Today’s Shiraz is more balanced, not as sweet
Two decades ago, the wine that ravished North Americans (“Take me, you savage!”) was Shiraz, the Australian version of the Rhone grape Syrah.
It was capable of producing ripe fruity wines that tasted like jam with tremendous tannins for hardcore carnivores. Since then it has fallen out of favour, although it still has fans. The Australian aisle at the SLGA is about a quarter of what it once was.
The wines have changed in style since then, retreating from that overblown, over-ripe flavour set. These days it has become a great deal more balanced. The residual sugar has been dialed back. The acidity is not really apparent, although it is there. In general, these are wines that make a pleasant cocktail and can segue into dinner seamlessly. This pretty much describes the drinking habits of most people reading this.
The Australian wines today also make for an interesting comparison with what the rest of the world is doing with the same grape. Thousands of hectares of Syrah were planted during the heyday, and now that the rush is passed, the winemakers are forced to rethink the grapes and make a wine they believe to be great, or at least decent.
I picked up a bottle of 1865 Syrah from Chile because I expected their slightly sterner style of winemaking to produce an interesting contrast. Chile, of course, became a sort of colonial producer during the era when California ran out of capacity. It was also slightly cheaper than Australia. In the meantime, they have continued to both improve their wines and head down a slightly more traditional path of winemaking.
San Pedro 1865 has more obvious acidity, and I’d guess was made from slightly less ripe wines than Australia. The bouquet smells vaguely of black and green olives with some herbs. The palate is a bit more aggressive, more of a food wine, nicely tart with a very long finish.
Kilikanoon Killerman’s Run is more of an Australian take on the grape. The back label specifies to serve it cold, at least five and more likely 10 degrees below room temperature. I suspect this is to bring the fresh fruit and acidity forward. The bouquet is spicy. The palate is rich, “onctueux” as the French would say, with the tannins just enough more controlled to keep me happy. I suspect this is a wine to drink around 2022 or ’25. If you fell in love with Shiraz in the ’90s, you’ll love this one.
Peter Lehmann Portrait is probably a pretty good snapshot of what the Barossa thinks a Shiraz should taste like now. He is a big producer who’s been around forever and owns some prime vineyards, and knows how to use them.
This isn’t like a wine of even a half dozen years ago. Although there’s some residual sugar there, it isn’t really a sweet wine. It will make a nice cocktail for all the wine swillers in the audience. And it will also do nicely with dinner. The bouquet is relaxed with some spice and vanilla. The acidity is mild. The general palate is fruity with finesse (no loud jammy flavours.) The finish is modest but long enough to note.
In short, this is the state of Shiraz today. I’m more likely to drink the Chilean version but I won’t turn a glass down if you offer me either Killerman or Portrait.
WINE OF THE WEEK:
Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz
■
2013, $25
Others:
Kilikanoon Killerman’s Run 2014, ■
$25
San Pedro 1865 Single Vineyard ■
Syrah 2014, $25
Types of bubbly next week. Other wine news on twitter.com/ drbooze