Vins d'Australie : shiraz du Sud chaud et blancs tendus
110 bouteilles, du shiraz du Sud chaud au pinot des climats fraisOne and the same grape variety, two wines that barely resemble each other: that is the first lesson of this wine country. North of Adelaide, the heat gives a broad, velvety, chocolatey red. Two hours from Melbourne, the same vine gives a tight, peppery wine, almost Rhône-like. Between the two lies a whole continent of styles.
The range follows that dividing line. The sun-baked reds first, with Torbreck, Rockford and Henschke. Then the cold zones, Yarra, Mornington and Tasmania, where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay take over. The Hunter Valley holds its own place apart, with its tank-aged Semillon.
D'Arenberg - The Olive Grove 2021
A beautiful chardonnay with a balanced and intense structure that delights and seduces the taste buds!
D'Arenberg - The Stump Jump Red 2018
A blend of 3 grape varieties bringing together power and aromatic intensity!
The ways into the Australian range
Huit façons d'aborder ce vignoble, du premier verre à la bouteille de garde.
Tasting the style for the price of a lunch
Un shiraz de soif, fruit noir juteux et épice douce, issu du Murray. La façon la plus simple de découvrir le goût australien.
Pete's Pure Shiraz 2021 · 11,90 € la bouteille, à l'unitéLe shiraz de vieilles vignes
A blend of old Barossa plots, ungrafted. Candied blackberry, liquorice and a velvet tannin, for a rib of beef.
Torbreck Old Vines 2021 · 20,90 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6Comprendre le shiraz de climat frais
Même cépage, autre planète : poivre noir, violette et une bouche serrée. Le contrepoint idéal à une bouteille de la Barossa, à goûter côte à côte.
Innocent Bystander Syrah 2019 · 22,10 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6Le blanc qui vieillit en cuve
Lime, chalk and barely 11% alcohol: Hunter Semillon is drunk young with oysters, or kept ten years for the honey.
Tyrrell's Hunter Valley Semillon 2022 · 22,10 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6Un cabernet entre deux océans
Margaret River in its accessible version: blackcurrant, graphite and maritime freshness, with the precision of a Bordeaux blend. Ideal with a leg of lamb.
Vasse Felix Filius Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 · 22,10 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6Une fin de repas en demi-bouteille
Muscat de Rutherglen élevé en solera : caramel, figue et écorce d'orange, d'une densité rare. Quelques centilitres suffisent sur un dessert au chocolat.
Chambers Rosewood Old Vine Muscat · 29 € la bouteille de 37,5 cl, à l'unitéUne grande bouteille à poser sur la table
Une parcelle mythique d'Eden Valley plantée en 1912, vinifiée par la même famille depuis six générations. Un shiraz de garde, profond et droit.
Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz 2019 · 270 € la bouteille, à l'unitéPasser sur l'autre rive
Sauvignon de Marlborough, pinot noir de Central Otago, chardonnay de Martinborough : le voisin néo-zélandais joue une partition entièrement fraîche.
Page du rayon · Nouvelle-Zélande
Où pousse la vigne australienne
The vine occupies a thin strip along the south of the continent, where the ocean, the altitude or the latitude bring the freshness. A few kilometres are enough to change style: the distance from the sea and the height of the hillsides do almost everything here.
| Région | Le climat | Cépage roi | Le style |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barossa et Eden ValleyVallée chaude, coteaux d'altitude au-dessus | Chaud et sec, nuits fraîches en Eden | Shiraz | Fruit noir confit, tanin velouté, riesling vif en altitude |
| McLaren ValeGolfe Saint-Vincent, brise marine quotidienne | Méditerranéen, tempéré par la mer | Shiraz et grenache | Fruit mûr et souple, épice douce, prix serrés |
| Clare Valley | Coteaux intérieurs, forte amplitude jour et nuit | Riesling | Dry, lemony white, cut out for twenty years of ageing |
| Coonawarra | Bande de terre rouge sur calcaire, climat frais | Cabernet sauvignon | Cassis, menthe et feuille de tabac, tanin droit |
| Hunter ValleyLatitude subtropicale, vendange précoce | Chaud et humide, nuages protecteurs | Sémillon | Blanc léger en alcool, élevé en cuve, superbe après dix ans |
| Yarra ValleyCollines à l'est de Melbourne | Cool, continental on the heights | Pinot noir et chardonnay | Rouge parfumé, chardonnay tendu, shiraz poivré |
| Mornington Peninsula Presqu'île cernée par deux baies | Maritime et venté | Pinot noir | Cerise fraîche, tanin fin, salinité de bord de mer |
| Margaret RiverPointe sud-ouest, entre deux océans | Maritime doux, proche de Bordeaux | Cabernet sauvignon | Assemblage bordelais précis, chardonnay ciselé |
| Tasmanie Île au sud du détroit de Bass | Froid, le plus frais du pays | Chardonnay et pinot noir | Bulles de méthode traditionnelle, acidité tendue |
Rutherglen, in northern Victoria, holds a category of its own: its Muscats, aged in solera for decades, rank among the great end-of-meal wines, to be found on the sweet wines page. For the neighbouring Pacific side, Marlborough Sauvignon and Central Otago Pinot, follow the New Zealand page.
