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Just like most of the other countries around the world, Australia used to
import the great wines of France. They knew of and enjoyed the great
Bordeaux wines as well as fantastic Burgundy and so the wine drinking
culture in Australia caught fire, spreading rapidly. They brought in wine
experts from France to look into the possibility of Australia producing
their own wines. It was determined by these experts, that Australia, for
the most part, was just too hot and dry, and therefore, it would be highly
unlikely that they would ever produce wines of great quality. Now,
Australians, if you ask me, are a lot like us Texans in that if you tell them
that they cannot do something well, they are going to go to the tenth
degree just to prove you wrong. So they studied, researched, and
experimented until they felt confident they knew what they were doing
and began producing wines in Australia.
The popular wines of the day were Cabernet and Chardonnay, so they
focused mostly on those two styles of wine. Over the years one would
have to agree that the Australians indeed do make some high quality
Cabs and especially Chardonnay wines. Interestingly enough, while they
were doing all their investigative research into what locations in Australia
would be best suited for growing grapes, they kept finding this wild grape
that was already growing like a weed throughout Australia. This grape
was everywhere and was quite a nuisance! What the heck is this dad-
blasted grape that despite our best efforts to get rid of it, it just keeps
coming back, growing and thriving all over the place? It is getting in the
way of our plans to make great Cabernet wines! At first these
winemaking renegades seemed quite bent on plowing these wild grapes
up. They were taking up all of the most fertile and ideal land for growing
their Cabernet grapes. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for one of these
rebel rousers to say to themselves, “Heck, let’s see if we can make some
wine from this crazy grape!”
It is unclear to me whether or not that these early Australian Winemakers
knew what they had on their hands at the time, and whether or not that
they knew that this grape was indeed the same great noble Rhone, France
grape called Syrah. Maybe with their thick Australian accents, the word
Syrah just came out of their mouths as “Shiraz”. You choose your own
myth on this great debate, but whatever the outcome, you certainly can
make a strong argument that Australia makes a darn good Shiraz wine!
The Syrah grape does call Rhone, France it’s birthplace or homeland.
The Rhone wine region is in the southernmost part of France and it is well
known for it’s hot climate and dusty, chalky soils. Call it coincidence, but
these are the same conditions found in a large part of Australia. They are
also the same conditions we have here in Texas and it is for that reason
that I believe Syrah/Shiraz could be one of the grapes that could put the
State of Texas on the proverbial map as a source of great world class
wines. (See my article on Llano)
I remember a conversation I had with an enthusiastic wine salesman in a
retail store back when I first started drinking wine. He was trying to sell
me on the idea of purchasing one of these Syrah treats from the Rhone
Valley. He described to me all of the flavors with such pride and fervor,
“This wine has hidden deep within it’s inky dark purple color, thick jammy
tar, tobacco, hearty meat, beef and stew flavors, a bit of pencil lead and
essence of smoke on the finish”. My response to him was “And people
want to drink this?”
Well as unorthodox as these flavors sound in a beverage to be consumed
for your enjoyment, they are actually quite delectable! You can find some
or all of these flavor profiles in a bottle of Syrah/Shiraz as well as
bountiful blackberry, raspberry, licorice and black or white pepper
overtones. It is a very intense, rich and tannic wine with a full body and
velvety texture. You can find examples of it made in France, Australia,
California and even South Africa. All of these places make some
excellent versions of the wine.
Syrah/Shiraz has replaced Merlot as the in-fashion red wine to drink now.
You will find many examples of it currently on wine menus throughout the
restaurants the whole world over. They really do pair nicely with hearty
foods, meats and cheeses. Although the French make some really
brilliant examples of wines made from the grape, I truly believe that we
have those swashbuckling hero’s from Australia to think for Syrah/Shiraz’
s popularity in our own Country these days. Which just goes to show,
when it comes to making wine, sometimes your better off just going with
what Mother Nature is trying to sell you!
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