Shiraz is inarguably this country’s key red variety, occupying about 30% of our vineyard land and an even larger portion of Australian wine’s prestige. That sense of identity is largely shaped by the commanding resource of old vines, primarily in South Australia’s key areas of McLaren Vale and Barossa, with a style built on fruit depth and concentration. That style was turbo-charged in the 1990s, with wine mega-critic Robert Parker shaping styles just as much as he assessed them. The wines got almost impossibly big, soused with alcohol and buttressed with menacing amounts of charry oak. The monolith that was ‘brand shiraz’ sparked a counter-movement in the early 2000s that favoured elegance and perfume, and one that branded itself with the French name for the grape: syrah. But just what should you expect when you pick up an Australian bottle labelled as ‘syrah’ rather than ‘shiraz’? We took another Deep Dive into this topic to find out …
We gathered every example of Australian wine labelled as ‘syrah’ that we could find – explicitly excluding any wines labelled as ‘shiraz’ – and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines. Below are the wines that made the panellists’ top-six selections from the tasting.
Our panel: Steven Paul, general manager and director, Oakdene; Audrey Donovan, sommelier, Marion; Thomas Ward, assistant winemaker, e’Stellar Estate; Chia-Wei Shen, wine merchant, Balgownie Estate; James Dickson-Hoyle, wine buyer, Arnold’s; Megan Cruickshank, wine communicator, Apartment Six; Charlie Redmond, wine merchant, Seddon Wine Store.
The Top Wines
This isn’t an ordered countdown. There’s no ranking – just the top six wines each panellist found most compelling from the blind tasting, in all their different ways. Everyone’s palate is different, and that’s the point.
2025 Phase Three Wines ‘Dero’ Syrah, Barossa $50 RRP
Redmond, Paul, and Donovan all selected this among their top six picks. Redmond responded passionately to the wine’s layered detail: “‘Complex’ is one pretty good way to describe this wine. Bright zippy black plums with black cherry pastry, lemon thyme, white pepper, exotic chai spices of cardamom, cloves and fennel seed with potpourri and subtle mint. The palate is most impressive – dense layers of espresso shot coffee, smoke and toast, chilli flakes, iron and iodine, game meat, vanilla extract and green olives. Focused acidity and luscious, silky tannin – this wine will unravel and develop very well in time. Bring on the lamb chops.” Paul read it more technically: “Deep colour – very bright in the glass. Spicy dark fruit accented by rose petals on the nose. Medium-bodied, yet the fruit on the palate is intense with new-oak spiciness. Compact and fine ripe tannins drive to a pleasantly pithy finish.” Donovan found freshness and joy: “This wine is fresh, lively and joyful, with aromas of strawberry yoghurt and cranberry juice. Juicy raspberries and blueberries, ripe tannins that feel freshly picked. A savoury touch of fresh dill and oak-influenced vanilla and cinnamon spice. The acidity shines with elegant, fresh lift.”
2021 Passel Estate ‘Lot 71’ Reserve Syrah, Margaret River $66 RRP
Dickson-Hoyle and Cruickshank both selected this among their top six picks, approaching it from contrasting sensory angles. Dickson-Hoyle homed in on the wine’s aromatic allure: “Orange oil and rose petals, pomegranate and just ripe cherries. Real Lebanese sweet shop energy here, and the nose is oh-so-pretty. There’s a gentle bit of bunchy lift here and oak working its magic discreetly in the background. The tannins envelope the palate, and have a real stony quality – smooth like riverside pebbles. Such energy and drive, with Campari-like bite and some sweet smoke, too. It’s just on mid-weight, yet so expansive, and finishes with a wonderful high-toned energy that just screams for food.” Cruickshank focused on the wine’s more developed characteristics: “This is super-interesting. Straight off the bat, you’re hit with cigar box ash that makes you want to wear a velvet robe. The palate unfolds into mulberries going slightly soft in the bowl, an old jar of dusty thyme left at the back of the pantry, and crushed leaves. A medium body stops it being too rich. If this were a perfume, it would be Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille. I simply love it.”
2021 First Drop Wines ‘Cold Sweat – Wilton Vineyard’ Syrah, Eden Valley $100 RRP
Donovan and Redmond both selected this among their top six picks, reading the wine through very different lenses. “There’s a familiar warmth that wafts out of the glass like freshly cooked mulberry jam – your grandmother’s breakfast toast,” enthused Donovan, selecting this as her definitive “pick of the day”. “The palate comes through fresh with balanced lift, a journey through mulberry, blueberry and strawberry. Clove and fennel with smooth tannins create a generous mouthfeel. The wine ends with a savoury finish of kalamata olives and white pepper – so much concentration.” Redmond found nuanced complexity in the question of varietal identity: “Initially this wine felt more ‘shiraz’ than ‘syrah’ – rich red plums and red cherry preserve, mint and lavender and violets, new oak giving dill and vanilla extract. So much intensity and clarity, with real freshness of fruit. The ‘syrah’ labelling makes more sense as olives and peppercorns with crushed earth come out – then it’s back to ‘shiraz’ territory with boysenberry choc-top and hazelnuts. All these flavours are held together by prickly acidity and lush broad tannin. Despite the big, broad flavours it still feels restrained and pretty. This is something I could share with my grandfather and we would both be satisfied.”
Cruickshank, Redmond, Ward, and Shen all selected this among their top six picks. “This is bloody delightful on the nose,” Cruickshank exclaimed. “It’s comforting, it’s plush. Warm cherry pie fresh out of the oven, cinnamon and dried rose petals. Lands on the palate super smoothly, the flavours happily integrated.” Redmond pondered the aging potential: “Jammy red plums, strawberries and cooked rhubarb, black peppercorns, kalamata olives and meaty, smoky bacon fat and lamb roast characters. Aged notes of dusty cedar and leather-bound books. The structure is relaxed, and the tannins are smoky and supple. Finishes with dried roses and violets – this wine could develop longer but it’s in a great place right now. Drink up!” What impressed Ward was its versatility: “This is one of those wines that just keeps giving. Forest floor and plums, dark chocolate and stewed fruit. Tannins blend seamlessly and the oak lifts the whole thing in real harmony. The sort of bottle that earns its keep across a whole evening.” For Shen, precision mattered – she highlighted its dark ruby colour, floral aromas of violet, blood plum flavour, and sandy mineral tones. “The balance of tannin and acidity, as well as the length of finish, are right on point,” she concluded.
