“Claret for boys, port for men, shiraz for heroes”
Penfolds, Chris Ringland Shiraz, classic Hunter Valley and Barossa Shiraz were Australia’s top
performing wines at auction in 2009.
Penfolds Grange and rare Penfolds experimental wines continue to dominate the Australian
secondary wine market. Although 1951 Penfolds Bin 1 Grange, arguably the most important
Australian wine of the 20th Century, fetched $43,701 (#1), it was 1957 Penfolds St Henri , that
created the headlines in 2009. At $8108.65 (#4), it is the highest price ever paid for a bottle of
Australian wine on the fine and rare auction market with the exception of Grange. Remarkably it
also out-performed the astonishingly rare 1958 Hill of Grace ($6325 #5).
The enigmatic Chris Ringland Barossa Shiraz, first “discovered” by the American critic Robert Parker
during the 1990s, was the highest individual ranking performer after Penfolds Grange. Ten vintages
fell within the top 50 performing Australian wines at auction and represented half of the top 20
rankings of Australian wine (excluding Penfolds). This stunning result further adds weight to the
Chris Ringland Shiraz story; once regarded as a “cult” wine it is increasingly seen worldwide as one of
Australia’s greatest reds. Chris Ringland, like Russel l Crowe and Mel Gibson, was born in New
Zealand. The vines, however, are pre-phylloxera Shiraz of more ancient material!
The rare Australian wine market boomed during 2009 with some wines increasing in value by over
300%. Classic mature vintages of Hunter Valley Shiraz performed exquisitely. 1954 McWilliam’s
Mount Pleasant Robert Hermitage (Shiraz), one of Maurice O’Shea’s significant wines achieved
$3174.70 (#13). It was the second highest ranked Australian performer (excluding Penfolds). 1965
Lindemans Bin 3100 Hunter River Hermitage (#18)and sibling 1965 Bin 3110 (#20) also fetched
historically high values in 2009. 1986 Brokenwood Graveyard Hunter Valley Shiraz, arguably the
finest Australian red wine made in this watershed year, reached $801. Andrew Caillard, MW, fine
wine principal at Langton’s said “This is a great achievement for it acknowledges and underpins the
extraordinary history and potential of Hunter Valley Shiraz.”
Stewart Langton, managing director, said “Australian wine auction market prices were relatively
buoyant in 2009. Great and rare vintages performed well above expectations reflecting the
incendiary relationship between scarcity and demand.”
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Enquiries
Stewart Langton 0414 314 311 email stewartl@langtons.com.au
Andrew Caillard, MW 0418 272 293 email andrewc@langtons.com.au
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