Penfolds Grange is Australia’s most collected wine of 2023, according to storage provider Wine Ark.
Premium Chardonnay has had a resurgence in popularity among Australian collectors, with eight entries of the white variety in the list, making it the second most cellared variety behind Shiraz.
The tri-annual survey offers a report card on Australia’s wine-collecting community, with data collected from more than one million bottles housed in Wine Ark’s cellars.
Since 2006, Wine Ark’s list of the 50 most collected wines has been released and is the only report of its kind in the country that measures the cellars of Australian wine collectors.
John Cuff from Wine Ark says, “Due to the number of bottles in the count, it takes a large change to shift wines in the Top 10.
“This year, six wines in the Top 10 adjusted positions.
“This is the second edition in a row that sees Penfolds Grange be the most collected wine in Australia, which is also one of the country’s most expensive wines, again emphasising the importance of this iconic wine to Australian wine collectors.”
However, it wasn’t entirely positive news for Penfolds and other well-established producers.
“We are seeing a big shift away from many of the classic old cellar staples such as Penfolds, Wynns, Seppelt and Lindemans, towards cooler climate producers such as Tolpuddle, Mount Mary, Yarra Yering and Crawford River,” Cuff says.
“What is also interesting is the vast number of bottles of collectable Chardonnay being stored by Australian collectors in this edition, spearheaded by perennial favourite Leeuwin Estate as the ninth most collected wine with the Art Series Chardonnay.
“Other producers such as Giaconda, Tolpuddle, Lakes Folly, Pierro and Mount Mary all seeing large positional gains for their Chardonnays.”
Standish made the most significant leap in this year’s ranking, with The Standish Shiraz climbing 100 positions to reach 46, marking its debut in the Top 50.
Joining this inaugural entry were other notable movers, including Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay, rising an impressive 66 places, Crawford River Riesling moving up by 59 places, and Thomas Wines debuting with the Braemore Hunter Valley Semillon, securing the 40th spot on the Most Collected list.
John Cuff says, “While full-bodied wines from South Australia are always popular, it is clear that there is a distinct shift in Australian wine cellars towards more elegant, cool climate wines from small boutique winemakers.”
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