2021 R. Lane Vintners ‘Westgate Vineyard’ Syrah, Grampians $85 RRP
Ward and Dickson-Hoyle both selected this among their top six picks, though the temperaments of their notes diverged sharply. For Ward, the wine represented precision and purpose: “This one’s got drive. Earthy raspberries lead the nose, with a light dusting of pepper – clean and precise rather than showy. On the palate the oak does exactly what good oak should: classic, well applied, never louder than the fruit, and the tannins slot in neatly with the body. Cherries, raspberries, and spice keep pushing it forward, giving it real expression. This is the kind of bottle I’d pull out for a Sunday roast with family – but I’d be just as happy to open with a cheese board with mates on a warm evening. A wine that knows how to do both.” Dickson-Hoyle’s enthusiasm for the wine broke through immediately: “The fruit feels darker here – so much more on the savoury side and with instant appeal!” he exclaimed. “Blood plums and baked strawberries. So much aromatic spice – lovage and kampot pepper, some orange oil and white balsamic. Beautiful framing of acidity driven and fine chalky tannin but pure satin on the palate. There’s citrus-leaf lift and a hint of rock and black gravel. It’s serious-feeling yet still joyful – no brooding faces here. Equally great by the fireside or on the beach, with food or without, in fancy glasses or in tumblers in the park.”
2024 Flametree ‘S.R.S. – Karridale’ Syrah, Margaret River $60 RRP
Paul and Donovan both selected this among their top six picks. Paul’s reading was technical and direct: a very bright and primary colour in the glass, red-fruited with rhubarb compote notes and white pepper spice. “Good drive and texture on the palate gives the fruit the opportunity to shine, while gravelly tannins offer persistence and length,” he concluded. Donovan discovered an immediate sensory parallel: “A freshly baked blueberry danish – that’s what immediately came to mind when I first encountered the aromas wafting out of the glass. There’s a slightly confected note here, as though those blueberries were cooked with sugar and vanilla essence and had stewed while baking in the oven. The palate continues this trend, with lots of mulberries and black plums shining through, alongside a hint of sweet earth and ground black pepper. The tannins are fine, adding to the plushness of the wine, and there’s a little touch of alcoholic heat that really rounds out the fresh-out-of-the-oven feel. I can imagine drinking this wine on a gorgeous Spring day, maybe even slightly chilled, as I watch the world go by and snack on some charcuterie.”
2023 Eldorado Road Syrah, Beechworth $39 RRP
Redmond and Ward both selected this among their top six picks. For Redmond, the wine’s transformation in the glass became the story itself: “This wine initially opens with subtle funky earthy characters of lamb jerky and peppercorns, deep green Thai chilli, Sicilian olives and rye toast – but as it opens in the glass it develops so well and flourishes into a bright, fresh, and energetic drop. Black plum jam, sherbet-like red liquorice, all backed with vibrant acidity and soft tannin. I love how the green herbaceous characters blend with the juicy fruit characters. Some oak use here with sweet spices of vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon with molasses-like density. This wine finishes clean and pure, with good length.” Ward read it as a wine still becoming itself: “Young and full of promise – cherries and currants lead the nose, setting up a palate that leans into rich, dark fruit territory. Plums and cherries carry through to a back end lifted by firm tannins, with the oak playing a mellow, supporting role rather than stepping into the spotlight. This is a wine still finding its shape – but the bones are good.”
2023 Chaffey Bros. Wine Co. ‘Evangeline – Noack Vineyard’ Syrah, Eden Valley $45 RRP
Cruickshank and Dickson-Hoyle both selected this among their top six picks. Cruickshank found structural elegance: “This wine understands the rules of engagement – it stands out for how well put together and integrated it is. Cold blueberry compote straight from the fridge, squishy ripe plum and crushed violet. We get one flavour at a time in this beautiful wine story – juicy fruit first resolving into a bright zing of soaring acid that I think would be ace with pizza. Underneath, there’s this unexpected salty, olive-brine savouriness that gives it grip and leaves you wanting one more sip.” Dickson-Hoyle’s enthusiasm cut through the layers: “Sweet cherries at Christmas, spice and alpine herbs – it feels lifted and vibrant, but not without some power too! A slow burn – quiet at first but so many layers unfurling the longer you sit with it. Medium-weighted, slippery and glossy, ethereal and really compelling to drink. Fine tannin and a hint of white pepper, cloves and a little edge of sweet pastry. Love the generosity in such a mid-weight frame – just so much drinkability here. This is something that could disappear oh-so-quickly when opened with friends!”
2023 Stefano Lubiana Syrah, Derwent Valley (Tasmania) $70 RRP
Shen selected this wine among her top six picks for its precise mineral structure and umami complexity. “A medium ruby colour in the glass, with aromas of blood plum, fresh pomegranate, and wet stone,” she noted. “Umami and salty tones on the palate, with a strong mineral note that emerges on the finish. Well-balanced, with soft tannin and gentle acidity, and an impressively long finish. The umami and salty flavours of the wine feel like a perfect match with the umami of steak and soy sauce – this would pair beautifully with Japanese steak dishes such as roast beef donburi.”
2023 Rongo Wines ‘Rhea’ Syrah, Yarra Valley $34 RRP
Shen selected this among her top six picks, drawn immediately to its floral intensity: “Medium ruby colour. This wine is incredibly floral – aromas of violet, blood plums, and red pomegranate leap out of the glass, accented with a hint of Turkish rose candy. The palate is shaped by soft tannins and delightful acidity, with that rosewater aroma emerging strongly in the middle palate – a truly enjoyable experience. Those soft tannins and the wine’s generally elegant character would pair wonderfully with Vietnamese beef pho – even better if served overlooking Ha Long Bay!”
