Australia is fortunate having ample sunshine which in turn enables our fruit to ripen to excellence. No matter the vagaries of a certain red grape variety, generally there definitely will always be a part of Australia which can deliver it anything it demands. Even toughies such as old-fashioned Malbec or even black-as-pitch Petit Verdot turn out a treat.
On the whole, the drier the particular wine district, the more probable it will make rich, full flavoured variations which many consumers come to affiliate with Australian red wine. However, Australia likewise has cool climatic environments well acceptable to red styles which in turn produce lighter as well as more sophisticated red wine styles.
The globe’s classic high grade red grape styles happen to be all located in abundance throughout Australia.
Cabernet Sauvignon has got many healthy “homes” throughout Australia’s wine areas. The famed Coonawarra terra rossa soils have created exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon for over a millennium, while few districts can match Western Australia’s Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon for absolute stylishness.
Throughout the cooler places the tricky grape Pinot Noir suits nicely, whilst the adaptable Shiraz, expresses itself wonderfully effectively in essentially all but the coolest regions. Several of the less severe local climate regions are generally also home to that unusual and splendid Australian speciality vino, sparkling red Shiraz.
No other grape has such a exclusively Aussie character as Shiraz. Attempt to duplicate they might but the rest of the globe’s wine-makers will not capture that mulberry, spicy, fairly ‘wild’ taste that could only be Australia’s very own.
Among Australian red wine, Shiraz (the same grapes as Syrah throughout France’s Rhone Valley) was one of the earliest grape vine styles to land in Australia in 1832. So comfortable was it on its completely new turf that plantings prospered and it wasn’t very long before the local society began to take it for granted. Having said that, by the 1980s consumers had begun to be aware of precisely how adaptable this could end up being, its character adjusted based on the area in that it ended up being grown.
Every type came about from elegant, peppery cool environment styles (Heathcote in Victoria) to more strongly flavoured spicy variations of Coonawarra and Margaret River to powerful and minty (Clare Valley), fairly sweet and chocolaty (McLaren Vale), muscular, and ripe-fruited (Barossa), and leather and rich (Hunter Valley).
Shiraz, that has in the past been mixed in the cool and warm parts of the country with Cabernet Sauvignon can be mixed with Grenache and Mourvedre in warm climates.
Lately, through the availability of elevated plantings of Viognier in Australia, wine-makers have much more often blended Shiraz Viognier combinations. Usually, Shiraz Viognier blends possess a perfumed bouquet and much softer tannins which make these types of vintages suitable to enjoy while rather young.