How you will react to a shiraz depends on your expectations. Pexels

The title of this article could easily be ‘How to taste any wine like a pro’. Assuming the title also means ‘how to taste shiraz critically’ we can offer a few tips that are specific to shiraz—Australia’s number one grape variety and the wine we are most closely identified with internationally.

At the risk of sounding like click bait (and aren’t you sick of those headlines that promise how to rid the entire world of every known problem, and then fail to deliver?) please stick with me!

Firstly, how you will react to a shiraz depends on your expectations. And shiraz has many faces, so this will depend on your prior experience of shiraz and your own personal desires and expectations.

Let’s walk through the tasting process, step by step.

Colour/appearance

Australian shiraz will normally have a deep, dark colour, and when young it has a bright purple meniscus when you tilt the glass to allow the light to penetrate it, the better to reveal its hue and clarity. A young shiraz without purple tints is probably going to taste older than it should, or at least to lack freshness. Bear in mind that the cooler the climate where the grapes were grown, the lighter the colour may be, and this is not necessarily a negative.

A Clonakilla shiraz from the Canberra District is usually lighter in colour than a Penfolds Bin 28 from warm areas of South Australia. Shiraz that’s been fermented with some whole bunches may have a slightly lighter and more advanced colour, which is not necessarily a negative. A slightly turbid appearance can mean the wine has not been filtered prior to bottling (not necessarily a negative), or it may mean there is a fault, such as microbial activity (potentially a major problem!).

Bouquet

Bouquet is the word usually applied to a wine with some development (age); aroma is usually applied to young wines. But the two are interchangeable.

Intensity is at once apparent from the nose: is the wine expressive or not? Fresh or tired? Clean or dirty?

Does it smell like shiraz? (here, experience is needed). The cooler the grapegrowing climate, the more spicy a shiraz will smell. Pepper indicates a very cool region or vineyard. Various other spices can come into play: clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, cassia, allspice, fivespice, ginger, turmeric, liquorice and aniseed. The fruit aromas are more likely to be red than black—think red cherry, raspberry, plum and blueberry. Floral notes of rose and violet can appear, as can herbal notes of mint or eucalyptus.

The warmer the climate where the grapes were grown, the less spice is likely and the more chocolate, vanilla, mocha (a mix of chocolate and coffee), and savoury notes of toasted nuts, clean leather, earthy notes and of course the fruit aromas which are likely to be darker—think blackberry, black plum, mulberry, even cassis.

Mineral nuances such as crushed rock, fresh-turned earth, ironstone, wet clay…

Is it fresh? If the wine is young, it should be fresh; if aged, it can be expected to have less freshness and primary fruit, and more ‘developed’ characters and hopefully complexity (roasting meats, roasting pan aromas, meat or mushroom stock, dried meats/bresaola, truffle, cigarbox). Only experience will tell you how much of each group of aromas is correct. An older wine that still has freshness and primary fruit is especially desirable. Cheaper wines destined for earlier drinking may develop more quickly than wines intended to age.

Is it free of obvious faults? The bouquet is where faults are first detected and often most obvious. Experience and some training are necessary to detect faults with assurance.

Is it attractive? No experience is needed for this. Most people will agree on what smells appealing. It is subjective and hence is often underplayed in a judging situation, but it’s probably the most important aspect of wine. Does it make you want to drink it?

Palate

The same subheadings apply as for ‘Bouquet’ above.

In a sense, what follows is true for both bouquet and palate.

Is it attractive? There is surprising agreement among both experienced and inexperienced tasters as to what feels and tastes good. Some things about aesthetics are hard-wired. Do you want another sip? Another glass?

Intensity: Most formal wine judging places great importance on intensity. The more intense, on nose and palate, the higher the potential for a good score. But intensity alone doesn’t guarantee a good shiraz. It’s stating the obvious, but intense flavour is no good if the flavour is unappealing.

The opposite of intense could be dilute, which may be due to over-cropped vines, or a host of other factors. But, warning: dilution and lightness are not the same thing. There are many shirazes that have concentrated flavour, but these can be hard work, especially when very young: they usually take time to mature and show their true glory. A young shiraz that is lighter in body and less powerful may give more pleasure than a very concentrated and powerful shiraz. The latter need time and are often released to the market too early for immediate drinking.

Length: Palate length, or persistence of flavour, is another parameter of quality. The longer the flavour endures on the palate after the wine has left, the higher it rates. Dilute wines from high-yielding vineyards seldom have length. Grapes with good fruit concentration make wines with persistence. This is not so important with, say, sauvignon blanc, but it is with shiraz.

Is it balanced? We can talk about many balances in shiraz red wine—the key ones being tannin, acid, oak and alcohol. Is the tannin in balance with the body weight and fruit intensity? Are the tannins good tannins? Are they fine-grained, powdery, silky, or are they coarse and clunky? A lot of tannin could mean the wine is made to be cellared, or made to go with hearty food with protein (protein softens tannins). Lighter shiraz is easily unbalanced by excessive tannin, whereas big wines can accommodate more tannin.

Is the oak balanced? This is often a matter of ‘house style’. Some shirazes tend to carry a lot of oak which is most obvious when they’re young. But these wines can develop into very complex mature wines, given time. They must have the depth of flavour, concentration and extract to balance the oak, otherwise they will remain unbalanced into old age.

Cool climate shiraz from southern Victoria, Tasmania or the Adelaide Hills and higher parts of NSW and the Canberra region, will usually be lighter in weight, spicier and more aromatic, perhaps higher in acidity (although this should never be too obvious in a red wine).

It’s currently fashionable to include some whole bunches (including stems) in the fermentation of shiraz, as it is with pinot noir. This can increase the spectrum of aromas and flavours and improve texture, but like everything else, it must be balanced. Excessively stalky aromas and greener flavours are usually not favoured.

Ripeness: Lack of full fruit ripeness is a bigger issue with other grapes than shiraz, which in Australia rarely shows underripeness (greenness). This is manifested in vegetal flavours, sharp acidity, thinness of body and tannin astringency. Overripeness is more often encountered, although some winemakers deliberately go for overripe flavours in quest for opulence. Extreme overripeness leads to loss of freshness and vibrancy, jammy or porty characters and a tiredness or staleness that is often referred to as ‘dead fruit’ character. There is often excessive alcohol with these wines, giving them a ‘hot’ finish.

Elegance: Elegance is like beauty: when you’ve seen (or tasted) it, you instinctively recognise it. Elegance is about balance, harmony, symmetry. It’s not try-hard; it leaves an impression of effortlessness. Shiraz may have an image for being big, bold and brassy, but it can also have elegance.

A final word: sign up for a tasting course. There are many of these, often hosted by retailers and sommeliers. Face-to-face instruction is the best way to learn about tasting.