2024 Vignerons Schmölzer & Brown ‘Thorley’ Syrah, Beechworth $66 RRP
Paul and Redmond both selected this among their top six picks. Paul’s reading was precise and technical – he noted its paler colour and spicy aromas with a character that reminded him of a shiraz/viognier co-ferment. “Cracked black pepper, bright woody herbs and redcurrants,” he observed. “Great balance across a medium-bodied palate, showcasing that crunchy red fruit. Long and fresh – definitely food wine!” Redmond found a complete package of balance and quality: “This wine is certainly ripe and dense, but it’s kept tight and fresh. Heady, perfume-like aromas of bright red roses, violets, nutmeg and cinnamon fill the glass. Flavours of juicy red plums and boysenberry – almost jammy or preserved – are kept fresh with bright acidity and soft tannin structure. A touch of caramel and toast with chocolate meet the fruit, reminiscent of black forest cake. Roasted star anise lingers on the finish. This wine shows perfect location selection, perfect ripeness achieved with acid and tannin all in balance. Fantastic.”
2020 Wines of Merritt ‘Wilyabrup’ Syrah (Museum Release), Margaret River $40 RRP
Donovan selected this wine among her top six picks for its graceful evolution in the bottle. “Imagine cutting into a chocolate bar filled with maraschino cherries – that’s exactly what this wine smells like in the glass,” she enthused. “Wafts of warm cocoa-covered cherries and macerated strawberries echo from the glass and invite you to taste. Further notes of cooked plum and blueberries unfold on the palate, with fine tannins that contribute to the full mouthfeel. There’s a slight savoury backbone too: notes of black peppercorn and charcuterie peek through, alongside a touch of dried eucalyptus and clove that continues long after the last sip, carried by the subtle acidity. This has clearly seen some years in the bottle – but I believe it can still see many more. Absolutely compelling.”
2024 TarraWarra Estate Syrah, Yarra Valley $50 RRP
Ward selected this among his top six picks, struck immediately by its judicious use of new oak: “This one caught me straight away with that smoky oak lifting off the glass – still young, still finding its feet, but there’s real charm in it already. Cherries lead the nose, and once it’s in the glass, a herbal streak of rosemary sneaks in alongside more raspberries, cracked pepper, and a whisper of stewed fruit that hints at where this could go with a bit more time in the bottle. The tannins and oak aren’t fighting for attention – they sit right where the fruit needs them. This is simple in the best sense – just quietly well-built.”
2022 La Violetta ‘Syrah Soul’, Frankland River (Great Southern) $36 RRP
Dickson-Hoyle selected this among his top six picks – and his delight was immediate. “Oh, I love this!” he enthused. “It winds its way slowly, but with so much power – floodplain energy. Incredibly lifted, blood orange and amaro bite, so much drive and vibrancy. Incredibly silty tannin – like riverbed sand, with a stony quality. I love the alpine feel here – all dried flowers and open sky, the shape flowy and open with really crystalline tannins. This has the perfect balance of vibrancy and power for me, some sweet confected fruits and savouriness, too. Red frogs and bitter citrus, amaro bitterness and just hints of a ferrous, bloody edge. It’s glorious to drink and so malleable, equally at home with baked fish or a pub steak – more please!”
Shen selected this among her top six picks, captivated by the wine’s balance of softness and mineral precision. “Dark ruby in appearance, with a slight rose aroma,” she observed. “The palate unfolds with flavours of rose candy and Japanese umeboshi, closing with a long finish of black raspberry. There’s also a granular mineral feel to the finish, reminiscent of stones and sand at the beach. The softness of the tannins and the suppleness of the acidity here make this wine stand out in the line-up – it’s fantastically well balanced. I can imagine this wine going beautifully with Thai food such as Tom Yum Soup, because its medium body would pair well with creamy, tangy, and slightly sweetened savoury dishes.”
2023 One Block by Jayden Ong ‘Yellingbo’ Syrah, Yarra Valley $55 RRP
Ward selected this among his top six picks, struck by its intriguing combination of immediate charm and winemaking detail: “Stewed plum and ripe raspberries jump out of the glass and basically dare you not to pour a second glass straight away – a proper drink-me-now wine!” he exclaimed. “But there’s more going on than just immediate charm: the palate is clean, well put-together, layering plum and blackberry over dusty tannins that round everything off nicely. It manages to be complex and classy, without ever losing that easy drinkability.”
2024 David Morgan Quiet Wine Syrah, Pyrenees $32 RRP
Donovan and Dickson-Hoyle both selected this among their top six picks. Donovan discovered a wine that shifts and is hard to pin down: “Olives, olives, olives! Kalamata and Sicilian olives shine through on the nose, alongside cured bresaola and tobacco leaf. This wine is something of a chameleon – on the palate it switches from ‘savoury’ to ‘fruit-driven’. An abundance of blackcurrant with some cooked prune tones, alongside the slightly elevated alcohol and absence of obvious tannins, makes the fruit feel super warm and inviting. The vibrant acidity carries that blackcurrant through to the end. This wine’s secretively fresh and fruity core begs to be enjoyed with friends and a platter of semi-hard cheeses.” Dickson-Hoyle’s note reflected the wine’s own exuberant qualities: “Okay, yum – red frogs, white peaches, and orange oil. I love how primary this is – definitely a style that goes so well straight out of the esky on a hot afternoon. Some pink pepper, a touch of smoke, and a tone of hot rocks add complexity. The drinkability here is through the roof – it feels generous and built for sharing. Such a fun way to show another dimension of what syrah can do!”
2022 Fenian ‘The Big Fella’ Syrah, Mornington Peninsula $49 RRP
Cruickshank selected this among her top six picks for its fearless savouriness. “Blackberries singed on the barbecue, barely-ripe strawberries and salty kalamata olives – then this whole wave of smoke and char rolling in behind them,” she noted. “The nose is super savoury and a little wild, and the palate leans even harder into a gamey territory: kangaroo tartare, cured meat, cracked pepper, with a cool little hit of mint lifting it at the end. There’s enough tangy raspberry underneath to stop it feeling too heavy or too funky, which is what makes it so compelling. Kinda weird, very smoky, very savoury – and honestly just very cool.”
Shen selected this among her top six picks, drawn to its dark ruby hues and aromas of black plum and red pomegranate. “The palate is driven by a wet-stone minerality, with a salty but slightly candied tone at the finish, and a laudable balance of fine tannins and supple acidity,” she observed. “This would be perfect with a classic pub meal of steak and chips, because the black plum flavour in the wine would match the hearty flavour of Australian beef beautifully.”
