grampians.

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Quick link: View all 165 wines from this panel tasting

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In tandem with the opening-up of new terroirs, there’s been a trend away from power and oak to a more refreshing style. Better vineyard management to reduce vigour and yield, balance leaf canopy and harvest more intelligently make a contribution, along with cellar techniques such as small batch fermentation, hand-plunging, whole bunches and better use of oak.

Thanks to the adaptability of the Aussies, there’s an ongoing redraft of the viticultural map of Australia in general – and Shiraz in particular. Even if radical shifts occur due to climate change, over a third of Australia’s vineyards are as cool as Bordeaux and can benefit in the short term from warmer temperatures. So Shiraz seems set to flourish as the growing territorial diversity manifests itself across an equal diversity of wine styles.

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The scores

165 wines tasted

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release Australian Shiraz (85% minimum), priced at £15 or more. One wine per producer was permitted.

Exceptional 2

Outstanding 8

Highly Recommended 84

Recommended 67

Commended 4

Fair 0

Poor 0

Faulty 0

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Exceptional & Outstanding wines from the panel tasting:

 

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See all 165 wines from the panel tasting

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The results

The Shiraz landscape is shifting and there are many excellent wines at the premium level – especially if you wait a few years before opening them, says Amy Wislocki.

After two days tasting their way through 165 Australian Shiraz priced at £15 and above, our experts emerged ebullient. ‘Delighted!’ exclaimed Roger Jones. ‘On this showing, I’m impressed by where Australia is going in terms of its premium Shiraz,’ agreed Tina Gellie.

The competition from other global wine regions is stiff. ‘There’s Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand, for example,’ said Jones, ‘and South Africa is on the up.’ Anthony Rose concurred: ‘Many countries and regions are doing a fantastic job with Shiraz, but Australia is still at the forefront of that variety and breadth of regionality.’

In the discussion around specific regions, there were clear front-runners. Gellie pronounced Adelaide Hills ‘by far the standout region’ for its purity and vibrancy.

For Jones, it was Adelaide Hills too, with Clare Valley hot on its heels. ‘Adelaide Hills was absolutely stunning: fresh, focused, exciting and linear. It’s Syrah to me, not Shiraz. You sip these wines and it’s perfection. Clare is another exciting area – I like the perfumed restraint and elegance. I think it will take over from Barossa,’ he said.

‘In a sense, Adelaide Hills is a newcomer and it did brilliantly in the tasting,’ added Rose, who also loved the Clare wines. He also tipped Frankland River in Western Australia as a promising source of premium Shiraz.

As Rose pointed out, however, winemaking styles are so varied that it would be misleading to attribute a single style to each region. ‘The region is a guideline, but what’s more important – and more interesting ultimately – is the producer, the brand and the winemaker,’ he said. ‘Within each region there’s a massive variation in winemaking styles, from the almost medium-bodied to the very full-bodied to the overly full-bodied, super-ripe, Porty styles that are traditional.’

He added that the best wines were those that have ‘human input in the vineyard; where the winemaker has made sure to have raw material which constitutes 90% of the quality and character of the wine. The quality in the vineyard really shone through.’

The main message to come through was that these are, in the main, wines that need time to show at their best. ‘Please buy these young wines, but give them time in the cellar,’ urged Rose, ‘in particular the Barossa and McLaren Vale wines. Eight, 10 or even 12 years makes all the difference when it comes to complexity.’

‘We worked out quite quickly that you can’t taste Barossa wines for at least three or four years – and I’d hold off drinking them for at least 10,’ agreed Jones. ‘Lower-priced wines don’t need as much cellar time, but I’m concerned that producers are releasing £60 bottles of 2016 Shiraz now.’ Gellie agreed. ‘I know it’s expensive to keep wines back, but these are being released too early,’ she said. ‘The best wines were those with three or four years of bottle age, and unfortunately most consumers aren’t getting to see or appreciate them.’

‘Overall, 2014 seemed to be the point at which we could taste the maturing style of wine people would want to buy – savoury wines with more nuance and interest,’ she added. ‘The 2016s and 2015s were pretty closed,’ agreed Jones. ‘Once you got to the 2014s you suddenly saw excitement.’

Buy these premium wines, our tasters agreed, be patient and lay them down – even for just a few years, though ideally longer – and you’ll be rewarded.

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Our tasters each pick their top 3 wines from the tasting:

Tina Gellie

Gellie is Decanter’s associate editor and has worked for the brand since 2008. An awarded wine writer and editor, she won several scholarships on the way to getting her WSET Diploma. She has more than 15 years’ experience in wine publishing, including as acting editor of Wine International. Before her wine career she was a newspaper journalist in London and Australia.

Roger Jones

Jones and his wife Sue own Michelin-starred restaurant The Harrow at Little Bedwyn. His combined talents as a wine critic and chef have seen him set up Restaurant Australia for Wine Australia and The Tri Nations Wine Challenge to promote the wines of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. He is wine consultant to The Caterer and contributing editor for The-Buyer.net.

Anthony Rose

Rose is a wine critic who contributes to a variety of publications, including Decanter and The World of Fine Wine. He has won a number of awards, among them three Glenfiddich Wine Writer of the Year Awards and a Louis Roederer International Wine Columnist of the Year Award. A founding member of The Wine Gang, his own blog is anthonyrosewine.com.

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