Wine = Barossa Valley Shiraz

The beautiful Barossa Valley,  situated about 1 hour North of Adelaide, South Australia; has built up a great reputation for being one of the premium regions of the world for grape and wine production.  Since settlement of the valley in the mid 1800's by Lutheran settlers from Germany this Valley of rich soil, perfect climate and abundance of water has grown and continued to produce world class wines.  In particular, as one of the first varieties planted in the Barossa Valley, Shiraz or Syrah has always been a mainstay and now particular sought after wine variety.  Shiraz vines loved the climate of the Barossa Valley floor and still do.  Many wineries today big and small go to great lengths to seek out top growers who have followed long traditions of hand picked, dry grown fruit which can only contain the best Shiraz characteristcs, nose and palate.  Some of the oldest vines in the Barossa are over 100 years old and still produce the popular variety.  Of course the Barossa Valley also produces great wines of other varieties and blends, but as one of my favourites, Shiraz is the main topic for this hub.

Shiraz grapes, like any, are grown from vines in vineyards right across the world and in particular in the Barossa Valley.  The Shiraz or Syrah grapes are classed as a red grape, but this not totally true.  Its skin is deep red in colour, almost Blueberry in colour, but the flesh of the grape is indeed white.  Shiraz wine gets all of it red wine colour from the skins of the grape.  Once harvested and crushed, winemakers leave the juice with the skins to start fermentation and colour the juice to give the beautiful deep Shiraz red in the glass.

Of course Shiraz as a grape variety has its own flavour character which contributes to the end result of the wine.  As does the processes used by the wine makers, including fermentation, aging, storing in oak barrels that also give Shiraz wine the full bodied and much loved wine everywhere.  Wines, and in this case Shiraz, also can develop different characteristics from soil differecnes, different climates and time to ripen.  Once picked and wine production starts these characterisitics or nose/palate of the wine help determine the wine and in the hands of a seasoned taster they can decribe, grape, year and region just from the palate and nose of a wine.  When tasting Shiraz these will be of the more dominant flavours or characteristics you will encounter - Black olive, Pepper, Mulberry, Chocolate, Spice, Plum, Cherry, Leather, Salami and Raspberry.  A personal story about the chocolate characteristic of Shiraz is upon collecting my Father from Torbreck Winery, he was delivering a load of Shiraz to this winery after hand picking throughout the day, I remember jumping out of the car to be met head on with the beautiful aroma of fresh Chocolate cake as open fermenters fermented Shiraz grapes.

The best thing for those who like to taste wine, is remember, that there is no completely right or wrong answer to what your palate picks up and certainly if you like the wine, Drink It!  But I do find that it is always fun to determine what your nose and palate are telling you in terms of the Shiraz you are drinking. Go on give it a go next time you enjoy a glass of Shiraz or any wine for that matter!

Having lived in the Barossa for much of my life, now in Tropical North Queensland, I do have some favourite Shiraz wines or wineries, I will share with you.  If you can look out for them in your local wine or bottle shop. (Always remember enjoy in moderation...)  Of course this list may seem a little bias, but I like to support local producers as much as possible.

Bucklands Estate - producing 'Old Vine Shiraz' & 'Nightburner Shiraz' (reserve)

Rockford Wines - producing 'Black Shiraz' (Sparkling wine), 'Basket Press Shiraz' & 'Shiraz Vintage Port'

Peter Lehmann Wines - producing 'Black Queen Sparkling Shiraz', 'Stonewell Shiraz', 'Barossa Shiraz' and 'King Vintage Port'

St Hallet Wines - producing 'Old Block' Shiraz & 'Faith' Shiraz

Penfolds - producing 'Grange Hermitage' & 'Magill Estate' Shiraz

I hope the list gives you something to look for next time you are looking for a Shiraz to have with your next dinner, and of course remember that there are many Barossa wineries not listed above who also create beautifully crafted wines ready to be enjoyed.

PROST! and Cheers!