More Than Shiraz

Australia may not be the first place you think of when it comes to cabernet sauvignon, but to ignore its offerings is to miss out

- Sarah Heller

The wine world has a funny relationship with the idea of signature wines. On the one hand, regions or even countries seem to benefit heavily when able to carve out a clear niche (think Napa cabernet or New Zealand sauvignon blanc); but what at first seems like a blessing can sour on the vine when producers find themselves unable to escape that narrowly defined box.

This is particularly pertinent when it applies to entire countries. Too often, a diverse portfolio of specific and sensitively made wines gets brutally overshadowed by the “signature” behemoth. Australia, for example, can struggle to raise awareness internationally of even its most deeply historical wine styles because its name is inextricably linked with shiraz.

A subset of Australian wines that seems to have got lost in the vast gulf between its “modern wave” of big, boisterous shirazes and its hip “new wave” of skinny chardonnays, pinots and funky natural wines is classic Aussie cabernet sauvignon, incarnations of which have been quietly chugging along, developing an ever more nuanced and sophisticated profile.

So when an opportunity arose to taste a selection of top Aussie cabs against international benchmarks, I happily put my hand up. It did not hurt that Wine Australia had pulled together a truly plum list (the international benchmarks alone included such treats as Pichon Baron 2015 and BV Georges de Latour 2015, while the Aussie list included two listed as Exceptional in Langton’s Classification, the ranking of best-performing Australian wines) for a webinar led by Oz Clarke, Mary Gorman-McAdams MW and John Szabo MS.