Yet when it comes to Shiraz , we have to restate our assumptions. The Shiraz grape is the one which is capable of a nearly infinite range of flavor notes, being a kind of artist's wine, in that you can produce a Shiraz that tastes like almost anything depending on the terroir where it was cultivated and the methods you used to make wine with it.

So this extremely versatile wine is also an excellent choice for blending. In fact, it is more often found in a blend than it is in a varietal stand-alone wine. Since Shiraz is most widely planted in Australia, most of the blends involving it come from there. A small percentage of wines from Spain, France, and Italy are also Shiraz blends. In Australian viticulture, the most popular Shiraz blends are Penfolds Grange, containing a dash of Cabernet Sauvignon , the Henschke 'Hill of Grace' and the Penfolds 'RWT'.

A more recent Australian variation is mixing predominantly Shiraz with a very small amount of Viognier , to add a flavor tone of apricots. Finally, if you see 'GSM' on an Australian wine label, you're looking at a three-way blend of Grenache, Shiraz, and Mourvèdre , three grape varieties which grow very well in the Barossa Valley region of South Australia. GSM blend has been gaining wide recognition as a popular blend.

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