Australia’s Most Collected Wines: 2016
Penfolds holds the top three positions (and seven of the top 16). There's no pinot noir to be seen (in the Top 50). Bold chardonnay holds sway. And South Australian wines dominate (with well over 50% of the Top 50). It's the Wine Ark Australia’s Most Collected Wine List 2016 and as always, it's a fascinating insight into the collecting habits of Australian wine enthusiasts.
To quote from the Wine Ark press release: "New entries into the top 50 on the list include Giaconda Chardonnay from Beechworth (up 32 places), Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz from VIC (up 33 places) and Tyrrell's Vat 47 Chardonnay from the Hunter Valley (up 31 places). The big success story for the year is St Hallett, with their Blackwell Shiraz moving up 44 places from 86 to 41. 12 per cent of the list comprises first time entries showing that new Australian wine is just as worthy of cellaring."
The dramatic movements on the list - last published in 2013 - can partially be explained by the addition of new storage facilities to the Wine Ark fleet, many of them in the more southern states.
The list is drawn by, simply, analysing the number of bottles in storage across Wine Ark's 16 storage facilities around Australia. Collectively these facilities house over two million bottles.
Good trivia question: What's Australia's most collected Cabernet Blend? (see below).
Highlights of the list include:
Most popular wine brand: Penfolds (8 entries)
Most popular wine region: Barossa (7 entries) with Margaret River, the Clare Valley and Coonawarra (6 entries each)
Most popular varietal: Shiraz (25 entries)
Most popular state: SA (28 entries)
White vs Red: 9 whites, 41 reds
The most collected Shiraz: Penfolds Grange (number 2)
The most collected Cabernet Shiraz: Penfolds (number 1)
The most collected Cabernet Blend: Lake’s Folly (number 4)
The most collected Cabernet Sauvignon: Moss Wood (number 5)
The most collected Riesling: Grosset Polish Hill (number 9)
The most collected Chardonnay: Leeuwin Estate (number 12)
The most collected Pinot Noir: Mount Mary (number 60)
The Top 50 of the Wine Ark Australia’s Most Collected Wine List 2016 is:
1. Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz Blend Various Regions
2. Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz Various Regions
3. Penfolds St Henri Shiraz Various Regions
4. Lake’s Folly Cabernets Cabernet Blend Hunter
5. Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River
6. Cullen Diana Madeline Cabernet Blend Margaret River
7. Rockford Basket Press Shiraz Barossa Valley
8. Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra
9. Grosset Polish Hill Riesling Clare Valley
10. Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier Canberra District
11. Mount Mary Quintet Cabernet Blend Yarra Valley
12. Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay Margaret River
13. Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon Various Regions
14. Penfolds RWT Shiraz Barossa Valley
15. Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon Various Regions
16. Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz Various Regions
17. Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon Hunter
18. Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra
19. Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz Eden Valley
20. d’Arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz McLaren Vale
21. Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot Coonawarra
22. Voyager Estate Cabernet Merlot Margaret River
23. Lake’s Folly Chardonnay Hunter
24. Orlando St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra
25. Giaconda Estate Chardonnay Beechworth
26. Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1 Cabernet Blend Yarra Valley
27. Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling Clare Valley
28. Jasper Hill Georgia’s Paddock Shiraz Heathcote
29. Rockford Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon Barossa Valley
30. Torbreck Runrig Shiraz Viognier Barossa Valley
31. Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz Various Regions – VIC
32. Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz Eden Valley
33. Seppelt St Peters Shiraz Grampians
34. Grosset ‘Springvale’ Watervale Riesling Clare Valley
35. Tyrrell’s Vat 9 Shiraz Hunter
36. Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz Coonawarra
37. Mount Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz Grampians
38. Wynns Coonawarra Estate Michael Shiraz Coonawarra
39. Kilikanoon Wines Oracle Shiraz Clare Valley
40. Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz Barossa Valley
41. St Hallett Blackwell Shiraz Barossa Valley
42. A.P. Birks Wendouree Shiraz Clare Valley
43. Turkey Flat Shiraz Barossa Valley
44. Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz Pyrenees
45. Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz Hunter
46. Tyrrell’s Vat 47 Chardonnay Hunter
47. Giaconda Warner Vineyard Shiraz Beechworth
48. Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River
49. Grosset Gaia Cabernet Franc Merlot Clare Valley
50. Pierro Chardonnay Margaret River
Of course, movement into and within a list like this is always interesting but so too is movement out of it.
The wines to fall out of the Top 50 since 2013 were:
Elderton Command (49 in 2013)
Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz (47 in 2013)
De Bortoli Noble One Bot Semillon (44 in 2013)
Katnook Cabernet Sauvignon (43 in 2013)
Grant Burge Meshach (42 in 2013)
Lindeman's Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet (41 in 2013).