A History Of Barossa Shiraz

Shiraz, sometimes referred to in other parts of the world as Syrah, is a dark skinned grape which makes bold, strong and powerful red wines. It is popular on its own or mixed with other grape varieties, most commonly Cabernet Sauvignon. Shiraz has an interesting history, introduced into Australia in 1832 by Englishman James Busby, and in 1839 it was brought to South Australia and within 20 to 30 years during the 1860’s it became an important variety produced within Australia. Today Shiraz is the most widely planted grape variety in Australia, representing 40% of the entire red grape variety in production.   

The history of the Barossa Shiraz is quite interesting.  Originally only ever used for producing fortified wines because of its intense flavours, the Barossa Shiraz is a relatively newcomer onto the world wine stage.  At one stage, at the height of the popularity of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay wines, the South Australian government implemented a scheme to remove Shiraz vines to replace them with the more in vogue wines.  Fortunately for the industry today, some Barossa Shiraz growers refused to remove their vines, which is why we have some of the oldest Shiraz vines in the world.  Today, Shiraz wine is the most popular variety both throughout Australia and on the international market.  Its revival as a stand out wine in itself began when Australian wines became an international focus, and in particular what the Barossa Shiraz was capable of producing.  The wines coming out of this region were complex and bold, with soft tannins and a powerful ripe fruity flavour.   

The Barossa Shiraz is renowned for its chocolately, plum flavours which come about from the warm climate of the Barossa Valley region.  It is a versatile wine which is able to be appreciated immediately, but receives most notoriety once it has had a chance to age, more popularly in old American or French oak barrels.  This is when the Barossa Shiraz really comes to life!  Shiraz grapes grown in cooler climates tend to have rich spicy, cherry flavours. 

The 2005-2006 growing season saw Australia’s total Shiraz vines planted to be a total of 101,600 acres, and these vines yielded in total 422,430 tonnes of Shiraz grapes for wine production.  Australia has the second largest plantation of Shiraz vines, second only to France.  Probably the most famous Barossa Shiraz to be produced is Penfolds ‘Grange’ created in 1951 by winemaker Max Schubert.  Today many Shiras wines produced in the Barossa Valley have won many coveted international awards. 

The Barossa Valley is fortunate to have some excellent winemakers who are able to take the best of what the Barossa can produce and make modern, complex powerful full bodied Shiraz wines with rich bold chocolately dark plum flavours, and strong tannins, which over time if left to bottle and mature only get better and better with age.