Much like California Chardonnay, Australian Shiraz is often described as one thing, one style, one way of being. Given that the wines are coming from a country as big as Australia, you’d think there would be broader understanding of the variations that exist, but that just isn’t always the case. For myself, having grown up in the United States, Australian Shiraz was most frequently associated with “critter wines,” a term used to describe all of the various Yellow Tail copycats whose heyday passed about 20 years ago. And of course, there’s Penfolds, a winery many Americans are familiar with thanks to the Somm series. But if you ask about stylistic variations between Shiraz (AKA Syrah) wines, or even what regions exist beyond Barossa Valley, there isn’t usually much discussion. For me, too, it took time and exploration to discover all that Australia has to offer, and I hope I’ll get to spend much more time (ideally on a trip down under) doing so in the future. In the meantime, consider this tasting guide your invitation to get to know some of the signature styles of Australian Shiraz.

Much like California Chardonnay, Australian Shiraz is often described as one thing, one style, one way of being. Given that the wines are coming from a country as big as Australia, you’d think there would be broader understanding of the variations that exist, but that just isn’t always the case. For myself, having grown up in the United States, Australian Shiraz was most frequently associated with “critter wines,” a term used to describe all of the various Yellow Tail copycats whose heyday passed about 20 years ago. And of course, there’s Penfolds, a winery many Americans are familiar with thanks to the Somm series. But if you ask about stylistic variations between Shiraz (AKA Syrah) wines, or even what regions exist beyond Barossa Valley, there isn’t usually much discussion. For me, too, it took time and exploration to discover all that Australia has to offer, and I hope I’ll get to spend much more time (ideally on a trip down under) doing so in the future. In the meantime, consider this tasting guide your invitation to get to know some of the signature styles of Australian Shiraz.

Every year, I come across posts and articles galore recommending dry wines with Halloween candies. They always make me cringe. Everyone should feel free to explore the wide world of wine and food pairings - that’s not the issue. It’s that wines without a trace of residual sugar just don’t taste the same when paired with candy. Don’t take my word for it - try it for yourself. Both the dry wine and the candy will suffer in juxtaposition on your tongue. Acidity and tannins become harsher, and the candies’s flavors are dulled, as though a film has wiped away their best qualities.

Instead, try pairing Halloween candies with sweet wines. When wines are as sweet as the eats, everything just makes more sense. Chocolates taste more chocolate-y. Sour candies pop. Nutty flavors are echoed and become amplified, like toasty nuts on steroids.

In an effort to do right by Halloween, which I find myself missing while living abroad, I’ve created not just one but two Halloween-themed potluck-style wine tasting guides: one for the sweet wines, and one for the dry wines (which are not paired with sweets!).

Think of this guide as your invitation to go all-in on the sugary nostalgia from your trick-or-treating youth…while indulging in very grown-up wine pairings that take your go-to candies to a whole new level.

I have to admit that Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday, at least not as it relates to grown-up costume parties. On the other hand, my childhood Halloween memories are wonderful; stretching cotton-y faux spider webs across bushes and trees in our yard, blasting Monster Mash and the Addams Family theme song from the boom box, watching Hocus Pocus, visiting pumpkin patches, carving the pumpkins and lighting candles inside, bobbing for apples and eating as many caramel apples as I could get my hands on during the season. And yes, those sugar-swathed apples were in addition to my annual trick-or-treat candy haul. I can only imagine how much fun my siblings and I were to be around with our sugar rush-influenced behavior.

There’s that shift in the weather, too. October is the season for falling leaves, hot apple cider, soups, stews and pot pies. My dad often made his Texas-style chili around this time of year, sometimes making two big pots’ worth: one with plenty of spice and a milder one for us kids. If we were really lucky, we might even get Tamale Pie the next day made with the leftover chili.

All of this to say that Halloween is a bigger deal to me than I realized before moving outside the US, so to honor the holiday, I’m creating not just one but two Halloween-themed potluck-style wine tasting guides: one for the dry wines, one for the sweet, since candy really is best enjoyed with dessert wines that are equally as sweet.

First up: the dry wines, each with a Halloween twist: ghosts, vampires, witches, skeletons, spiders and the devil are all coming out to play in this spooky tasting guide.

Sangiovese is a quintessentially Italian grape, and yet it’s also one of the most-planted grape varieties in the world, grown with varying levels of success in Australia, Canada, the United States, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Chile and Brazil…pretty much the very definition of an “international” wine grape. Somehow though, Sangiovese manages to eschew an international association, remaining steadfastly Italian, even Tuscan in nature.

Maybe it’s because most Italian wines made from Sangiovese are not known as “Sangiovese wines,” but rather, Chianti Classico, Brunello or Vino Nobile. Maybe it’s because Sangiovese’s greatest heights are still reached in Italy, with limited success in its many other homes. Maybe it’s just because it’s still not all that common in those other homes, with the vast majority of Sangiovese grapevines spending their days bathing in the Italian sun.

Whatever the reason, Sangiovese is a picky, mutable grape that doesn’t entirely resemble even itself between its various regions and clones, and the wines made from it are just as widely varied, from pale, youthful easy drinkers to hauntingly beautiful masterpieces that can age for decades and still sing. This tasting is an introduction to Sangiovese’s wonderful breadth and memorability, in all of its many forms.