Australian Wines Classified

It is time Australians woke up to the quality of their own wine, says Stewart Langton, Managing Director of Langton’s Fine Wine Auctions, Australia’s leading wine auction house. Australia does indeed have its own distinguished vineyards which make wines of genuine international standing, he says, while introducing the new concept of Langton’s Classification of Distinguished Australian wine.

With his Sydney-based director, Andrew Caillard, Langton has determined an Australian version of the 1855 Classification of the French wines of the Medoc, whose degree of accuracy to the present day is remarkable. The Langton’s classification however, based around the performances of Australian wines at auction, will be updated every five years to reflect the rapidly changing status of Australia’s relatively youthful wine industry.

Although credibly and commercially based, Langton’s and Caillard’s classification will probably incite more arguments than it solves. Their rankings are based on an assessment of average auction prices over two and a half years of trading at Langton’s and many previous years of auction records, considering also the number of bids entered and auction prices against those of currently available vintages.

Top of the pile, not unexpectedly, sits Penfolds Grange Hermitage, whose performance has been such that it is the sole occupant of the premier or “Outstanding A” category. “Grange stands alone,” says Langton. “It has barely altered course over thirty years and more. Australia is finally waking up to what the rest of the world says about it. We sell as much Grange to overseas buyers as we do to Australians. “

The second bracket of wines is rated as “Outstanding B” and, as yet, no white wine makes an appearance. “We haven’t had the time and the experience yet with chardonnay,” says Langton. “Experiments like Piper’s Brook’s Summit Chardonnay will get us there, by choosing a particular combination of aspect and site, just as they do in Burgundy and Bordeaux.”

The wines listed in “Outstanding B” include Henschke Hill of Grace, Mount Mary Cabernets, Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707, Petaluma Coonawarra principally cabernet sauvignon, Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon and Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 also principally cabernet sauvignon.

“Most of the top level wines are based around cabernet,” says Langton, “which reflects the effort put into this variety in recent years which has not been put into shiraz. That is now changing, so our next classification in around five years will take this into account. Given right approach by their owners, the B wines could well move into the A category.”

One of the more surprising aspects of the classification is the inclusion of only a single riesling, found in the third or ‘Excellent’ category, despite its pre-eminent status in Australian white wine until chardonnay’s relatively recent introduction. Langton ascribes its apparent lack of recognition to marketing. “Riesling has been promoted more as a variety and not in specific individual brands,” he says. “There are no riesling brand leaders, apart from those at the bottom end of the market. Petaluma, the only inclusion, has carefully nurtured its brand and to that end it has been successful.”

Seven of the ten whites listed are chardonnay and no-one could dispute the presence of the only sweet wine, De Bortoli’s Botrytis Semillon.

Langton believes that he and Andrew Caillard have given loud, clear messages to the wine industry. At one level, the owners of Piper’s Brook and Leeuwin Estate could do worse than to plant more chardonnay.

Looking more deeply, the branding of prestige wines is obviously crucial to their marketing success. “How long did it take for the John Riddoch red to become an established brand?” poses Langton. “No time at all. Yet Lindemans completely lost it with all those great Hunter River Burgundies. Lindemans used bin numbers to identify their wines, which changed year after year and are impossible to remember.”

Adamant that the only way for Australia to succeed at the highest level is to build on the success of its outstanding brands, Langton poses “The first growths of Bordeaux are the best because they can afford to be the best. We must establish benchmarks like these and then let the benchmarks afford to indulge themselves. Otherwise we’ll be a great big wine lake priced at $4.99.

“It would be disastrous for Australia only to be seen as a mass producer of good cheap wine. The French sell most of their wine because of a small number of wines like Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour. Australia must project itself as a quality producer.

“Overseas Australia is being observed as one homogeneous wine zone within fifty square miles in size of mainland USA. People won’t pay big dollars overseas for Australian wine until they realise that something is going on here.”

Australia’s best wines are indeed products of special sites. This classification proves that they do exist in Australia, where mature vineyards are planted in the right places to the right varieties. “It’s obvious really,” says Langton, “but it’s still really exciting to see.” Please login to post comment