There are thousands of grape types. Why is Australia so one-track with its shiraz?

K.E., CROYDON, VIC

Well, we’re not as one-track as New Zealand, where 86 per cent of wine grapes are sauvignon blanc. Shiraz makes up a little more than 25 per cent of Australia’s harvest. In fact, about 80 per cent of Australian wine comes from just 10 grape varieties, with shiraz, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sauvignon blanc the top five.

The authoritative reference book Wine Grapes, by José Vouillamoz, Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding, details 1368 wine grape varieties. Italy alone has about 2000 indigenous varieties and makes wine using about 377 of them, according to Ian D’Agata’s book Native Wine Grapes of Italy.

There are about 160 grape types used for making wine in Australia, but the vast majority produce only small quantities. In fairness, though, we’ve greatly increased the number of fringe or alternative grape varieties in recent decades. Most people interested in wine would agree that this is a good thing; in wine, variety is the spice of life.

The reasons Australia is so focused on shiraz are, first, that it suits the climate and soils of so many of our wine regions, and second, that so many people enjoy drinking it. It’s as simple as that. It’s the same reason that New Zealand is so sauvignon blanc-focused.

Different grape types suit different places: malbec in Argentina’s Mendoza region, cabernet sauvignon in California’s Napa Valley, chenin blanc in France’s middle Loire Valley, riesling in Germany’s Rhine and Mosel Valleys.

Also, marketing can’t be ignored; it’s easier to sell well-known varieties than unfamiliar ones. The market for the Jura grape savagnin is tiny in this country, for example, while the thirst for sauvignon blanc is vast.

Global warming will necessitate planting heat- and drought-tolerant grapes, such as carignan, arinto and negro amaro, but the resulting wines could prove hard to sell.

Most wine drinkers are creatures of habit; serious buffs are experimental enough to embrace a wider variety of options.