Not much Australia talk here...

Curious as to why there is not much Australian wine talk here. I’m sure it’s a combination of factors, but wondering what is the biggest

Eurocentric site. Plenty of info here from knowledgeable Aussie fans that live in Australia.

Hunter Sems, Margaret River, Barossa, Coonawarra, and McClaren Vale all get a bit of play.

Just ask.

Blame exported Ooze-Monsters, on which a thread exists.

You realize this is an American site?

That discusses mostly old world wines.

Years of overblown glop monsters turned many off of Australian wines.

I’m intrigued by this line of thought.

Are not many of Napa reds glop monsters?

Had some Sine Qua Non syrahs and cabs, and Colgin Cariads as well (all RP100 jobs) a while back, and they were extremely gloopy, turbocharged and too much of everything. 16% alcohol stuff. The US market falls over itself to buy these Napa reds…yet the Australian oozemonsters favoured by Parker are out of fashion?

Yep. They are.

Had some Sine Qua Non syrahs and cabs, and Colgin Cariads as well (all RP100 jobs) a while back, and they were extremely gloopy, turbocharged and too much of everything. 16% alcohol stuff. The US market falls over itself to buy these Napa reds…yet the Australian oozemonsters favoured by Parker are out of fashion?

That’s right. Yes, the cognitive dissonance is strong.*

*however, that is to ignore the “cool factor,” which drives a lot of luxury goods purchases. Not only are Australian wines not cool, they are affirmatively “Not cool.”


Speaking only for myself: I used to buy Australian Shiraz — way back when I was getting into wine, and based most of my purchasing decisions off how cheaply I could buy maximum Wine Spectator points. Over time, I discovered wines from elsewhere that I liked more, and I acquired enough knowledge — both of what is available in the market, as well as my preferences — to no longer need to rely on Wine Spectator to guide my purchasing. A few more years passed and I then started to discover, from personal experience, that many of those glop monsters aged terribly. That, in a nutshell, is how I got off Australian wines. I will say this, however: a few months ago I resolved to explore Australian Semillon and Chardonnay, as I’ve never given them a chance, and it sounds like many might appeal to me.

I do believe if Australia makes good wines and gets them into folks’ hands, discussion and interest will follow.

From just a casual observation, I think there is a huge shift in winemaking in Australia going on now, just like there is here in California. Back to elegance and simplicity.

I’d say because a lot of the really good ones which people here would be interested in are not only expensive but almost impossible to find.

Try to track down Mount Mary, Wendouree, Cyril Henschke, etc. in the US and see how far it gets you.

Most of us don’t speak Australian.

Started buying back in 2004 There were some great wines: Noon, Torbreck, Two Hands. My problem was that my favorite wines were expensive. I loved my 03 Les Amis, but for $200 I can find a lot of good Grenache elsewhere. Same thing with Runrig, Again, $200 for good shiraz. And what you could buy for <$50 had little appeal.

Amazing money for fermented grape jam.

The wines just aren’t available in the USA in comparison to other countries.

This is definitely the case. Right now, there is a groundswell of small producers who are basically starting from scratch in terms of style. Some of them are being imported, but not enough. And the cult wines that can do a convincing job of terroir+refinement are rarely available outside their home market. (From what I understand - I’ve never tried them for this very reason)

I think the shift has been happening for some time, but there are many consumers in the US and other markets who were turned off by the ooze monsters.

I don’t think there is that much posting on massive CA wines here either.

Favorites California wines are more likely to be the classics like Ridge, Mt. Eden, etc. or the producers pushing back against ooze type wines like Rhys, Ceritas, Dirty & Rowdy, etc.

While there is the occasional baller thread for Kinsman, MacDonald, and the like, it’s not that common. You’re a lot more likely to read about Clos de Briords and champagne than Sin Qua Non.

I appreciate that. Had 2 Aussie Shirazs from Wine Access over the weekend and really enjoyed both- 2017 Thorn Clark Eden Trail and 2016 Shaw & Smith. They were very different and was fun to drink them at the same time. I didn’t know or expect the Shaw & Smith to taste like it did, reminded me much more of Northern Rhone as opposed to the Thorn Clark was the classic Shiraz I was expecting. If anyone has any <$50 recommendations in either style I’d love to hear them

I personally love Aussie Shiraz. And when they show up at auction here, they always go for a song. Recently had some aged Shirvington and Amon Ra that were wonderful. But they are very hard to find the good ones in retail.