The decline of shiraz … and the rise of syrah!

A strange thing is happening in the Australian market for red wines: sales of wines labelled shiraz are in decline while sales of wines labelled syrah are on the rise.

Now, those who know their grape varieties will know that shiraz and syrah are the same thing. In its homeland, France, the variety is known as syrah and this name is used in most countries. When the variety was first brought to Australia in the early 1800s there was a bit of confusion. It was either called hermitage, a nod to its homeland the Rhone Valley in France, or ‘scyraz’, having been mislabeled somewhere along the line.

After persisting for decades, the word hermitage was dropped following trade discussions with the Europeans. In the end we settled on shiraz.

The style of Australian shiraz wines changed quite a lot in the first two decades of this century. Winemakers started to pick their fruit later and consequently alcohol levels crept up to 14.5% or 15.5%, or even higher. Shiraz became synonymous with a BIG wine with lots of colour, tannin and oak. Lots of everything! In very ripe shiraz, red fruit flavours tend to give way to pruney, porty, licorice flavours which one well known Australian winemaker once famously described as ‘dead fruit’.

Then came the disappointment. Blockbuster shiraz just wasn’t a great match with food, often overwhelming a meal rather than complementing it. Somewhat surprisingly, the wines didn’t age well. Once the flush of youth died down the alcohol took over, dominating the nose and making the palate ‘hot’. These wines just weren’t well balanced.

In the meantime, consumer tastes in red wines evolved, especially among younger wine drinkers. They wanted lighter, brighter, fresher styles of red wine. Pinot noir shot to prominence, but so did gamay, the variety behind Beaujolais in France. In Australia’s warmer regions consumers started to seek out wines made from grenache, which were lighter and easier to drink than the local shiraz.

The increasing use of syrah on Australian wine labels is a reaction to these trends. The winemaker is sending you a signal about the style of shiraz that’s in the bottle. Often a syrah will come from a cooler region, be medium-bodied, have moderate alcohol around the 13.5% mark, be fragrant with even a whiff of pepper, have bright, spicy, red fruit flavours and nice acid to finish.

Syrah is a style, a modern take on an Australian classic.

So what does this mean for Colmar Estate? Well you might be familiar with our popular 2022 Pinot Shiraz, a 50/50 blend. However moving forward we are set to bottle a 2024 Block 4 Syrah in the coming months which is refined and elegant. We can't wait!