Australian wine

Australian wine is classified by Geographical Indications, GIs for short. A GI says where the grapes were grown: only wine from grapes within a defined boundary may carry that name, such as Margaret River or Barossa Valley. The boundaries are set out in law and in the Register of Protected Geographical Indications of Wine Australia.

The system has three layers:

• Zones: large areas that together cover the whole of Australia, first established in December 1996.
• Regions: smaller parts within a zone, delimited on the basis of the conditions for viticulture.
• Subregions: parts within a region, following the same criteria.

In addition there are super-zones, such as South Eastern Australia, which cover several zones. Unlike in France or Italy, a GI only says something about origin, not about permitted grapes or yield.

The best-known regions are in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. A few names you often come across on a label:

• Barossa Valley (Barossa zone): viticulture since 1842, shiraz accounts for about half of the plantings. Shiraz vines from 1843 stand here.
• McLaren Vale: a region in the Fleurieu zone.
• Coonawarra (Limestone Coast zone): known for the terra rossa, a thin iron-rich topsoil over limestone, and for cabernet sauvignon.
• Margaret River in the far southwest of Western Australia: cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and semillon.
• Hunter Valley in New South Wales: according to Wine Australia the oldest wine region in the country, with semillon and shiraz as the main grapes.

Shiraz is the most planted wine grape in Australia. According to Wine Australia there were about 39,893 hectares in 2019-2020, which makes Australia the world's second shiraz country after France. The grape grows in most Australian wine regions.

Australia also has the oldest still-productive shiraz vineyards in the world. The earliest documented planting dates from 1843, at Langmeil in the Barossa Valley. Other historic vineyards are Turkey Flat from 1847 and Tahbilk from 1860. These are ungrafted vines from before the grape louse, phylloxera.

Shiraz is known in France as syrah: it is the same grape. In Australia the name shiraz is common, also on the label.

A GSM is a red blend of grenache, shiraz and mataro. Mataro is the Australian name for mourvèdre, the grape of the southern Rhône. The letters stand for the three grapes.

Wine Australia attributes the rise of this blend to Charlie Melton, a winemaker in the Barossa. At a time when many people in the Australian wine world were complaining about the amount of grenache planted, he saw opportunities in the old, non-irrigated grenache vines. He combined them with shiraz and mourvèdre. Winemakers in other classic regions then followed with their own version.

A second typically Australian blend is cabernet-shiraz. Wine Australia calls it the great Australian red blend, made well known through Max Schubert and Penfolds Bin 389, first bottled in 1960.

On an Australian label the 85% rule applies. Anyone who names one origin, one grape or one vintage must meet that statement for at least 85 percent. A bottle of Barossa Valley Shiraz 2022 therefore contains at least 85 percent wine from the Barossa Valley, 85 percent shiraz and 85 percent wine from 2022.

• Multiple grapes: the grapes named must together make up at least 85 percent and are listed in descending order. With Grenache-Shiraz-Mataro, grenache is therefore the largest part.
• Multiple origins: at most three GIs, each at least 5 percent, together at least 95 percent, in descending order.
• Multiple vintages: the vintages must together make up 100 percent.

The 85% rule for a single GI does not apply to the country statement. Wine Australia checks provenance through an audit programme: wineries must be able to show from their records where the grapes come from.

’t Bockje stocks Australian wine from five houses, with Yalumba offering the widest choice. Yalumba was founded in 1849 by the English brewer Samuel Smith and calls itself Australia's oldest family-owned winery. Tahbilk in the Nagambie Lakes region in Victoria has shiraz vines from 1860.

• Yalumba Samuel’s Collection: Barossa Bush Vine Grenache, Grenache-Shiraz-Mataro, Roussanne, Shiraz and Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Oxford Landing Estates: Cabernet-Shiraz, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz.
• Carson’s: Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz and Chardonnay.
• Tahbilk: Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier.
• Jacob’s Creek: Pinot Grigio.

Would you like to compare a GSM with a straight shiraz, or are you looking for something for a dinner? Drop by at Brink 2 in Bathmen or call 0570 541 278.

The shop is at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Open Tuesday to Friday from 09.00 to 18.00 and Saturday from 09.00 to 17.00. For advice, call 0570 541 278 or email info@bockje.nl.