Sterling Wine Auctions Australia

Issue 181 of Mr Robert Parkers Wine Advocate reviewed over 3,200 wines including over 1,000 Aussie new releases.

Our interest in the Parker extraordinary 96-100point category sees the list below, 40 new Parker stars.

Sobering and well considered words fromMr Parkers Aussie rep Dr Jay Miller, preface the wine reviews.

If you haven’t already, subscribe the the wine advocate and read the full editorial.

2009 into the Abyss

In January 2009 there is a perception that the American market for Australian wine is in serious jeopardy. In upscale wine shops, shelf space for premium Australia wines continues to shrink. On fine dining restaurant wine lists Australian wines have very little representation. Ask collector/connoisseurs what they are buying and the chances are overwhelming that they will not name Australian wines. Closeout offers from distributors and retailers abound (creating shopping opportunities for loyal fans of the wines but making it very difficult to maintain pricing or demand for new vintages). In my tastings for this report, many, if not most, of the importers with whom I sat down have trimmed their portfolios and/or begun to diversify into what they perceive as more fertile ground, particularly Spain and Argentina. In not much more than a decade the market has gone from boom to bust and to an unsettled future.

There is no question that at the upper end of the market Shiraz has become the grape and Barossa and McLaren Vale the regions. If consumers know more than that, they qualify as experts. How many people know that in these regions Grenache, Cabernet, and Riesling excel? How many people are aware that superb Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grow in Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley? Or Shiraz in Heathcote? My eyes were opened when I visited in September 2008 and did some tasting. Yet it appears that a good many American importers stopped their searching at the borders of Barossa and McLaren Vale. In retrospect it appears that the Australian wine market over the past 10-12 years has had many of the characteristics of the bubble phenomena of high-tech stocks and real estate. When the category got hot (and for this Dan Philips of The Grateful Palate has to get much of the credit) other importers rushed to Australia (especially to Barossa and McLaren Vale) and bought indiscriminately, ultimately flooding the market with the kinds of high alcohol, no terroir, and manufactured wines that have turned consumers off. Now the bubble has burst and what’s left are those very wines that excited people in the first place. However, now they need to be reintroduced with much better marketing behind them. And consumers need to be educated to the fact that Australia is a diverse country with a huge variety of regions, wines, and styles. As the following notes should make clear, the wines of Australia are as good as they have ever been and are worthy of support.

—Jay Miller

Wine Advocate 181 New Australian Extraordinary wines 96-100pt

Chambers Rosewood Vineyards Rare Muscat     NV      100pts
Greenock Creek Shiraz Roennfeldt Road     2002     100pts
Greenock Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Roennfeldt Road     2002     100pts
Chris Ringland (formerly Three Rivers) Shiraz     2001     100pts
Chris Ringland (formerly Three Rivers) Shiraz     2002     100pts
Seppeltsfield Para Port Vintage Tawny     1908     100pts
Noon Shiraz Reserve     2006     99pts
R Wines F U Shiraz     2004     99pts
Henschke Shiraz Hill Of Grace     2004     99pts
Chambers Rosewood Vineyards Rare Muscadelle (Tokay)     NV     99pts
Clarendon Hills Astralis (Shiraz)     2006     99pts
Clarendon Hills Shiraz Piggott Range Vineyard     2006     98pts
Campbells Rare Muscat Merchant Prince     NV     98pts
Kilikanoon Shiraz Attunga 1865     2006     98pts
R Wines The Wine Shiraz     2005     98pts
Noon Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve     2006     98pts
Mollydooker Shiraz The Velvet Glove     2007     98pts
Rusden Sandscrub Shiraz     2001     98pts
Torbreck Run Rig     2005     98pts
Two Hands My Hands     2005     97-100pts
Two Hands Shiraz Ares     2006     97pts
Two Hands Shiraz Roennfeldt Road Zippy's Block      2006     97pts
Wild Duck Creek Shiraz Reserve     2006     97pts
Chris Ringland (formerly Three Rivers) Shiraz     2000     97pts
Rusden Shiraz Black Guts     2005     97pts
Chris Ringland (formerly Three Rivers) Shiraz     2003     97pts
Schubert Estate Shiraz Reserve The Gander Roennfeldt Road     2004     97pts
Noon Eclipse Proprietary Red Mclaren Vale/Langhorn Creek     2006     97pts
R Wines Evil Incarnate Shiraz     2005     97pts
Kilikanoon Green's Vineyard Shiraz     2006     97pts
Kilikanoon Shiraz R Reserve     2006     97pts
Kalleske Shiraz Johann Georg     2006     97pts
Langmeil Winery Shiraz 1843 Freedom     2006     97pts
Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone Keyneton Vineyard     2005     97pts
Hobbs Shiraz / Viognier     2005     97pts
Greenock Creek Shiraz Creek Block     2005     97pts
Andrew Hardy Wines Shiraz The Ox     2004     97pts
Campbells Isabella Rare Rutherglen Tokay     NV     97pts
Rolf Binder Wines Shiraz Hanisch     2006     97pts
Clarendon Hills Syrah Hickinbotham Vineyard     2006     97pts
Elderton Command Shiraz     2005     97pts
First Drop Shiraz The Cream     2006     96pts
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Hickinbotham Vineyard     2006     96pts
R L Buller Calliope Rare Muscat     NV     96pts
Chambers Rosewood Vineyards Grand Muscat     NV     96pts
Chambers Rosewood Vineyards Grand Muscadelle (Tokay)     NV     96pts
Greenock Creek Shiraz Alice's     2005     96pts
Greenock Creek Shiraz Seven Acres     2005     96pts
Glaetzer Amon Ra     2007     96-99pts
Hobbs Shiraz Gregor     2005     96pts
Kaesler Shiraz Old Bastard     2006     96pts
R Wines 10 Second Shiraz     2006     96pts
Mollydooker Carnival Of Love      2007     96pts
Two Hands Shiraz Coach House Block Roennfeldt Road     2006     96pts


March 2009