Dethrone all despots. Depose all false idols. Take control. Do not be dictated to. You are a unique human being. Strong of mind and body and this wine is your voice.

False idols are among us, adorned with the bling that seduces the unwary. As much as we like to hang our hat on Shiraz as a “hero” grape; the never fail variety and the one we can ride on the back of into that picturesque sunset, is it a false idol!? We think is a conversation worth having.

Now amigos. We do love our Shiraz. We love it when it is good; when it is farmed well and it is treated with respect. We love its flair and its showiness but in some respects it is a little bit of a false idol. It certainly gets a lot of attention but at the expensive of what? Varieties that are the unsung heros of the Australian wine industry that’s what.

Varieties like Mataro. Like Grenache. Like the Iberian and Italian grape varieties; like all those ripping varieties that end with ‘o’ … Aglianico, Montepulciano, Negro Amaro, Fiano, etc. Grape varieties that are heat and drought tolerant and well suited to our climate. Many that provide a clearer picture of site, a more accurate manifestation of soil to glass characteristics. A clearer vision of terroir.

We aren’t the first to come up with this hypothesis. A famous and well respected English wine scribe echoed our thoughts in an article in an English wine magazine several years ago but we’re not calling for it to be grubbed out. That would be just silly talk. But there are other varieties that deserve some limelight. Where Shiraz gives up the ghost and shuts down when the weather gets over 35 degrees, its good buddy Mataro just dons the budgie smugglers, slaps on some reef oil and signals defiantly at the sun for Huey to bring the heat. Staunch.

So we thought we’d pair the two up… Shiraz and Mataro. The king and the heir apparent. You know… let them sort it out in the glass. And a bloody delicious little battle it is. BWYW. 4 buying what you want.