IMBIBE: SHIRAZ & DRINKS NEWS

MERMAIDMARY recommends a robust shiraz to warm the cockles on a winter evening

Although it’s nearly the end of winter, it still feels as if there are quite a few long dark nights still ahead of us… the good news is that there’s wine for that. Robust and full bodied with aromas of dark fruit, pepper and warming spice, shiraz is the perfect accompaniment to a dark winter’s night.

It’s a lesser known fact that shiraz and syrah are the same wine. Well, kind of. They are both made from the syrah grape which originates from the southeast of France. While the rest of the world refers to wine made with the syrah grape as syrah, Australia calls it shiraz. To my mind it’s appropriate that it be called a different name as Australian shiraz is quite a different wine to its cooler-climate sister syrah.

Traditionally, shiraz has been a beast of a wine. Coming from such a hot climate, over-ripened grapes have resulted in highly tannic, jammy, high alcohol wines that a colleague of mine jokingly refers to as “the perfect wine match for roast wombat”. This questionable history has caused people to consider shiraz as an inferior choice. There’s no doubt that historically there have been some bad decisions made, but I can assure you that Australian winemakers have learned from the past and you’ll be spellbound by the remarkable shiraz produced across the Tasman these days.

Shiraz is fantastic to drink now – equally it ages beautifully for quite some time – and represents excellent value for money. While it’s a full bodied wine, the best examples have an underlying subtlety and delicacy throughout the palate that allows the fruit to shine. It is both rich and luscious, yet elegant and refined.

Try chilling your shiraz for 30 minutes in the fridge before drinking to bring forward its flavours and complexity.