Red Wines

Wine is certainly one of the oldest of the many inventions of the human race, with certain identification of wine making going back to well before the Sumerians of Mesopotamia. With such a long history it is no surprise that techniques and wine styles have developed in many ways and in many countries. This is even the case with the plant upon which wine is based, the vitis vinifera, or wild grape, a versatile plant and one that is very much prone to mutation.

Wine at its simplest is an alcoholic drink produced from the fermentation of the juice obtained by crushing the fruit of the grape vine. Yeast is added to the juice which consumes the natural sugars and in doing so converts them into alcohol. Variations in sugar levels and most importantly in flavours, means that the taste of the wines produced in this way can vary not only among the many vine varieties but among the same variety grown in different localities, or even in the same locality in different seasons.

The grapes of red varieties vary a great deal in the amount of tannins they contain, and those with high tannic levels are often used in blends only. Another technique common with red wine making is to ‘oak’ the wine, meaning the wine is allowed to ferment for a time in an oak container. The oak is considered by many, though by no means all, to enrich the flavour of the wine produced. Whether a wine should be ‘oaked’ or ‘unoaked’ is one of the great debates of the winemaking world.

The most popular red varieties used in Australia today are such varieties as, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, and Shiraz, with others such as the Barbera, Mourvedre, Tempranillo and Zinfandel increasing in popularity or playing a significant role as a blend rather than as a single variety wine or varietal.

Australia’s wine history begins with a wide variety of vines being introduced by such people as James Busby, who in 1832 brought a large collection of vines from France and Spain to Australia, and with the Macarthur family, who also brought in many varieties to experiment with on their properties. However, as the years passed the number of varieties that were felt suitable fell to a relative handful; this was particularly the case with varieties that were not suitable for being made into fortified wines.

It was only in the 1970s and 1980s that the number of wine varieties really began to expand, and at first this was very much white varieties at the expense of the reds. Nevertheless, by the 1990s red wines had begun to come into their own and so in Australia today it is reds such as Shiraz that are among the most widely grown varieties.

Cabernet Franc is a good example of a variety that is now grown in numerous regions around Australia, particularly the McLaren Vale and Clare Valley wine regions of South Australia. Cabernet Franc is a variety often used as a blend with other wines rather than as a varietal. Being a pale red it blends well with heavier wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

The Cabernet Sauvignon, while often blended, is also popular as a varietal. Cabernet Sauvignon is resistance to most diseases, as well as having a great liking for oak, the oak softening the high tannin content that might otherwise make the wine of this grape too harsh. In Australia, Cabernet Sauvignon is produced in a wide variety of styles, ranging from wines that are best after some cellaring to those that can be drunk immediately. While still popular, Cabernet Sauvignon is losing ground to the increasingly popular Shiraz, while it is the blending of these two that makes for some of Australia’s best wines.

Another wine commonly blended with Shiraz is Grenache. Grenache has strong natural vigour and is a late ripener, preferring hot, dry conditions. It also has great versatility, able to produce both light and heavy red wines. Particularly popular in South Australia, Grenache is well known in such wine regions as McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley. While often used to make fortified wines, more recently Grenache has been made into a single varietal or used in ‘GSM’ blends with Shiraz and Mourvedre.

A red variety that has been rapidly increasing in popularity is Merlot, a medium bodied red wine grape often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlot grapes are thinner skinned with less tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as having more sugar. Merlot is common in the Riverina and Murray Valley wine regions where it is grown as a mass product for the export market, while higher quality wines are made in such wine regions as the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, Orange in NSW, as well as many in Western Australian wine regions.

Some consider Pinot Noir to be capable of producing the best wines in the world. Certainly an interesting characteristic of the Pinot Noir is that it is highly unstable genetically, with parent vines very often producing offspring with fruit unlike the original. In Australia, Pinot Noir ranks well behind Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon in terms of the amount grown, nevertheless what is grown has an excellent reputation and is rapidly growing in popularity.

One of Australia’s and the world’s best known grape varieties is undoubtedly Shiraz. This variety is commonly used to make table wine, and is used both as a varietal and in a great many different kinds of blends. Shiraz wines are best after aging, perhaps for 10-15 years. Shiraz is usually referred to as Syrah in France and the United States but always as Shiraz in Australia. While some have speculated that the name Shiraz was actually an Australian invention, this seems unlikely. Although it is true that the Australian preferred usage of that name, as well as the excellence of the Australian Shiraz wines, have now made the use of the ‘Shiraz’ name popular worldwide. Much of the growth in the significance of Shiraz has occurred since the 1990s and the establishment of Australian Shiraz as a major force on the international wine scene.

Despite its temporary eclipse during the 1970s and 80s, red wine now enjoys a significant place in Australian culture. No longer restricted by class or style of cuisine, the great range of red wines now available to Australian wine drinkers would have astonished their ancestors. And of course it is not only in Australia that these wonderful wines are to be found as wine drinkers around the world enjoy the best that Australia’s many winemakers have to offer.