To celebrate Australia Day lets have a look at the most prestigeous of the Australian wine regions - The Barossa, South Australia. The Barossa is North of Adelaide and boasts some of the oldest vines in the world as by some miracle it was never affected by the outbreak of Phylloxera in the 19th Century. Therefore some of the vines are in excess of 170 years old. The grape that Shiraz is made from is the Syrah grape but Australia is the only country to call it Shiraz.
Barossa Shiraz is known for being big, jammy, tonnes of ripe blackfruit & lots of pepper. It's unapologetically unsubtle and full bodied.
I have always been a fan of Shiraz and as far as I know there is nothing better than Shiraz with meat!
The first of my picks is the Peter Lehmann, The Barossan 2015, this is an exciting new label from the stalwarts of the Barossa, Peter Lehmann wines and it is big, rich beautifully decadent with smells of blackberry, plum, vanilla, and chocolate that is typically Barossa. Available for only $25, drink this wine with BBQ pork ribs or slow roasted BBQ meat.
Aged in American & French Oak for 12-18 months and then transferred to scotch barrels. the Jacobs Creek Double Barrel Shiraz 2015 is a premium offering available for only $24. This double barrelling process adds flavours of plum & fruitcake to this deliciously drinkable wine. I enjoyed a bottle of this with Brisket & other meaty deliciousness at Ponsonby BBQ restaurant Miss Moonshines recently and it was the perfect combo
For those who are not a fan of the jammy, OTT style that is typically Barossa, my next pick the 2016 Shiraz from Woods Crampton is a more elegant expression of Barossa Shiraz with a clear focus on drinkability. These are old vine wines, rich yet elegant with loads of delicious flavours of blackberry, vanilla but with slight hints of violet.
So what better way to celebrate our fabulous Aussie cousins this 26th of January than to crack one of these Barossan beauties and enjoy with some BBQ'd meat delights. You can even drink it chilled if you wish - yup, that's totally something you can do - even Wendyl thinks so, click the link below to hear our chat at Shiraz.