Barossa Valley is probably
the most well-known region of Australia. Wine is the synonym of
Barossa since 1842. The Barossa is an area that unites both Barossa
Valley and Eden Valley, and without any doubts we can say that is one
of the few Australian areas that distinguish with warm and cool
climate growing conditions.
Nowadays, the Barossa area
has more than 750 growing families that supply quality grapes to more
than 170 wine companies. And when it comes to wines, wine experts say
that the best Barossa wines can be compared with the best world
wines. Barossa Shiraz and the Eden Valley Riesling are among the most
popular Barossa
Valley wines along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Grenache, Mataro,
Semillon and Tawny. But there is no doubt that Shiraz and its blends
are the principal ingredients of Barossa's regional brand. It is a
genuine wine region specifically for Shiraz. It seems to have
abundant sunshine and because of the soil the flavours are extremely
concentrated with a lot of characteristics that make the Shiraz the
Australia's famous. Particularly, the full-bodied style is the thing
that everybody loves.
Recently Shiraz can be
divided into two categories: a low-yielded, dry and heavily
winery-worked style, with oak, ripeness and tannin; and a finer,
medium-bodied style, with low ripeness, new oak. The latter is also
more fragrant and floral in composition. Nowadays, both of these
styles can be found in the Barossa with its stylistic parameters.
Whichever style you choose is up to you, but one thing is certain
this is a must-try wine as it is the Country’s signature
expression.
Shiraz's Modern Evolution
In 1970 and 1980 the most
dominant Shiraz blend was the Shiraz-Cabernet blend or also referred
as “claret”. In 1990, Shiraz found its way with the Rhone-style
blends along with Mataro and Grenache, while in the beginning of the
2000's, the most popular Shiraz blend was Shiraz – Viognier because
of the heady, aromatic lift of the white grape.
Nowadays, we can see
Shiraz matched with more adventurous grapes like Malbec, Tempranillo,
Sangiovese, Touriga and more.
