The results
The Shiraz landscape is shifting and there are many excellent wines at the premium levels – especially if you wait a few years before opening them, says Amy Wislocki
AFTer TWo DAyS tasting their way through 165 Australian Shiraz priced at £15 and above, our experts emerged ebullient. ‘Delighted!’ exclaimed roger Jones. ‘on this showing, I’m impressed by where Australia is going in terms of its premium Shiraz,’ agreed Tina Gellie.
The competition from other global wine regions is stiff. ‘There’s Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand, for example,’ said Jones, ‘and South Africa is on the up.’ Anthony rose concurred: ‘Many countries and regions are doing a fantastic job with Shiraz, but Australia is still at the forefront of that variety and breadth of regionality.’
In the discussion around specific regions, there were clear front-runners. Gellie pronounced Adelaide Hills ‘by far the standout region’ for its purity and vibrancy.
For Jones, it was Adelaide Hills too, with Clare Valley hot on its heels. ‘Adelaide Hills was absolutely stunning: fresh, focused, exciting and linear. It’s Syrah to me, not Shiraz. you sip these wines and it’s perfection. Clare is another exciting area – I like the perfumed restraint and elegance. I think it will take over from Barossa,’ he said.
‘In a sense, Adelaide Hills is a newcomer and it did brilliantly in the tasting,’ added rose, who also loved the Clare wines. He also tipped Frankland river in Western Australia as a promising source of premium Shiraz.
As rose pointed out, however, winemaking styles are so varied that it would be misleading to attribute a single style to each region. ‘The region is a guideline, but what’s more important – and more interesting ultimately – is the producer, the brand and the winemaker,’ he said. ‘Within each region there’s a massive variation in winemaking styles, from the almost medium-bodied to the very full-bodied to the overly full-bodied, super-ripe, Porty styles that are traditional.’
He added that the best wines were those that have ‘human input in the vineyard; where the winemaker has
made sure to have raw material which constitutes 90% of the quality and character of the wine. The quality in the vineyard really shone through.’
The main message to come through was that these are, in the main, wines that need time to show at their best. ‘Please buy these young wines, but give them time in the cellar,’ urged rose, ‘in particular the Barossa and McLaren Vale wines. eight, 10 or even 12 years makes all the difference when it comes to complexity.’
‘We worked out quite quickly that you can’t taste Barossa wines for at least three or four years – and I’d hold off drinking them for at least 10,’ agreed Jones. ‘Lower-priced wines don’t need as much cellar time, but I’m concerned that producers are releasing £60 bottles of 2016 Shiraz now.’ Gellie agreed. ‘I know it’s expensive to keep wines back, but these are being released too early,’ she said. ‘The best wines were those with three or four years of bottle age, and unfortunately most consumers aren’t getting to see or appreciate them.’
‘overall, 2014 seemed to be the point at which we could taste the maturing style of wine people would want to buy – savoury wines with more nuance and interest,’ she added. ‘The 2016s and 2015s were pretty closed,’ agreed Jones. ‘once you got to the 2014s you suddenly saw excitement.’
Buy these premium wines, our tasters agreed, be patient and lay them down – even for just a few years, though ideally longer – and you will be rewarded.
‘What’s more important – and more interesting ultimately – is the producer, the brand, the winemaker’ Anthony Rose