The Next Shiraz
By: Darby Higgs
Shiraz is the dominant red winegrape variety in Australia. It is the
key component of Grange, the flagship Australian wine label. At the
other end of the scale it makes up the bulk of the cheap and cheerful
red wines in the everyday bottled brands such as Jacobs Creek, Oxford
Landing and yellowtail.
But Shiraz has not always held such a hold over the market. Until the
mid nineties Cabernet Sauvignon was regarded as the superior variety
and this was reflected in the prices paid at the cellar door. But the
demand for exports has been mainly for Australian Shiraz and thus
Cabernet has lost ground in the battle for consumer preference in
Australia as well.
Shiraz's reign at the top of the tree really started in the middle of
the 1950s when it replaced Grenache as the most popular red winegrape
variety. In those days a much larger proportion of the wine market
was devoted to fortified wine, what we used to call Port.
Looking into the future the role of Shiraz seems unassailable, but
there are a few challengers on the horizon. The wine consumer is a
fickle creature and fashions can change fairly quickly.
Merlot is the third most popular red winegrape variety in Australia.
Much of the production goes into blends with Cabernet Sauvignon,
reflecting its major role in Bordeaux. There are quite a few varietal
merlots also produced. There are two reasons for thinking that Merlot
won't displace Shiraz as our major tipple. Firstly there are
viticultural problems relating to poor clones and it performs poorly
in cooler regions. Secondly at the consumer end the wine often lacks
a distinctive varietal character. There seems to be no consensus
among winemakers about what a good merlot should be like. Meanwhile
consumers think of Merlot as meaning mellow. It is hard to find any
passion, for or against, this variety.
Another contender is Grenache. This variety is widely planted in
South Australia, particularly in the Barossa and McLaren Vale regions.
In the 1980s it was subject to government sponsored vine pull schemes
in the belief that its days were over. Its star is on the rise again
both as a varietal and as the key to blends with Shiraz and Morvedre.
Notwithstanding this recent return to favour, Grenache will not
seriously challenge Shiraz because of its need for a relatively warm
climate.
Sangiovese is a variety with a large and growing fan club. There are
now over a hundred winemakers using this variety. One factor which
has held the variety back in the past has been clonal variation, this
has been overcome by careful selection by vine nurseries. Over the
past few years a significant number of producers have been able to
show just what the variety is capable of. The wines show plum and
cherry flavours and to my mind these flavours as well as the Italian
wine textures will mean that the bandwagon for this variety will keep
rolling for quite a while. The number of winemakers and consumers in
Australia with an Italian background continues to provide plenty of
champions for the variety.
Spain's answer to Sangiovese is Tempranillo. It is growing in
popularity in many Australian wine regions. To a large extent the
jury is still as many of the plantings are still quite new. Among the
champions of the variety are James Halliday and Mark Walpole of Brown
Brothers. Tempranillo matures a little earlier than Shiraz or
Sangiovese so it can be grown in slightly cooler regions, Indeed
Manton Creek Vineyard in the Mornington Peninsula is one of the more
highly regarded producers.
The Durif variety is regarded as a warm climate variety, indeed it
seemed as though Rutherglen held a monopoly on the variety. But in
fact is relatively early ripening, as demonstrated by John Vale at
Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula. The outstanding feature of
Durif is the high level of tannins, but if these can be mastered then
There are a few other varieties attracting attention which will figure
in the mix over the next decade or so. Petit verdot is becoming much
more popular in the warmer areas. It was pioneered in Australia by
Pirramirra in McLaren Vale but it is now grown extensively in the
Murray Darling and Riverina.
Barbera and Nebbiolo are the two other Italian varieties which are
highly regarded in Australia. Lagrein is a little known Italian
variety, in fact it is from the North East of Italy. It is an early
ripening variety and as such can be grown in the cooler climates.
Cobaw Ridge in the Macedon Ranges region has a wonderful Lagrein.
So what is the verdict? Which red winegrape variety will be the next
Shiraz? It seems to be a contest between Sangiovese and Tempranillo,
with both camps having some firm adherents. My money at this stage
goes with Sangiovese, it has the runs on the board.
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About The Author
Darby Higgs is an expert on Australian wine made from unusual grape
varieties. His informative website Vinodiversity can be found at
http://www.vinodiversity.com
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This article was posted on July 10, 2005
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