Andrew Caillard, MW is a specialist wine auctioneer and fine wine principal of Langton’s, Australia’s leading wine auction house

Partial text from the book of “A Taste of the World of Wine” - co-authored by Andrew Caillard, Patrick Iland, Peter Gago and Peter Dry

Intro

The success of the Rhone’s distinctively aromatic wines inspired a new genre of shiraz-viognier in Australia and captured the imagination of wine makers in California and South Africa.

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Syrah also known as Shiraz is renowned for its exotic perfume, buoyancy of fruit and velvety tannin structure. Its origins are steeped in romance, but modern DNA testing suggests that it is a native of the Rhone Valley, France.

Syrah is commonly used by the French, whereas Shiraz is a derivative of the colonial Australian misspelling Scyras. Older Australian bottlings of Shiraz are labelled “Hermitage” also reflecting the grape variety’s origin.

Its native home – France

Syrah is the only permitted Red grape variety in the Northern Rhone. It reaches its most poetic and ethereal quality in the wines of Hermitage and Cote Rotie. The granitic hill of Hermitage lies above the town of Tain and is renowned for its long-lived medium to full bodied reds. In the 1830s Hermitage was regarded as a “wine of first class”. Typically Hermitage is powerfully intense and smells of black pepper, blackberry redcurrants and violets. The tannins are quite muscular but grainy and long. In the 18th century the Bordelais would add Hermitage to their blends to give density and richness! (This practice called “Hermitagé” is long-since banned under appellation controlee rules.) Hermitage can age for decades developing coffee/ tobacco/ cedar characters and softer loose knit grainy tannins. The pepper quality is often present in mature wines.

Cote Rotie meaning “roasted Hillside is the northern most appellation for Syrah. Created only in 1940 its single vineyard wines – made famous by Etienne Guigal’s La Landonne, La Mouline and La Turque. The vineyards of Cote Rotie are interplanted with Viognier; a white grape renowned for its heady perfume and tannin. Typically it will show fresh camomile/ apricot/ blackberry/ pepper aromas and meaty/ herb garden notes. The palate is quite seductive, and almost Pinot Noir like with meaty/ gamey flavours and slinky loose knit tannins.

Cornas, Crozes Hermitage and St Joseph are neighbouring appellations and possess similar regional pepper/ red berry fruit characters. The wines are generally medium bodied with moderate alcohols and fine supple tannins. Cornas is known for its earthy nuances and sturdy structure, whereas both Crozes Hermitage and St Joseph are more perfumed, rounded and reminiscent of Hermitage.

Its new playground - Australia

The origins of Shiraz in Australia start around 1832 when James Busby - brought vine cuttings to Australia and planted them in the Botanic Gardens, at Camden and at Kirkton in the Hunter Valley. Australia’s inheritance of 19th century plantings, remarkable diversity of landscapes, vineyards, winemaking philosophy and willingness to try new ideas has resulted in a remarkable diaspora of regional and house style.

The post-war story of Australian Shiraz is remarkable. The techniques employed in the research and development of Penfolds Grange – Australia’s most famous wine – percolated throughout the wine industry. Grange is a distinctive style which owes as much to innovation, as it does to winemaking tradition and to the warm flaxen landscape of South Australia. Regional and cross regional blends have resulted in a remarkable diversity of wine style.

Hunter Valley Shiraz is typically medium bodied with blackberry/ raspberry aromas, fine sweet tannins and underlying savoury oak. These moderate alcohol wines can develop walnut/ earthy/ polished leather complexity with age.

Barossa Shiraz is usually full bodied with moderate to high alcohols. They often show deep-set dark berry/ dark-chocolate/ paneforte aromas and flavours, plenty of fruit sweetness and ripe tannins structures. Wines from the Eden Valley – especially Henschke Hill of Grace – possess fragrant red cherry/ blackberry/ sage/ herb garden characters and slinky loose knit tannins. These wines develop mocha/ demi-glace/ earthy characters with maturity.

McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Coonawarra Shiraz are medium to full-bodied. Mclaren Vale shiraz is with generous blackberry/ chocolate fruit, mid-palate richness and plentiful ripe tannins. From Clare Valley, shiraz is with dark berry/ cedar/ briary/ mint aromas and muscular/ sinewy tannins. Coonawarra’s is with cassis/ blackberry/ mint aromas and soft chalky/ fine grained tannins.

Central Victorian Shiraz including Heathcote Grampians and Pyrenees are very perfumed with dark chocolate/ blueberry/ redcurrant/ white pepper/ violet aromas and flavours. These moderate alcohol wines have a spicy/ mineral quality and fine supple tannins. Oak generally plays a supporting role. Many of these wines are long-lived and develop coffee/ truffle nuances with age.

While Australia inherited shiraz from France and owes much of its winemaking philosophies to the European tradition, Australia has reached a remarkable tipping point. The 2010s may well be seen as a time when Australian greatest shirazes transcend the current status quo.

World Traveller

The world of Syrah/Shiraz is changing rapidly. It is being planted in almost every region around the world. Syrah/Shiraz wines are found across several established and emerging regions in France, Australia, New Zealand, California, Washington State, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Switzerland and Italy. The evolution of the new regions will lead to many exciting wines in the future.

Ultimately it is the aesthetic of Syrah/Shiraz rather than necessarily the evocation of terroir that will capture the imagination of wine consumers in modern times. The sheer consistency of this variety but compelling difference in character and style across several continents is quite remarkable. It is only a matter of time before the China market awakens to the charm and deliciousness of Syrah/ Shiraz.

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Wine Styles

Medium bodied wines are mostly elegantly proportioned styles with moderate alcohol and weight. The aroma profile is dependant on the region of origin. Cool to moderate climate Shiraz can show distinct cracked pepper, white pepper, pure blackberry, raspberry, red cherry aromas, fruit richness and fine dusty/ chalky tannins. In riper vintages the wines can show pure black fruit aromas and velvety/ slinky tannins. In difficult vintages herbal/ herbaceous/ sappy characters can pervade through the wine adding bitter/ astringent notes.

Full bodied wines are typically generously flavoured and powerful with moderate to high alcohol. These intense, concentrated styles often show plum, mulberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, dark chocolate, licorice aromas, plenty of fruit sweetness dense velvety/ chocolaty tannins and flavour length. Sometimes Shiraz is partially barrel fermented in new oak resulting in further meaty complexity, roundness of flavour and supple integrated tannins. If unbalanced or underpowered, the alcohol can poke through giving the impression of heat on the back palate. If well balanced, full-bodied wines can age beautifully developing chocolate, coffee, gamey, roasted meat and leathery aromas and flavours. The tannins smooth out becoming supple and silky.

Ageing potential of most Syrah/Shiraz is around 5 to 10 years, but the very best have greater longevity. A top Rhone or Australian Syrah/ Shiraz can develop in the cellar for 20 to 30 years.

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