Shiraz and beyond

By The weekly winer 24 January 2008 08:46:00

Shiraz is the dominant red wine grape variety in Australia.  It is also the key component of many wines including Grange, the flagship Australian wine label.  At the other end of the scale it makes up the bulk of the reasonably priced red wine brands such as Jacobs Creek, Oxford Landing and Yellowtail.

Yet Shiraz has not always held such a hold over the market.  Until the mid nineties Cabernet Sauvignon was regarded as the superior variety and this was reflected in the prices paid at the cellar door. The demand for export wine has been mainly for Australian Shiraz, and so Cabernet has lost ground in the battle for consumer preference. 

Shiraz's reign at the top of the tree (or grape vine!) really started in the mid 1950s when it replaced Grenache as the most popular red wine grape variety.  In those days a much larger proportion of the wine market was devoted to fortified wine - what used to be referred to as Port.  Looking into the future, the role of Shiraz seems unquestionable, but there are a few challengers on the horizon. The wine consumer is a picky creature and fashions can change fairly quickly.  Merlot is the third most popular red wine grape variety in Australia.  Much of the production goes into blends with Cabernet Sauvignon, reflecting its major role in Bordeaux.  There are quite a few varietal merlots also produced.  There are two reasons for thinking that Merlot won't displace Shiraz as our major tipple - firstly there are viticultural problems relating to poor clones and it performs poorly in cooler regions.  Secondly, at the consumer end, the wine often lacks a distinctive varietal character.  There seems to be no consensus among winemakers about what a good merlot should be like.  Meanwhile consumers think of Merlot as being mellow.  It is hard to find any passion, for or against, this variety. 

Another contender is Grenache. This variety is widely planted in South Australia, particularly in the Barossa and McLaren Vale regions. In the 1980s it was subject to government sponsored vine pull schemes in the belief that its days were over.  Its star is on the rise again both as a varietal and as the key to blends with Shiraz and Morvedre. Even with this recent return to favour, Grenache will not seriously challenge Shiraz because of its need for a relatively warm climate. 

Sangiovese is a variety with a large and growing fan club.  There are now over a hundred winemakers using this variety.  One factor which has held the variety back in the past has been clonal variation, this has been overcome by careful selection by vine nurseries.  Over the past few years a significant number of producers have been able to show just what the variety is capable of.  The wines show plum and cherry flavours and to my mind these flavours as well as the Italian wine textures will mean that the bandwagon for this variety will keep rolling for quite a while!  The number of winemakers and consumers in Australia with an Italian background continues to provide plenty of champions for this variety. 

Spain's answer to Sangiovese is Tempranillo and it is growing in popularity in many Australian wine regions.  To a large extent the jury is still out as many of the plantings are still quite new.  Among the champions of this variety are James Halliday and Mark Walpole of Brown Brothers.  Tempranillo matures a little earlier than Shiraz or Sangiovese so it can be grown in slightly cooler regions. Indeed Manton Creek Vineyard in the Mornington Peninsula is one of the more highly regarded producers.

The Durif variety is regarded as a warm climate variety and the outstanding feature of this variety is the high level of tannins.

Another variety to keep an eye on is Petit Verdod which is becoming much more popular in warmer areas.  It was pioneered in Australia by Pirramirra in McLaren Vale, but it is now grown extensively in the Murray Darling and Riverina. Barbera and Nebbiolo are the two other Italian varieties which are highly regarded in Australia. 

One last little mention is or Lagrein - a little known Italian variety - which in fact is from the North East of Italy.  It is an early ripening variety and as such can be grown in cooler climates.  Cobaw Ridge in the Macedon Ranges region has a wonderful Lagrein. 

So what's the verdict? Which red wine grape variety will be the next Shiraz?  It seems to be a contest between Sangiovese and Tempranillo, with both camps having some firm adherents.  My money goes with Sangiovese as an excellend all-rounder

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John Nielsen Says
7 February 2008 07:27:00

Great reading! I would have thought that Viognier should have had a mention, (yes it was found in the last article) as Aussie winemakers now seen to besotted about using the North Rhone style. With the best being Clonakilla and many other excellent producers such as Yalumba, this style is now a clear trend in Australia. Now producers are writing it on the label, where as they never use to write just add it! In regards to Merlot, Tim White recently wrote in the Fin Review a nice article and was surprised how good a few were. The best are from Katnook Estate where Wayne Stebhens seems to have grasped the grape, but I find even better is found in McLaren Vale with Hamilton's, where the grape seems to do very well and produce some rich and well balanced wines! Keep writing the good stuff!

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