2025 Tamburlaine Reserve Syrah, Orange $48 RRP
Paul selected this among his top six picks, drawn to its bright garnet colour and lifted primary fruits on the nose. “Red cherry, plum, apricot skin,” he observed. “Hedgy fruit drive on the palate suggests some whole-bunch fermentation. Medium-bodied and light on its feet, with a fine tannin structure, well-managed oak use, and a long finish. Slow-roasted lamb leg immediately comes to mind!”
2024 Hochkirch Syrah, Henty $57 RRP
Dickson-Hoyle selected this among his top six picks, with the wine’s unique style catching his attention immediately: “Woah, this stands out!” he exclaimed. “It’s so briney and leafy, full of nori and bonito flake, and all about that umami. A palate of baked black cherries and brambly fruit that’s so tightly packed. Sure it’s got a wild streak that may not be for everyone, but I love the personality here – think green olive, pho broth, and yia-yia’s garage. Definitely a wine for food – it needs some slow-cooked lamb and a whole heap of friends alongside it.”
2024 Warramate Syrah, Yarra Valley $40 RRP
Redmond selected this among his top six wines, finding it exactly in line with what he expects when he sees the word ‘syrah’ on an Australian wine label. “How good are savoury expressions of syrah?” he enthused. “An introductory nose of black peppercorns and a little black olive, with a lovely and pretty lifted note of asparagus from some whole-bunch fermentation. After that, black plum purée and dark cherry juice. These fruit characters, mixed with some subtle but healthy oak use, gives this wine a fantastic spiced black cherry Danish pastry note. Hidden down low you can see some earthy wet soil and crushed rock notes poking out. On the palate, it’s juicy and rich, with some anise and maraschino cherry, all backed by crunchy and bright acidity with silky but structured tannins. What I love most of all about this wine is the floral characters of potpourri and violets which carry from the nose to the palate and finish. While I’d love to see it develop over time, it’s a lot of fun right now – pair this with duck, or barbecued mushrooms.”
Cruickshank selected this among her top six picks, drawn to its unapologetic boldness. “Blackberries crushed into hot bitumen, a splash of sarsaparilla and loads of cracked pepper,” she noted. “The palate is big, dark and properly grippy, with full body and tannins that are very much in the room with us. It feels unapologetically bold and a little feral right now – but do yourself a favour and drink it with something rich and slow-cooked, perhaps short ribs with plump little dates.”
2025 e’Stellar Single-Vineyard Syrah, Yarra Valley $45 RRP
Paul selected this among his top six picks, his attention caught by its bright yet deep garnet colour in the glass and its lifted and very primary dark fruit aromas: “Think black raspberry – accented with tart rosehip and clove spice,” he described. “The palate follows the same theme, with spicy dark fruit at the core, fine tannins, and ample drive and acidity for balance. Very much in the medium-bodied, light and fresh spectrum of Australian syrah – a wine built for lamb tagine and couscous.”
Shen selected this wine among her top six picks, drawn immediately to its intriguing and unique light purple colour in the glass and exotic nose. “Strong aromas of Turkish delight, red plum, mulberry and vanilla-laden crème pâtissière,” she noted. “There’s an interesting contrast of that fruit character and a salty mineral tone on the palate. Soft tannins and gentle acidity bring balance. The sweet, almost candied nature of the fruit notes in this wine feels like a natural match for the sweetness and spice in Taiwanese food – especially Taiwanese beef noodle soup.”
2024 Utzinger ‘Estate Series’ Syrah, Tamar Valley (Tasmania) $60 RRP
Cruickshank selected this among her top six picks, finding it spot-on for the style of wine indicated by the word ‘syrah’. “This is everything I look for in syrah – think boysenberry choc-top, dark cherry syrup, and a proper crack of black pepper to keep it fresh,” she said. “The palate is juicy, medium-bodied and really easy to get around, thanks to the lift of green tomato leaf right on the finish. Blocky tannins give this a nice base to sit on – and make me crave a big steak with slow-roasted tomatoes on the side.”
2024 Muto Syrah, Beechworth $30 RRP
Ward selected this wine among his top six picks, impressed most of all by the way the wine’s components cohere into a seamless whole. “Ripe raspberries and cherries lead off the nose, with a streak of green pepper keeping things sharp rather than jammy,” he described. “The palate just keeps giving: raspberries, plums, blackberries, and a hit of pepper spice that practically begs for another pour. Everything holds together beautifully here – the oak and tannins are well balanced, and the body ties the whole glass into one confident, cohesive package.”
2022 Michael Hall ‘Mount Torrens’ Syrah, Adelaide Hills $60 RRP
Donovan selected this among her top six picks, drawn by the aromas coming out of the glass. “Violets with some stewed blueberry and blackberry cassis on the nose,” she described. “Following close by on the palate are some greatly enjoyable herbal notes of white pepper, dried menthol and jalapeño. This wine comes across as energetic and bright while still holding excellent structure. The fruit is plush and generous, held up with chalky tannins and bright acidity. Forget about cabernet sauvignon – this syrah will be your new go-to for a medium-bodied style with a great balance between fruit, depth, and spice.”
2025 Phase Three Wines ‘Vinegarden – Circa 1895’ Single-Vineyard Syrah, Eden Valley $50 RRP
Paul selected this wine among his top six picks, noting its striking depth and brightness in the glass. “Intense spicy dark fruit on the nose – blood plum, amarena cherries in their syrup and sweetly earthy roasted beetroots, given a little botanical lift by a note of fresh pouch tobacco,” he noted. “Concentrated and plush on the palate, with an almost-pithy tannic grip – long and balanced. New oak makes its presence felt, but is well-integrated. Definitely one of the more structured wines in this line-up – match it to a hard cheese like manchego.”
Above: Syrah – aka shiraz – on the vine at Langmeil’s Freedom vineyard in the Barossa Valley, planted in 1843. The Barossa Valley is home to the world’s oldest syrah vines, although whether those are in Langmeil’s freedom vineyard or the nearby Moorooroo or Turkey Flat vineyards remains the subject of some debate.
