Tasting Report: Australian Shiraz
If you still think Australian Syrah, or Shiraz, makes black wines packed with sweet fruit and vanilla flavored American oak, it’s time to have a dead serious rethink. This is not the best Australia has to offer – never was. It’s all about intensity and balance with fabulous flavors and drinkability.
I have tasted close to 100 Syrahs with Master of Wine Ned Goodwin from such appellations as Hunter Valley, Beechworth, Heathcote, Gippsland, Yarra Valley, and the Mornington Peninsula, and nearly all the wines showed wonderful balance, finesse and character reminiscent of the best the Northern Rhone can offer. Yet, they have an honesty and whole meal character that is underlying in each bottle due to the deft Aussie viticulture and winemaking.
The best in Aussie winemaking seems to have a true “hands-off” philosophy, letting the soils and climates of the vineyards speak for themselves through their wines. The hand of the winemaker is almost invisible. This is certainly not the apparent winemaking philosophy of most of the big companies in the Aussie wine business – but that is another column.
Take for example the best wine of my tastings: 2009 Jasper Hill Shiraz Heathcote Georgia's Paddock. The wine is a perfect red – 100 points. The second you smell the complex aromas of licorice, dark berries, tar and meat, you know that it’s a fabulous wine. It’s full-bodied with ultra-fine tannins and a beautiful core of ripe fruit. Yet, it has it all in perfect proportions. It’s also produced from biodynamically grown grapes that are dry-grown and on their own rootstocks. This is the epitome of Real Aussie Wine: wines that tell the drinker where they are from in the most honest and real way possible.
I was also blown away by 2007 Tyrrell's Shiraz Hunter Valley Old Patch 1867. The red is made from two acres of ungrafted Syrah vines planted in 1867. This is older than virtually anything in Europe. And what a wine! It shows subtle yet intense aromas of smoked meat, berries and tar. It’s full and dense yet so balanced and beautiful. The finish is phenomenal with fabulous length. It’s 98 points.
Other names to search out include Brokenwood Wines, Castagna, Giaconda, Jamsheed, Syrahmi, and Thomas Wines. But so many other outstanding #realaussiewine Syrahs are available in this report, and we haven’t even touched ground in Barossa, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, and other key appellations. More to come!
