Shiraz with its warmth remains Australia’s favourite variety. The richness of flavours make it the foundation of our warm climate wine making. In this way we challenged the cooler red wine styles termed Clarets which came with our U.K. heritage, being made from Cabernet and similar varieties. The reason was likely our early drinking culture which did not embrace table wine as Shiraz was found more suitable for making fortified wines.
Two other varieties Grenache and Mataro were also favoured for fortifieds. This may explain why only tiny plantings of Cabernet existed in 1950. Grenache and Mataro were not considered for table wines until the late 1980s and early 1990s when the curiosity of young Barossa wine makers triggering off interest.
The best way to sample the taste of Grenache and Mataro is with a GSM blend. Glug have been supporters of this style since our beginning and customers are steadily moving from curiosity to regular enjoyment. They are now breaking into the restaurant scene, so recognition has at last arrived. Our first Goat Square GSM was the 2006 vintage.
