12 Bottles Of Australian Shiraz To Try, Starting At Just $13

If not for a typo on a registration form, the world-famous Barossa Valley wine region in South Australia would have been spelled like the place it is named for in Andalusia, Spain: "Barrosa," for the Barrosa Ridge. That misplacement of two letters likely didn't make much difference, though. English and German settlers still would have populated the area, and it still would have become what it is today: arguably Australia's most prestigious wine region.

Grenache and mourvedre are prominent red grape varieties in the Barossa Valley, as is cabernet sauvignon, but by far the most notable grape in the country's most-known region is shiraz. Cabernet sauvignon makes its way into varietal bottlings, and is also blended with shiraz for a uniquely Australian wine. Same goes with the country's famous "GSM" blends (for grenache, shiraz, mourvedre, borrowing the Rhone Valley formula), but single varietal shiraz is Oz's marquee wine style.

Shiraz, known to a good portion of the rest of the world as syrah, is the country's signature red grape — if not signature grape of any color — and the Barossa is its wheelhouse. There, producers generally turn out wines that could include elements of plum, blackberry, other dark fruits, herbs, tobacco, leather, smoke, anise, eucalyptus, spice, coffee, vanilla, chocolate and the grape variety's signature closer, black pepper. These big red wines are great partners for big foods such as beef, lamb and game, and if that meat comes with the smoke and char of a barbecue preparation, even better. They love the "barbie" in Australia, and their homegrown shiraz is a perfect partner for it.

To read more about shiraz and to find out which bottles made the list, visit the Chicago Tribune.