The backstory
Shiraz is inarguably this country’s key red variety, occupying about 30% of our vineyard land and an even larger portion of Australian wine’s prestige. That sense of identity is largely shaped by the commanding resource of old vines, primarily in South Australia’s key areas of McLaren Vale and Barossa, with a style built on fruit depth and concentration. That style was turbo-charged in the 1990s, with wine mega-critic Robert Parker shaping styles just as much as he assessed them. The wines got almost impossibly big, soused with alcohol and buttressed with menacing amounts of charry oak. The monolith that was ‘brand shiraz’ sparked a counter-movement in the early 2000s that favoured elegance and perfume, and one that branded itself with the French name for the grape: syrah. But just what should you expect when you pick up an Australian bottle labelled as ‘syrah’ rather than ‘shiraz’?
It’s practically impossible to overstate just how important shiraz is to Australian wine culture. Despite the growth of so-called ‘alternative’ varieties over the last decade, shiraz was the most-harvested wine grape variety by weight in Australia for eight out of the past ten years, with chardonnay briefly snatching its crown in the 2024 and 2026 vintages. Four out of five Australian wineries currently makes shiraz, and the variety represents nearly half of all of our planted red-wine grapes, as well as nearly a quarter of the country’s total wine production. We’re also number two in the global production league table for the variety, behind only its homeland of France – where it’s called ‘syrah’, as it is in most of the rest of the world. (Some producers in South Africa also call the variety shiraz – but only because it first arrived there from Australia, rather than from France.) It’s fair to say that for most wine consumers globally, ‘shiraz’ simply means ‘syrah from Australia’ – that is, syrah grown to a certain level of ripeness thanks to the warm climates of many of our wine regions, and crafted according to a broad set of generally accepted Australian winemaking norms.
Above: The hill of Hermitage in the Northern Rhône region of France – not syrah’s origin, but its spiritual home. (Photo by Ed Clayton, CC BY 2.0.) Opposite: syrah (or shiraz, if you prefer) grapes on the vine.
Syrah itself probably emerged in the mountainous Isère region of France, located roughly halfway between Monaco and Geneva, but it found its spiritual home a little further west and further downhill, in the northern half of the Rhône valley. Here the variety is turned into a spicy, medium-to-full bodied – but very rarely plump or overblown – style of wine that can be both hauntingly beautiful and slightly feral or animalistic. (‘Bacon fat’ and ‘black pepper’ are common tasting notes.) It likely arrived in Australia in 1830 on the ship Lady Blackwood – but, thanks to poor cataloguing and other miscommunications, the historical record is unclear on this point. In fact, the Australian name for the grape variety predates the variety itself on these shores, with Hunter Valley winegrowers recording plantings of a white grape variety called ‘shiraz’ in 1827 – which was, in the 1970s, discovered to be the Italian variety trebbiano. Quite how ‘syrah’ became ‘shiraz’ remains something of a mystery, complete with just-so stories about drunken Aussies slurring the name or fanciful tales of the variety’s supposed Persian origins. But once in Australia and labelled with the ‘shiraz’ moniker, it spread relatively quickly, landing in nearly all of our nascent winegrowing areas.
Above: Penfolds winemaker Max Schubert, whose ‘Grange’ wine helped ignite the Australian love affair with shiraz. Opposite: Viticulturist Prue Henschke amongst the centenarian shiraz vines of the Mount Edelstone vineyard – the source of another milestone Australian shiraz wine, Henschke’s ‘Mount Edelstone’.
Shiraz endured more than its fair share of ups and downs before becoming the country’s number-one red-wine variety – a story told in detail in our Deep Dive on aged shiraz. Mataro proved to be a more popular variety for plantings throughout the nineteenth century, and shiraz’s use in the early vintages of the now-legendary Penfolds wine ‘Grange’ owed more to its general availability than it did to pioneering winemaker Max Schubert’s love of the variety. But shiraz eventually prevailed, becoming the key grape variety for the reds of Australia’s most renowned wine region, the Barossa Valley, where a style built around fruit generosity and oak use became nationally popular and eventually internationally famous. And much of that international recognition can be traced back to the influence of one man – the American lawyer-turned-wine-critic Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Parker pens a new future
In the 1990s, Parker doled out a slew of top scores to Australian shirazes for his publication Wine Advocate, famously anointing the shiraz from winemaker Chris Ringland’s Three Rivers label (now simply called ‘Chris Ringland’) with scores of ninety-nine points out of 100 in 1993 and ’95 – then upping the ante to a perfect three figures in ’96, ’98, 2002 and ’04. Unsurprisingly – given Parker’s colossal status and influence within the American wine market at that time – those scores resulted in a feeding frenzy, with the value of Ringland’s wines skyrocketing from somewhere around $60–70 on release to fetching over $1,000 on the US auction market. That sudden spike in secondary market value saw Ringland hike his own sell price by an astonishing 1000% – but consumer interest in his wines was undimmed. Similar stories played out for other Australian producers anointed by Parker’s praise, including Greenock Creek in the Barossa (whose ‘Roennfeldt Road’ Shiraz received perfect 100-point scores for the 1995, 1996, and 1998 vintages), Clarendon Hills in McLaren Vale, and Wild Duck Creek in Heathcote.
Opposite: American wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr., whose preference for high-octane Australian shirazes turbo-charged the nation’s style of shiraz winemaking. Above: Winemaker Chris Ringland – one of the most notable beneficiaries of Parker’s point scores.
Unsurprisingly, other makers – many with vines as old and quite a bit older than Ringland’s Eden Valley centurions – wanted a piece of the action. And that meant making wine in a way that mirrored those reviews. To put that in context, it’s worth looking at some of Parker’s descriptors, writing that the 1996 Three Rivers was “akin to a dry vintage port” and a wine of “unreal concentration”. Parker’s palate preferences were just as evident in his assessment of another pillar of the Australian cult-red frenzy, Wild Duck Creek’s 1997 ‘Duck Muck’ Shiraz. That wine had a similarly stratospheric uptick in value after its 99-point review, with Parker’s note praising its monumental nature: “Opaque black purple-colored, with a viscosity resembling vintage port … The acidity and tannin appear to be missing because of the wine’s wealth of fruit, glycerin, and extract.”
“Opaque black purple-colored, with a viscosity resembling vintage port … The acidity and tannin appear to be missing because of the wine’s wealth of fruit, glycerin, and extract.”