Shiraz de chaleur, shiraz de fraîcheur
Shiraz and syrah name the same plant. Under the Barossa sun, it gives a broad, candied wine. On the cold hillsides of the Yarra or the Grampians, it finds again the pepper and the tension of a northern Rhône syrah. Here are the markers for choosing your camp.
| Le repère | Climat chaud | Climat frais |
|---|---|---|
| The regions | Barossa, McLaren Vale, HeathcoteVallées basses du Sud, été sec | Yarra, Grampians, Adelaide HillsCoteaux en altitude, nuits froides |
| Le fruit | Mûre confite, prune noire, figue, chocolat | Mûre fraîche, framboise, groseille, violette |
| L'épice | Réglisse, cuir, clou de girofle | Poivre noir moulu, olive, brindille |
| La bouche | Ample et veloutée, alcool généreux | Serrée et nerveuse, finale saline |
| L'élevage | Fût américain, vanille et noix de coco | Fût français, souvent vendange entière |
| À table | Côte de bœuf, agneau braisé, viandes fumées | Canard rôti, charcuterie poivrée, ratatouille |
| Au service | Autour de dix-sept degrés, carafe d'une heure | Autour de quinze degrés, carafe brève |
Three mentions help you read the label. The GI, Geographical Indication, designates the area of origin and guarantees that at least 85% of the grapes come from it. Single vineyard announces a single plot, often the estate's best. Old vine refers to the Barossa charter, which reserves the term for vines over thirty-five years old. The whole grape variety, here and in the Rhône, can be explored from the Syrah page.
Why the Barossa still has vines from another century
Phylloxera, which devoured Europe's vineyards from 1863 onwards, never reached South Australia. A strict quarantine, still in force between the states, protected the Barossa, the Clare Valley and McLaren Vale. The result: Shiraz and Grenache planted between 1840 and 1870 still grow there on their own roots, ungrafted, where almost all the rest of the world grafts onto American rootstock.
These vines give little, but what they give is dense. The Barossa old vine charter grades the vocabulary: old vine beyond thirty-five years, survivor vine at seventy, centenarian at a hundred, ancestor vine at a hundred and twenty-five. One word on the label, and you know what you are pouring.
Comment on choisit
Nous goûtons chaque cuvée avant de l'inscrire au catalogue, et nous cherchons deux choses sur ce rayon. L'équilibre d'abord : un rouge solaire doit garder la bouche fraîche malgré le degré. La lisibilité ensuite : le fût se fait discret, le fruit reste au premier plan. Une bouteille qui repose sur sa seule puissance reste au vestiaire.
L'équipe du Baroudeur du Vin
What people ask us about Australian wines
Shiraz ou syrah, quelle différence ?
None in botanical terms: the word shiraz is the Australian name for Rhône syrah. It generally announces a riper, rounder style, while syrah signals a search for freshness and pepper, including on cool-climate Australian labels. Both styles are gathered on the Syrah page.
Pourquoi ces vins partent-ils souvent par lot ou par caisse ?
Australian estates ship in full cases from the other side of the world, and keeping that packaging holds the price per bottle down. The price shown is always the bottle price, with the sales format right beside it. Part of the range is still available singly, notably from Henschke, Rockford and Shaw & Smith.
Which region to choose for a first purchase?
For a generous red, start from the Barossa or from McLaren Vale. For a fine, fresh red, take the Yarra Valley. For a white, two directions: the Semillon of the Hunter Valley, light and lemony, or the chiselled Chardonnay of Margaret River. Count on around €20 a bottle for a serious first approach in each of these regions.
Do all Australian wines come in at 15% alcohol?
The reds of the warm South often come in at 14 to 15% alcohol, carried by very ripe grapes. The cool regions give distinctly lighter wines, and Hunter Valley Semillon drops to around 11% thanks to an early harvest. The continent's range therefore runs from light white to red for a hearty meal.
Qu'est-ce qu'un vin franc de pied, et pourquoi en Australie ?
An ungrafted vine grows on its own roots, instead of being grafted onto a phylloxera-resistant rootstock. South Australia, spared by the insect and protected by a strict quarantine, keeps plots planted in the nineteenth century. These vines give tiny yields and wines of a remarkable density of fruit.
Que vaut le sémillon de la Hunter Valley ?
It is one of the most singular whites in the world. Harvested early, vinified in stainless-steel tanks, it reaches the glass lemony, almost austere, with a very low alcohol. After eight to ten years in bottle, it develops notes of toast, honey and wax, as though it had seen wood. See the Semillon page.
Le cabernet de Margaret River ressemble-t-il à un bordeaux ?
The comparison rests on climate: Margaret River enjoys a maritime influence very close to that of the Médoc, with more regular summers. The wine keeps the blackcurrant, the graphite and the straight structure of the grape variety, with cleaner fruit and a suppler tannin in its youth. The Cabernet Sauvignon page gathers the grape variety together.
Où trouver du pinot noir australien ?
Three zones stand out, all of them cool: the Yarra Valley east of Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula between two bays, and Tasmania. What the warm South brings in power, these wines gain in perfume and tension. Serve them at around 15 °C. The Pinot Noir page brings together the worldwide selection.
Combien de temps garder une bouteille australienne ?
An entry-level Shiraz is for drinking within three to five years. An old-vine cru from the Barossa or a Cabernet from Coonawarra will hold fifteen to twenty years. Clare Valley Riesling easily crosses two decades, and so does Hunter Semillon. The Muscats of Rutherglen keep for several months once opened.
Comment se compare l'Australie à sa voisine néo-zélandaise ?
Australia plays across the whole span of the thermometer, from the sun-baked reds of the Barossa to the ice-cold bubbles of Tasmania. New Zealand, narrower and more oceanic, stays on the cool side with Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. The two countries complement each other well: see the New Zealand page.