Australia Essentials

We lived for a couple of years in Sydney, Australia, and that gave us the chance to explore a remarkable number of wine regions within relatively easy reach of home.

We made frequent trips to the Hunter Valley, Mudgee, Canberra and the Southern Highlands, all within a few hours of Sydney, and we also spent time farther afield in the Barossa Valley, home to some of Australia’s most famous wines.

Those trips were memorable for more than wine. We saw plenty of kangaroos along the way — and around Canberra after dusk, it sometimes felt almost like a kangaroo invasion.

Shiraz: Australia’s signature red grape

If one grape is most closely associated with Australian wine, it is Shiraz, the Australian name for Syrah.

In warm regions such as the Barossa Valley, Shiraz can produce deeply colored, full-bodied wines with ripe blackberry and plum fruit, black pepper, spice, chocolate and substantial alcohol. The best examples combine that richness with structure and can age extremely well.

Australia does not have one single Shiraz style, however. Cooler regions can produce much more restrained wines with pepper, savory notes and fresher acidity. This diversity is one of the most important things to understand about Australian wine.

Barossa Valley: power and old vines

The Barossa Valley is one of Australia’s most famous wine regions and is especially known for Shiraz.

Its warm, dry climate helps grapes achieve full ripeness, which contributes to the region’s characteristic richness and concentration. Barossa is also notable for exceptionally old vines, including some vineyards planted in the nineteenth century.

Old-vine Shiraz from top sites can produce wines of remarkable depth and intensity. These are often the “big Australian reds” people have in mind when they think about the country’s most famous style.

Hunter Valley: a completely different expression

The Hunter Valley, much closer to Sydney, tells a very different story.

Although Shiraz is important there, the region is particularly famous for Semillon. Young Hunter Valley Semillon can be remarkably light-bodied, low in alcohol and high in acidity, sometimes tasting almost austere when first released.

With bottle age, however, the wines can develop extraordinary complexity — toast, honey, lanolin and citrus notes — despite often having seen little or no oak. It is one of Australia’s most distinctive and age-worthy white-wine styles.

Canberra, Mudgee and the Southern Highlands

The wine regions around Sydney also show how varied Australian growing conditions can be.

Canberra District, with its cooler climate and elevation, has developed a strong reputation for elegant Shiraz, often with peppery and savory character, as well as Riesling.

Mudgee is warmer and well suited to fuller-bodied reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, while the Southern Highlands offer cooler conditions that can work well for varieties such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

For us, living in Sydney made this variety unusually accessible. A weekend trip could take us from one wine style to something completely different.

What about eucalyptus?

We often noticed an herbal or eucalyptus-like note in some Australian red wines. That character is real, although it should not be treated as a universal marker of Australian wine.

Eucalyptus aromas can sometimes be associated with the compound 1,8-cineole, and research has shown that vineyards located near eucalyptus trees can under some circumstances pick up this character through airborne material or grape contact. Other herbal aromas can also come from the grape variety, climate and winemaking.

So the association is not imaginary — especially in parts of Australia where eucalyptus trees are a familiar part of the vineyard landscape — but it varies significantly from wine to wine.

Australia is much more than big reds

Australia built much of its international reputation on ripe, powerful red wines, but the country’s wine culture is far broader.

Beyond Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia produces excellent Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Semillon and Grenache, among many other varieties. Cooler regions such as Tasmania, the Adelaide Hills and parts of Victoria can produce wines with striking freshness and finesse.

The broader lesson is that Australia is a continent-sized wine country. Climate and geography vary enormously, and understanding the region on the label is often just as important as knowing the grape.

The Australia Essentials video on this page gives the broader overview.

What to remember about Australian wine

• Shiraz is Australia’s signature red grape, but its style varies dramatically by region.
• Barossa Valley is famous for powerful Shiraz and exceptionally old vines.
• Hunter Valley Semillon is one of Australia’s most distinctive white wines and can age remarkably well.
• Canberra District is known for cooler-climate Shiraz and Riesling.
• Eucalyptus-like aromas can occur in some wines, but they are not a universal Australian characteristic.
• Australia produces far more than big reds; regional climate differences support a wide range of grape varieties and styles.