For those interested in more elegant styles, Parker’s reviews were more cautionary tales, warnings writ large, but for most they represented the zeitgeist – bigger was indeed better.
Boom years
This period was also one of unparalleled growth, with Australia’s area of land under vine in the 1990s more than doubling. It would be overstating things to say that Parker was the sole golden-egg-laying goose of the ’90s – much of that growth was driven by the ‘critter wine’ phenomenon exemplified by Casella’s Yellow Tail label – but his impact on the style of Australian red wines was profound. Australian shiraz became known for being darkly powerful, with wines often well over 15% alcohol by volume, and typically laden with sweet American oak, loaded with vanilla and coconut characters. And that style found a receptive audience, both domestically and internationally.
Opposite: Shiraz grapes on the vine at Brokenwood’s Graveyard vineyard in the Hunter Valley. Above: Morning mist shrouds Clonakilla’s estate vineyard in the Canberra District. Although they have very different climates, both the Hunter Valley and the Canberra District grow shiraz fruit that doesn’t easily fit into the ‘bigger is better’ Australian shiraz paradigm.
But to define Australian shiraz by the Barossa and McLaren Vale of the time leaves so many prime growing regions unaccounted for, and it also blurs history. The reality is that earlier Australian red styles – shiraz and otherwise – were significantly lower in alcohol, with the wines elegant even in those warmer regions. Then there’s the Hunter Valley, which has long produced elegant but savoury midweight styles. What was starting to be seen as a traditional style favouring brute force was indeed not traditional at all. There was also a growth in cool climate viticulture around the same time, with many Victorian regions forging different expressions of the grape – joining long-term exponents like Best’s Great Western – as well as the ascent of areas like the Canberra District.
The cooler regions, though not suited to bigger styles, were not completely immune from the effects of Parker, with many makers aiming for higher ripeness and using significant amounts of new oak. They rarely achieved the levels of opulence that was achieved in South Australia or indeed in Victoria’s Heathcote, but the grapes were often taken to the extremes that their sites would allow. ‘Boldness’ had become a consumer expectation – and a commercially dangerous one to defy.
A new horizon
Jamsheed’s Gary Mills spent several years in the US, first working with Paul Draper at Ridge Vineyards, then further north in the cool of Oregon before returning home in 2003. “One of the things I noticed when I first arrived back in Victoria,” he says, “it was when Barossa was king, attracting the high prices, people here were pushing the vineyards, and pushing the styles until they were at breaking point … and the wines just weren’t that interesting, and they’d fall apart after a couple of years. They pushed the ripeness because they wanted to be Barossa-esque.”
Opposite: Gary Mills of Jamsheed with a picking bin full of syrah grapes at harvest time. Above: Steve Webber of De Bortoli.
For De Bortoli’s Steve Webber, that perception of what Australian shiraz was supposed to be was never going to be an easy fit for the styles he wanted to make from the cool of the Yarra Valley, choosing instead to label De Bortoli’s ‘A8 Reserve’ as syrah in 2003. It wasn’t the first time syrah had appeared on an Australian label, with perhaps Rosemount’s ‘Balmoral’ the most famous example, but Webber was making a strong statement about style.
“The cool area styles of shiraz are so different to traditional Barossa and McLaren Vale ones that we thought it was confusing for consumers to call it ‘shiraz’.”
“The cool area styles of shiraz are so different to traditional Barossa and McLaren Vale ones that we thought it was confusing for consumers to call it ‘shiraz’,” says Webber. “That is, to buy something called Yarra or Canberra shiraz and have consumers saying, ‘That’s not what I was expecting.’”
The whole bunch, and nothing but the bunch …
Mills started using the term ‘syrah’ from 2004. It’s also the year he committed to fermenting largely with whole bunches. “Having no formal degree in winemaking,” he says, “I only ever tried to imitate the wines I liked to drink – those wines all contained whole bunches as part of the process. But I was also part of a push to get the acknowledgement of a different style of wine out there. We were all making a point – that these were not heavyweight, over-extracted over-alcoholised wines … they were perfumed, medium-weight wines.”
That use of whole bunches in the ferments has become a major marker of wines labelled syrah, with the process adding layers of spice, expressing the fruit in a very vibrant way and adding complexity to the tannin structure. Webber stresses, though, that you can’t approach the use of whole bunches as a recipe. “I think we have come a long way with the use of whole bunches,” he says. “Some years they integrate really well, others not so much.”
Opposite: Winemaker Rory Lane of The Story Wines. Above: Steve Webber inspecting a tank with fermenting whole (i.e. non-crushed) berries.
Webber also notes that more can be less. “We tend to find 100% whole bunch gives less whole-bunch character than a ferment with 20%,” he says. “And there’s nothing wrong with the odd 100% de-stemmed fruit and minimal plunging, particularly in the early stages of fermentation, for gently aromatic pinot-like characteristics.”
“It’s not just about throwing heaps of bunches at it to make a ‘syrah’ style,” says winemaker Rory Lane of The Story Wines, “but for the general pendulum swing of syrah from shiraz, I’m perfectly fine for it to be swinging to bunchier styles, rather than those overripe styles. Wines that are quite leafy and green can work, but it needs to be matched with some decent, ripe skin tannin as well, with decent fruit ripeness.”
“I was also part of a push to get the acknowledgement of a different style of wine out there. We were all making a point – that these were not heavyweight, over-extracted over-alcoholised wines … they were perfumed, medium-weight wines.”
That ripeness is a thing that Webber stresses is important in his site. “We find that cool area shiraz needs to be reasonably ripe to give the weight and violets that we like,” he says. Webber also favours shorter time in neutral French oak, and uses larger format barrels. “We particularly like 500-litre and 600-litre barrels, and 2,300-litre foudre,” he says, noting that increased size and reduced duration retains freshness and fragrance and are better suited to the weight of the wines.
Weight and perfume were just as much key for Mills now as when he started out. For him, those bigger styles were not only not his style, but he believed they were obscuring expression of site and fruit. “At that time, particularly in the Yarra, shiraz was commonly made in an over-extracted, over-oaked style, which neither reflected the terroir nor came even close to being varietally correct,” he says.
What’s in a name?
