From hill and vale: A South Australian homage to Syrah and the Rhône

Barossa Shiraz is a style of wine even non-drinkers have heard of. It has the kind of brand recognition other regions would kill for.

It’s a bit like Châteauneuf-du-Pape in that respect. Even people with no interest in wine have often heard of it, even if they haven’t tasted it.

The similarities don’t end there. Châteauneuf might be typically Grenache-dominant, but thanks to a hot and dry climate, both of these regions make famously concentrated, opulent, potent wines that can age for decades.

Neither are particularly fashionable, despite the fact the very best of their respective styles can be profound, complex and unmistakable wines of place.

So, if Barossa can be equated to Châteauneuf, can we compare other South Australian regions to parts of the Rhône? I think we can.

14 superb Australian Syrahs with an Old World slant listed below

Adelaide Hills

It might be a valley, but much of Barossa’s growing area is fairly flat. Venture south from Barossa into neighbouring Adelaide Hills and the scenery changes dramatically.

The straight roads start to bend back on themselves, hills get steeper and there’s shade from immense, sky-scraping trees that line the roads. At the end of summer, the grasses remain greener here compared to the dried Barossa scrub.

The vineyards are interspersed among the Mount Lofty Ranges. The sea is only around 20km away, but most vines are situated behind the highest peaks, so it’s not a major climatic influence.

What makes the difference is altitude – vines are grown between 400m and 650m; the days are hot but the nights are cool.

‘It’s much cooler than its latitude would suggest,’ says leading local winemaker Michael Hall. ‘Elevation is the key.’

The region is best known for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and sparkling wine, But Shiraz is making waves.

‘I like to call it Syrah,’ says Michael Downer of Murdoch Hill, as compared to hotter parts of Australia, here it’s ‘spice-driven, medium-bodied and more elegant’.

If Barossa Valley is the Châteauneuf of South Australia, then Adelaide Hills is its northern Rhône.

Basket Range producers

Adelaide Hills is home to the unofficial Basket Range group of natural winemakers. It’s comprised of producers such as BK Wines, Gentle Folk, Charlotte Dalton, Worlds Apart and Ochota Barrels.

None of these own vineyards, but they all create wines with originality and character.

‘Australia needs more diversity, things happening, more ideas,’ says Brendon Keys of BK Wines, and that’s exactly what they’re delivering.

They all have a Syrah in their range, and although they’re part of the same gang, each wine has a personality all of its own.

The winemaking trends here – whole bunch and old oak – further accentuate the smoky, herbal style that brings to mind fine Crozes-Hermitage or upright St-Joseph.

McLaren Vale

Continue south from Adelaide Hills towards the city of Adelaide and you descend into McLaren Vale. Vineyards are closer to the sea both in proximity and elevation, and the climate is Mediterranean – not as hot as Barossa, but warmer than Adelaide Hills.

Like the Mediterranean, this is a paradise for countless French, Spanish and Italian grape varieties. Think Fiano, Montepulciano, Vermentino or, as summarised by Brad Hickey of Brash Higgins: ‘Rhône varieties and anything that ends in an “o”.’

The most-planted grape however, at 57% of vineyard area, is Shiraz (according to Wine Australia’s McLaren Vale Regional Snapshot 2022-23).

It tends to be a warmer, riper expression than Adelaide Hills, but less dense and muscular than Barossa Valley. It’s stylistically more varied than both, thanks in part to its extraordinary diversity of soils.

When it comes to Syrah therefore, rather than comparing McLaren Vale to a specific Rhône appellation it might be better compared to the southern Rhône more generally.

Stylistic variation

That’s why neatly summarising the McLaren Vale style of Shiraz is tricky. Rather like the southern Rhône, some are big, bombastic, oaky, a bit old-fashioned.

But at the other end of the scale there are bright, well-balanced examples with attractive combinations of fruits, spices, herbs and flowers.

What they all share is a particular texture that’s best described as velvet.

Stand-out producers in the more drinkable, digestible style include Bondar, Koomilya (owned by SC Pannell), Orbis, Thistledown and Battle of Bosworth. Yangarra’s King’s Wood Shiraz is particularly worth seeking out for its balance and purity.

Yangarra’s estate in the northeast of McLaren Vale borders the elevated, sandy Blewitt Springs sub-region. This is a place of global interest for elegant, aromatic Grenache – and when Syrah is planted here, it shares this fragrant expression.

This is a singular site that produces a unique, identifiable style no matter the variety or producer – the sign of a great terroir.

As to whether McLaren Vale or Adelaide Hills makes a better Syrah, that depends entirely on the style you prefer. The grape has a longer backstory in McLaren Vale, and it’s the most widely planted grape.

In Adelaide Hills it’s a more recent addition but its potential is immense. I feel it’s more suited to the region than Pinot Noir.

Erinn Klein of Ngeringa in Adelaide Hills produces some of its best reds, and he says ‘long-term, it’s a Syrah region’. I think he’s right.

Matt Walls’ selection of the finest Syrahs from Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale

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