One grape, many guises: The wonderful varied world of shiraz

The Freedom vineyard, possibly Australia's oldest shiraz. Pictures: Langmeil Wines

The Australian spiritual home of shiraz is undoubtedly the Barossa, where there are quite a few wines made from vines planted more than a century ago. Intriguingly, as the vines age, the wines become perhaps more approachable and less alcoholic. I’m no great fan of 15%-plus examples, finding them less food-friendly and more overwhelming, particularly when paired with lashings of new American oak. 

For this reason, I have always preferred Penfolds Magill Estate (matured in new and used French oak) and St Henri (matured in big old oak) to Grange (very rich and concentrated and featuring lots of new American oak). While Magill is sourced totally from Penfolds estate of that name in suburban Adelaide, much of Grange and St Henri come from Penfolds’ Barossa vineyards, including the aptly renowned Kalimna and Koonunga Hill vines. It’s not publicly documented but I suspect a lot of the fruit for the company’s legendary Grandfather and Great Grandfather tawnies also comes from those vineyards. 

That aside, there are so many wonderful shirazes to be found in the Barossa it would be impossible to name them all, even it several columns. Among the lovely old-vine wines is the Langmeil Freedom shiraz, made from vines planted in 1843, while Saltram releases another magnificent red sourced from very old vines and St Hallett’s Old Block comes from vines with a minimum age of 50 years and with some from vines planted in 1858.

And you just have to venture to the neighbouring Eden Valley to finds such wonders as Henschke Hill of Grace, Mount Edelstone, Tappa Pass and The Wheelwright and Brockenchack with its Jack Harrison and Zipline shirazes (and William Frederick when it is in stock). 

Similarly, McLaren Vale has some lovely examples of the variety, from Woodstock’s Old Stocks, Coriole Willunga 1920 Reserve, Paxton, Gemtree, Yangarra, to name but a few). It’s also interesting to compare the different characters of the various sub-regions such as Blewitt Springs, which can be lighter and with more spice and pepper than those from areas closer to the coastline. And exploring the wonders of Hardys Tintara and their Chateau Reynella shiraz offerings is another amazing treat.

Then you can go off to other South Australian regions such as Langhorne Creek or the Clare Valley and the Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra (its reputation now is based on cabernet sauvignon but it was shiraz that first put the area on the map and there are numerous wines from old and younger vines) and the Limestone Coast, Padthaway or the Riverland and find even more variations on the theme.

Next column, I will look at other states to examine their contributions to the wonderful world of shiraz.