That early move by both Webber and Mills to label their wines as syrah rather than shiraz was a risky one commercially, perhaps just as much as the styles they were making. It’s a decision that Webber says he still has robust discussions with his marketing team about. Not for the flagship syrah wines, but at the more everyday end of the spectrum where perhaps there is less familiarity with the term. But Webber is adamant that the “more aromatic styles” still need to be corralled from the expectations of what Australian shiraz is supposed to taste like.
“At the time, I wasn’t giving much thought to whether it was a smart commercial decision or not,” says Mills of his decision to use the word ‘syrah’ on the label of his Jamsheed wines. “I was adamant, foolhardy even, that my wines were going to be represented as syrah. I’m sure they would have sold faster if they were labelled ‘shiraz’, but I guess it is a moot point as I would never have done that anyway. The reception was mixed, as was to be expected. The sommelier ‘gatekeepers’ responded to it very positively, appreciating and recognising what we were trying to do.”
Opposite: Louis Schofield of Worlds Apart Wines. Above: Rory Lane in the Westgate Vineyard in the Grampians – the source of his single-vineyard syrah for sub-label R. Lane Vintners.
Today, that choice is perhaps a clearer one, with a distinct, though very broad syrah category that complements rather than challenges the bigger styles. “We need to distance our styles from those wines that our dads drank,” says Louis Schofield of Worlds Apart Wines in the Adelaide Hills. “I would have probably been making wines like that then as well, because that’s what people wanted, and that’s what sold. Most of those ‘dad wines’ are made from incredible fruit from a great region, and they can be great wines. The only problem I have is the great myth that high alcohol and high levels of new oak are going to make a wine age really well. And we now know the opposite is true.”
Schofield says that he was in two minds about calling his Eden Valley wine syrah or shiraz. “There is also a huge wank factor in calling it ‘syrah’. It’s a pretty toff-sounding word, and I don’t want to be thought of as a wine wanker … though, I definitely am,” he laughs. “But shiraz in Australia is a brand, and it’s such a strong brand, and for the average punter, when they want a shiraz, they know what they want.”
“There’s a huge wank factor in calling it ‘syrah’. It’s a pretty toff-sounding word, and I don’t want to be thought of as a wine wanker.”
Although he has been making wine under his The Story label since 2004, and under the sub-label R. Lane Vintners since 2014, for Lane the shift to using the syrah nomenclature was a relatively recent one – even if his wines have always been a stylistic fit for the category: “We started using the term syrah in 2017 – quite late really,” he says. “I was reflecting on the fact that the majority of the world uses the term syrah, and I wanted our wines to be understood in a global context rather than just a national one.”
Mills agrees that export markets “were, and probably still are, the most receptive to syrah – not surprisingly”. But he’s also buoyed by the emergence of a genuinely deep exploration of the finer side of the grape, giving the local category meaningful definition. “What is happening now is that people are celebrating the perfume, the lightness,” he says, “and that’s really quite a wonderful thing to see. There’s a real deftness of touch that’s come about now with wines they call syrah. I think the term is even more relevant now, particularly given how awareness of the style has increased.”
Above: Our tasting panel in session at the Bleakhouse Hotel, Albert Park (Melbourne).
Outtakes from the tasting
We gathered every example of Australian wine labelled as ‘syrah’ that we could find – explicitly excluding any wines labelled as ‘shiraz’ – and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines. Below are the wines that made the panellists’ top-six selections from the tasting.
Our panel: Steven Paul, general manager and director, Oakdene; Audrey Donovan, sommelier, Marion; Thomas Ward, assistant winemaker, e’Stellar Estate; Chia-Wei Shen, wine merchant, Balgownie Estate; James Dickson-Hoyle, wine buyer, Arnold’s; Megan Cruickshank, wine communicator, Apartment Six; Charlie Redmond, wine merchant, Seddon Wine Store.
The conversation went straight to the question hanging over the whole tasting: what does ‘syrah’ actually mean in this country in 2026? Dickson-Hoyle argued that the distinction was now more muddied than it had been in the past. “The choice to label a wine shiraz or syrah almost used to be a code for climatic difference,” he said. “Cool-climate was called syrah – like from Beechworth or Canberra, really alpine regions. But today we ran the gamut from super-primary, chuck-it-in-the-fridge, cab-mac-y things, through to milk chocolate–like wines, really big and extracted. It almost makes it harder for consumers to tell the difference between the two, because now you don’t know what your syrah is supposed to look like.”
Above: James Dickson-Hoyle. Opposite: Charlie Redmond.
Redmond offered his own working theory of what the use of ‘syrah’ on a label is actually meant to signal. “I expect the ripeness to be completely different,” he said, “And I expect because of the ripeness of the fruit, the body of the wine will be different – and then stylistically the winemaker will have altered the way they make the wine to suit that.” Talking about the wines that he felt didn’t nail that brief, he asked, “Were they just picking shiraz-style fruit and then making it into a ‘syrah’? Did they pick it early enough – or is it still from a really hot climate? Did the fruit match the style?”
“The choice to label a wine shiraz or syrah almost used to be a code for climatic difference – cool-climate was called syrah. But today we ran the gamut. It almost makes it harder for consumers to tell the difference between the two, because now you don’t know what your syrah is supposed to look like.”
Paul offered an international perspective on the topic. “We’re practically the only country in the world that calls shiraz ‘shiraz’,” he said. “All these other countries – including the U.S., New Zealand, and most of South Africa – they all call it syrah, and they make it in a myriad of styles. So they would be looking at us debating the difference here and asking themselves, ‘Why should syrah in Australia mean pepper spice, clove, black olive, whole-bunch ferments, and light to medium body?’ Because clearly from this group of wines, it certainly doesn’t necessarily mean that.”
Above: Steven Paul. Opposite: Megan Cruickshank.
Cruickshank added that there was a strong element of national pride that comes with the term shiraz. “There’s a cultural pride that comes with shiraz, because Barossa shiraz is what put us on the world map,” she said. “I feel that for many producers and consumers there’s an affinity there – we want to stick with shiraz, and do the Aussie thing.” She added that the use of the French name, by contrast, sent a message to the consumer not only about style but also about pricing and winemaking ambition. “It feels upmarket – it feels premium,” she said. “You see more syrahs coming out of places like the Yarra Valley and Beechworth because they’re fancy regions.”
