Classic Australian blend of red varieties gets better

Winemakers who work with Cabernet Sauvignon often refer to it as a doughnut. For all of its wonderful structure, fragrance and flavour, it can have a hole in the middle.

When you taste wines made from 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon grape varieties, they can give an instant impression of fruit flavour and a distinct impression of lingering flavour and tannin on the back end, leaving a hollow sensation on the mid-palate.

That’s why Cabernet Sauvignon is commonly blended with other red grape varieties — notably Merlot in Bordeaux, France, and many other regions — to add flesh to the wine’s core and fill in the palate.

Australian winemakers took a different approach. Without much quality Merlot on hand, they looked to another full-bodied and generous red variety to round out the palate of Cabernet Sauvignon. The resulting blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon has been an effective one-two punch for Aussie winemakers since the 1800s. Its uniqueness and enduring success has earned it the title of “the Great Australian red.”

A recent tasting of wines produced by Penfolds in Australia proved to be a good reminder of how successful Shiraz Cabernet blends can be across the board. Penfolds offers quite an array of the classic Australian blend, starting with the $20 Koonunga Hill label to the $99 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz and beyond.

This blend also plays into the hands of producers looking to make top quality, age-worthy red wines by narrowing their focus to only the best vineyards and parcels of grapes. Exciting examples are coming from most every Australian state, from Western Australia to New South Wales and Queensland.

Shiraz and Cabernet blends also give Australian winemakers the opportunity to produce consistent and affordable red wines that offer consumers good concentration and intensity of fruit flavours, as well as balance and finesse.

This is the style of red wine that’s going to bring consumers back to shopping in the Australian section of liquor stores. Two prime examples to sample are listed here.