ODDSOCKS Shiraz
This exquisite blend of three fantastic grape varieties – Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, might have been considered revolutionary in the Old World, but in the New World order, this delicious blend is a unique and remarkable achievement.
South-Eastern Australia is a Geographical Indication (GI) covering the entire southeastern third of Australia. This area’s western boundary stretches 2,000 kilometers (1,250mi) across the Australian continent, from the Pacific coast of Queensland to the Southern Ocean coast in South Australia. This vast viticulturally “super zone” effectively encompasses every significant Australian wine region outside Western Australia.
Rainforest, mountain ranges, scrubland, desert and dried-up riverbeds occupy the majority land within the South Eastern Australia zone. It is only in cooler, coastal areas that vineyards play any significant role in the landscape. The GI covers the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in their entirety, and also the southeastern halves of both Queensland and South Australia.
The sheer scale of this zone – and the diversity of its climates, topography and latitudes – makes it a GI (Geographical Indication) of rather limited meaning. Even the very largest AVA titles in the United States do not constitute even half of the area labeled as South Eastern Australia. This GI’s existence is the result of legal wrangling between the ever-expanding Australian wine industry and bureaucrats of the European Union, one of Australia’s most important consumer base. EU law states that, when labeled with the grape variety from which they are made, imported wines must also bear the name of an officially recognized geographical area of origin (a GI). As a significant proportion of Australian wine, particularly in the lower price brackets, is blended from wines made in multiple states, South Eastern Australia was created as an official labeling term.