“We’re practically the only country in the world that calls shiraz ‘shiraz’. All these other countries – including the U.S., New Zealand, and most of South Africa – they all call it syrah, and they make it in a myriad of styles.”
Not everyone was reading the split between shiraz and syrah as indicative of winemaker intention. Ward offered the most unsentimental explanation of the day, suggesting that search engine optimisation plays a large role in why some wineries choose the term syrah. “You go on to the Dan Murphy’s website and there’s something like two thousand-plus Australian shirazes, and there’s something like eighty syrahs,” he said. “Even if you’re not pitching your wines at Dan Murphy’s, that’s got to come into it … there’s definitely some out there that are shiraz through and through, but they slap the other label on it.”
Above: Chia-Wei Shen. Opposite: Thomas Ward.
Shen, more sympathetic to keeping the terms separate, argued that the term ‘syrah’ could offer clarity for consumers when approaching wines from cooler-climate regions. “In terms of the Yarra Valley, I think, because we have a cool climate, it’s better to call it syrah than shiraz – it’s less confusing for people,” she said. “The fruit ripens differently here, which requires a stylistic difference in the winery. Using syrah is about signalling that difference.”
“In terms of the Yarra Valley, I think, because we have a cool climate, it’s better to call it syrah than shiraz – it’s less confusing for people.”
Dickson-Hoyle saw something distinctly Australian in the whole habit of reducing a complex set of viticultural and winemaking characteristics down to the choice between two synonyms. “It’s a very particularly Australian thing that we just want to have shorthands for everything,” he said. “I think back to ‘Hunter River Burgundy’ – and even though those terms aren’t allowed on labels any more, people still think about wines that way. I’ve talked to vineyard owners in the Hunter, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, we call it ‘Chablis’ or ‘Mosel’ depending on the vintage’ – because it’s easier to have a shorthand for something.”
Above: Audrey Donovan. Opposite: Our Deep Dive panel tasting in action at the Bleakhouse Hotel, Albert Park (Melbourne). All wines tasted ‘blind’.
That gap between label and expectation isn’t abstract – it plays out at the table. Donovan, who works the floor at Marion, described talking customers through it in real time: a guest asks for a syrah by the glass, and she has to articulate what’s actually coming. “I’m like, ‘Cool, are you aware this isn’t gonna be like a full-bodied Barossa style – this is something leaner, more elegant, more floral?’,” she said. “It’s just about wording, having the conversation, managing expectations.” She added that having this conversation with guests means that she can return to those who enjoy that more elegant style with other recommendations: “It opens up a couple more avenues for something else we can have a look at,” she said.
“Chilled red is a big market at the moment – and syrah is a cool thing to be drinking chilled that’s not gamay or pinot.”
Cruickshank saw a genuinely new lane opening up inside the labelling confusion, rather than just noise. She’s noticed producers deliberately pitching wines as “syrah made like a pinot” – chasing pinot drinkers with wines made in warmer regions where pinot itself struggles to perform, and riding the current wave of interest in chilled reds. “Chilled red is a big market at the moment,” she said. “And syrah is a cool thing to be drinking chilled that’s not gamay or pinot.”
Above and opposite: Our Deep Dive panel tasting in action at the Bleakhouse Hotel, Albert Park (Melbourne). All wines tasted ‘blind’.
The panel
Steven Paulis the general manager and director of Oakdene Wines, based on the Bellarine Peninsula, in the Geelong region. He is a graduate of the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) Advanced Wine Assessment course, possesses a Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 Award in Wines, was a Len Evans Tutorial Scholar in 2018, and was selected for the Wine Australia Future Leaders program in 2023. He has contributed to the Australian wine show system as a judge for many years, including at the Melbourne Royal, Sydney Royal, Hunter Valley, McLaren Vale, Margaret River, Rutherglen, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Heathcote wine shows. He is a former president of the Geelong Wine Growers Association, and the current committee chair of the Geelong Wine Show.
Audrey Donovan currently works as a sommelier at Marion.
Thomas Ward began his wine journey in the vineyards of Central Victoria, developing a hands-on understanding of site before moving into the winery. His early roles at Coldstream Hills and St. Hubert’s Winery, along with the Tahbilk Group Graduate Program and now a degree in Wine Science, he has built a broad foundation across vineyard, cellar, and operations. He is assistant winemaker at e’Stellar Estate, where he brings a true vine-to-wine perspective – helping to grow the fruit and then seeing it through in the winery on its way to the bottle – and acts as the estate’s Swiss Army knife.
Chia-Wei Shen (佳葳沈) doesn’t sell wine – she sells stories written by time, land, and people. With training in viticulture and winemaking via a Masters in viticulture and oenology from the University of Adelaide, she now works in cellar door sales for Balgownie Estate in the Yarra Valley, specialising in wines with historical and regional context. She enjoys helping visitors understand why a wine tastes the way it does, not just how it tastes. Her long-term interest lies in cool-climate viticulture, sustainable agriculture, and cross-cultural wine narratives between Australia, France, and Taiwan. She possesses the French Wine Essentials certification from the Wine Scholar Guild (WSG), and is currently assisting the Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations to research a biography about early Yarra Valley vigneron Charles Hubert de Castella.
James Dickson-Hoyle possesses a Masters in Climate Change from the Australian National University. He is interested in all things food security, urban agriculture, and political ecology. He is a former hospitality professional, student leader, and occasional wine slinger who currently works as the wine buyer and wine consultant for Arnold’s in Kensington, Melbourne.
Megan Cruickshank is the founder of Apartment Six, a Melbourne-based wine events and community platform focused on growing the next generation of young wine drinkers and connecting them with producers, regions and styles through engaging, approachable and social wine experiences. Her professional background is in marketing, design, counselling, and event production – but she was drawn to wine by its uniquely challenging intersections of agriculture, science, business, and community. Having completed the Wine & Sprit Education Trust (WSET) Level 2 Award in Wines, she is currently undertaking pinot noir winemaking training at Dromana Estate. She loves wine’s ability to bring people together, believing the best bottles are the ones that become part of a story worth retelling.
Charlie Redmond currently works as a wine merchant at Seddon Wine Store.
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