Today's Shiraz is more balanced, not as sweet

Two decades ago, the wine that ravished North Americans (“Take me, you savage!”) was Shiraz, the Australian version of the Rhone grape Syrah.
It was capable of producing ripe fruity wines that tasted like jam with tremendous tannins for hardcore carnivores. Since then it has fallen out of favour, although it still has fans. The Australian aisle at the SLGA is about a quarter of what it once was.
The wines have changed in style since then, retreating from that overblown, over-ripe fla