Australian red wines are celebrated globally for their diversity, bold flavors, and unique regional expressions and offer a captivating journey through diverse terroirs, grape varieties, and winemaking styles. Each bottle tells a unique story of the land and the passionate hands that craft it.
Australian Shiraz
There is no other grape that is more synonymous to Australia than Shiraz. Shiraz is the cornerstone of Australia’s viticultural heritage. Widely planted and available across all Australian wine regions, Shiraz is capable of producing everything from affordable, BBQ reds to magnificent, age-worthy classics that are truly world-class. Shiraz vines thrive in Australia’s warm climate and various soil types and red wine drinkers love the packed rich fruit flavours, texture, and seamless balance. Shiraz is one of the original varieties planted in Australia, full bodied with bold, upfront dark blackberry and plum fruit, most often made with oak (toasted American oak for vanilla characters or French oak for subtler cedar notes). Shiraz is grown in 60 out of 65 Australian wine regions and known as Syrah in many parts of the world.
Australia adopted the name Shiraz in the mid 19th century and used today to differentiate its style from that of Europe and other Shiraz producers. The most prominent Shiraz producers come from the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale in South Australia.
Australian Sparkling Shiraz
Australia also producers a sparkling shiraz which, whilst popular and enjoyed across the country its not known so much outside of Australia. The style boasts a velvety palate, sweet blackberries, blueberries, cherries and spice. Australia has been producing a sparkling Burgundy with shiraz fruit since 1881. Other red varieties are also used in fermentation however shiraz is the most popular.
Australian Pinot Noir
Not just surviving but thriving in some of Australia’s coolest regions, the temperamental Pinot Noir might have arrived late to the commercial wine community, but it has now firmly established itself as an integral variety. Australian winemakers have skillfully crafted a unique regional expression of this delicate grape. With its elusive and romantic character, it has secured its place among the heavy-hitting red wines.
Australian Pinot Noir is an outstanding wine of subtlety, elegance and finesse and truly shines in the country’s cool climate regions, where winemakers have harnessed its potential to create exceptional wines. The most prominent Pinot Noir producers come from Victoria and Tasmania.
Australian Cabernet Sauvignon
Australian Cabernet Sauvignon is a captivating wine variety of serious personality, elegance, and finesse that thrives in some of Australia’s coolest corners. Australia boasts some of the world’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, with plantings dating back to the mid-1800s. Winemakers in Australia honour classic techniques while also pushing boundaries to create innovative expressions of this grape with deep purple hues, Australian Cabernet Sauvignon bursts with flavours of dark berries and cherries. It’s a vibrant, intense wine that refuses to be a wallflower. The most prominent producers come from South Australia's Coonawarra and the Margaret River in Western Australia.
Australian Red Blends
Australian blended red wines offer a delightful fusion of grape varieties, resulting in complex and flavourful profiles. Shiraz is the dominant variant used for blended reds in Australia combined with other varieties for a distinctly ripe and open style. – its colour, aroma, texture and flavours boosted by the character traits of its blending partner.
GSM - Grenach, Shiraz, Mouvedre
Australian winemakers, particularly those in South Australia’s Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, have enthusiastically adopted the winemaking style made famous in France’s Rhône region. The key to its success lies in skillfully blending different proportions of each grape variety, with Shiraz frequently taking center stage
Shiraz Cabernet
A uniquely Australian blend where these two varieties are often blended together to form wines that are complex and robust, with incredible ageing potential. In many cases the two varieties come from different regions either in the same or different state. Multi-regional blending allows winemakers to source fruit from where it grows best. Known for its ripe, open nature, Shiraz contributes flavors of blackberries, plums, and spices whilst Cabernet Sauvignon adds structure, cassis, blackcurrant, and herbal notes. Together, they create wines that are bold, rich, and full-bodied.
Shiraz Viognier
Shiraz Viognier is a captivating blend that has gained recognition and popularity in Australia. The shiraz delivers black fruits (blackberries, plums, black cherries) and spices and the viognier brings flavours of stone fruits (peach, apricot) which brings a touch of elegance and complexity adding sheen and perfume to the final product.
Clonakilla Wines, Canberra District NSW.
