It is one of few cocktails that survived from days of Martini and Manhattan. When prepared well, it is a full-bodied, delicious drink. It was one of my mother’s favorites as a young woman in 1940’s and still carries glamour of era.

Accounts agree that Old Fashioned originated at Pendennis Club, in Louisville, Kentucky.

This Old Fashioned recipe appeared in a book written by George J. Kappeler, published in 1895, called Modern American Drinks.

THE OLD-FASHIONED WHISKEY COCKTAIL

Dissolve a small lump of sugar with a little water in a whiskey-glass; add two dashes Angostura bitters, a small piece ice, a piece lemon-peel, one jigger whiskey. Mix with small bar-spoon and serve, leaving spoon in glass.

Robert Hess, writing for Drinkboy.com, cautions that it is common for modern bartenders to top off drink with an ounce or more of soda. In his opinion, soda spoils drink.

But Shiraz has not always held such a hold over market. Until mid nineties Cabernet Sauvignon was regarded as superior variety and this was reflected in prices paid at cellar door. But demand for exports has been mainly for Australian Shiraz and Cabernet has lost ground in battle for consumer preference in Australia as well.

Shiraz's reign at top of tree really started in middle of 1950s when it replaced Grenache as most popular red winegrape variety. In those days a much larger proportion of wine market was devoted to fortified wine, what we used to call Port.

Looking into future role of Shiraz seems unassailable, but there are a few challengers on horizon. The wine consumer is a fickle creature and fashions can change fairly quickly.

Merlot is third most popular red winegrape variety in Australia. Much of production goes into blends with Cabernet Sauvignon, reflecting its major role in Bordeaux. There are quite a few varietal merlots also produced. There are two reasons for thinking that Merlot won't displace Shiraz as our major tipple. Firstly there are viticultural problems relating to poor clones and it performs poorly in cooler regions. Secondly at consumer end wine often lacks a distinctive varietal character. There seems to be no consensus among winemakers about what a good merlot should be like. Meanwhile consumers think of Merlot as meaning mellow. It is hard to find any passion, for or against, this variety.

Another contender is Grenache. This variety is widely planted in South Australia, particularly in Barossa and McLaren Vale regions. In 1980s it was subject to government sponsored vine pull schemes in belief that its days were over. Its star is on rise again both as a varietal and as key to blends with Shiraz and Morvedre. Notwithstanding this recent return to favour, Grenache will not seriously challenge Shiraz because of its need for a relatively warm climate.