Australia Day: the Top 50 Great Australian Reds
It’s that time of the year again. The Australian Meat and Livestock Corporation has aired its advertisement for Invasion Day (it couldn’t even bring itself to mention the nation’s anniversary as it navigated the shallow waters of racial sensitivity) and bogans everywhere are starting to plan their assault on Australia’s beaches on with flags fluttering from the last examples of the country’s car production industry. Good times.
Just before you race off to the nearest $2 Store to grab its dwindling stocks of southern cross tattoos, green and gold singlets made in China and a handful of blue and white face paint, remind yourself that Australia Day is also the perfect excuse to celebrate one of the few things this country does well on an international scale: make wine.
Australia’s phalanx of foreign-owned beermakers might proclaim January 26 as their own but drinking local these days is more likely to mean downing a glass of fermented grape juice than reaching for a coldy. So what better way to say g’day to your guests this Thursday than hand them a glass of the one wine that Australia can proudly call its own: cabernet shiraz.
Cabernet shiraz is a strange beast. Cabernet is the foundation of France’s mighty Bordeaux appellations in the south-west while Shiraz, or Syrah as the Frogs would have it, was mostly limited to the northern stretches of the Rhone in the south-east until 1970. Mixing the two would have never occurred to the highly traditional French who no doubt recoiled in “horreur” when first confronted with the blend in 1960. That particular innovation belonged to legendary Penfold’s winemaker Max Schubert who combined the two grapes under the Bin 389 label. Penfold’s now regards the event as the single most important reason the producer started building its reputation with red wine drinkers. So much for Grange – 389’s considerably more expensive shiraz stablemate! Max’s efforts must have impressed the French who have finally jumped on board with some blending of the two now occurring in Provence, according to world wine authority Jancis Robinson.
More than 700 examples of cabernet shiraz were presented to Australian wine shows last year. As with our other lists, we have delved into the 39,000 scores awarded by the 53 shows we’ve classified to try and identify the best of the breed. One show, the Great Australian Red wine show operated by Tyson Stelzer and Matthew Jukes, specialises in the blend. Their top picks last year were a $250/bottle flagship blend that’s yet to see the public light of day and a $9 bolter that apparently showed up wines many times its price. If you’re after Stelzer and Jukes’ pick, you can find the Tatachilla Partners cabernet shiraz 2015 for just $8.50 in a box of six from a well-known national liquor retailer. Their other picks included: Annie’s Lane at Quelltaler Shiraz Cabernet 2014, Fox Creek Wines JSM Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon-Cabernet Franc 2014, Jim Barry Wines PB 2014, Tahbilk Pty Ltd Old Vine Cabernet Shiraz 2014, The Lane Vineyard John Crighton 2012 and The Yalumba Wine Company Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz 2013. Nearly all of these were also represented in our own list of the Top 50.
Without any further ado – except to say Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi – we are pleased to present cabernet shiraz as our first Top 50 wine list for 2017:
| 1 | Lindemans Coonawarra Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet 2013 |
| 2 | Metala Shiraz Cabernet 2013 |
| 3 | Bleasdale Vineyards The Petrel 2015 |
| 4 | Hardys 165th Anniversary Cabernet Shiraz 2014 |
| 5 | Jim Barry Wines Barry Bros Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |
| 6 | Petersons of Mudgee Jamie’s Pick Cabernet Shiraz 2013 |
| 7 | Brown Brothers Ten Acres Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |
| 8 | Casella Family Brands Young Brute 2015 |
| 9 | Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2015 |
| 10 | Davis Premium Vineyards Stonefields ‘Arbitrage’ Cabernet Merlot Shiraz 2012 |
| 11 | Davis Premium Vineyards Stonefields ‘Arbitrage’ Cabernet Merlot Shiraz 2013 |
| 12 | Jim Barry Wines Pty Ltd The Pb Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2014 |
| 13 | Wangolina Shiraz Cabernet 2015 |
| 14 | W Salter & Son Pepperjack Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |
| 15 | Annies Lane At Quelltaler Quelltaler Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |
| 16 | Tyrrells Vineyards Pty Ltd Vat 8 Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |
| 17 | Miles From Nowhere Cabernet Merlot 2015 |
| 18 | Palmer Wines Grandee 2013 |
| 19 | Lindemans Coonawarra Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |
| 20 | The Yalumba Wine Company The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon shiraz 2013 |
| 21 | Jacobs Creek Wines Johann Shiraz Cabernet 2013 |
| 22 | Wolf Blass Grey Label Cabernet Shiraz 2013 |
| 23 | Jacobs Creek Wines Johann Shiraz Cabernet 2012 |
| 24 | Echelon Wine Partners Wildling Signature Reserve 2014 |
| 25 | Lake Breeze Bernoota Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |
| 26 | Pinnacle Stonyfell The Baton Shiraz Cabernet 2013 |
| 27 | Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Shiraz 2012 |
| 28 | Henrys Drive Vignerons Pillar Box Red 2013 |
| 29 | DeBortoli Wines Sacred Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2015 |
| 30 | Annie’s Lane Winemakers Red 2014 |
| 31 | The Lane Vineyard John Crighton 2012 |
| 31 | The Yalumba Wine Company Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz 2013 |
| 31 | Tatachilla Wines Partners Cabernet Shiraz 2015 |
| 34 | Hentley Farm H Block 2014 |
| 35 | Wolf Blass Grey Label Cabernet Shiraz 2014 |
| 36 | Tahbilk Old Vine Cabernet Shiraz 2014 |
| 37 | James Busby Fine Wines The Coincidence Barossa Cabernet Shiraz 2013 |
| 38 | Greg Norman Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |
| 39 | Jim Barry Wines Barry Bros Shiraz Cabernet 2015 |
| 40 | Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Shiraz 2013 |
| 41 | Wynns Coonawarra Estate Pty Ltd V & A Lane Cabernet Shiraz 2013 |
| 42 | W Salter & Son Pepperjack Certified Shiraz Cabernet 2013 |
| 43 | Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2013 |
| 44 | St Hugo Cabernet Shiraz 2013 |
| 45 | Longview Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 |
| 46 | Echelon Wine Partners Wildling Signature Reserve 2013 |
| 47 | Pinnacle Drinks Cat Amongst the Pigeons Barossa Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |
| 48 | Echelon Wine Partners Wildling Signature Reserve 2012 |
| 49 | Tyrrells Vineyards Pty Ltd Vat 8 Shiraz Cabernet 2013 |
| 50 | Jacobs Creek Wines 1819 The Birth of Johann Shiraz Cabernet 2014 |