Editing Syrah (section)

=== Australia ===
The Syrah grape was introduced into Australia in 1832 by [[James Busby]], an immigrant who brought vine clippings from Europe with him, and it is almost invariably called "Shiraz".<ref name="oz_p_247" /> Today it is Australia's most popular red grape, but has not always been in such favour; in the 1970s, white wine was so popular that growers were ripping out unprofitable Shiraz and Grenache vineyards, even those with [[old vine]]s. In the [[Barossa Valley (wine)|Barossa Valley]], the world's oldest continually producing commercial vineyard is believed to be the Shiraz vines at [[Turkey Flat]] in [[Tanunda, South Australia|Tanunda]] that were originally planted in 1847.<ref name="Miscellany">G. Harding ''"A Wine Miscellany"'' p. 20, Clarkson Potter Publishing, New York 2005 {{ISBN|0307346358}}.</ref>

Many factors, including the success of brands like Lindemans (part of [[Treasury Wine Estates]]) and [[Jacob's Creek (wine)|Jacob's Creek]] in the UK, as well as [[Rosemount (wine)|Rosemount]] in the US and UK, were responsible for a dramatic expansion of plantings during the 1980s and 1990s; a similar trajectory occurred in California. However, the biggest factor in this expansion during the 1990s was a steady increase in exports due to the historically low value of the [[Australian dollar]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Kym |last2=Aryal |first2=Nanda R. |title=Growth and Cycles in Australia's Wine Industry: A Statistical Compendium, 1843 to 2013 |date=2015 |publisher=University of Adelaide Press |isbn=9781925261097 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fzMIDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |access-date=15 May 2018}}</ref>

In the 2005–2006 growing season, total Shiraz plantations in Australia stood at {{convert|41115|ha|acre}}, of which {{convert|39087|ha|acre}} were old enough to be productive. These vines yielded a total of 422,430 tonnes of Shiraz grapes for wine production. This made Shiraz the most planted variety in Australia<ref>[https://www.awbc.com.au/winefacts/data/free.asp?subcatid=102 Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation: Areas of vines and grape production by variety – 2005-06] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080722082133/http://www.awbc.com.au/winefacts/data/free.asp?subcatid=102 |date=2008-07-22}}, accessed on March 17, 2008.</ref> and Australia the world's second largest Syrah/Shiraz grower, after France.<ref name="OCW Syrah" />

Victorian regions include Heathcote, roughly 1.5 hours north of Melbourne. Cooler climate regions such as Western Australia's [[Margaret River]] produce Shiraz with marginally less alcohol content and often in a more traditional French style.

A well-known example of the Shiraz grape in Australian viticulture is the [[Penfolds]] [[Penfolds Grange|"Grange"]]. This wine was created by winemaker [[Max Schubert]] in 1951 and has a reputation for aging well. The Penfolds Grange is predominantly Shiraz but often includes a small quantity of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is usually a multi-regional blend of quality South Australian Shiraz, with the Barossa Valley playing an important role, and matured in new American Oak. Other well-known Australian Shiraz wines include the [[Henschke]] "Hill of Grace" and the Penfolds "RWT".

Recently, Australian Shiraz producers have started to add up to 4% [[Viognier]] to their Shiraz to add apricot tones to the wine's nose and palate. With such a small percentage added, the producer wasn't obliged to declare the blend on the label. In the past 5 years, however, it's becoming increasingly fashionable to label the wine "Shiraz Viognier" as Viognier gains consumer acceptance in the marketplace. The practise of blending [[Viognier]] with Syrah has actually been common for years in the Northern Rhône Valley region of Cote-Rotie.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/winenews051015 |author=Jancis Robinson |date=2005-10-15 |title=Viognier – it's everywhere nowadays |access-date=2006-12-20 |archive-date=2006-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060407174851/http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/winenews051015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

"Shiraz" is also the S in "GSM" (Grenache-Shiraz-Mourvèdre), which is common Australian designation for a Châteneuf-du-Pape-like blend.