Sterling Wine Auctions Australia

That apparent contradiction comes from a period of sustained retail price hikes and shortages of the icon wines that auctions make available.

With a certain Dickensian twist it was, in so many ways "the very best of times and the very worst of times". In fact the "tale of two wines" sums up the year.

Penfolds Grange has become the health barometer of the wine auctions markets.

Maybe seen by some as a safe haven, a calm port during the financial storm, others just want to own Penfolds Grange and show off with the stuff.

The barometer showed a strong and relatively constant reaction. Certainly Grange prices over the past few years have moved little. That is following a strong kick saw prices across the board move by about 15% in 2008.

2009 really hasn't seen those strong gains eroded. In fact the flatness of the 2009 Grange market was tilted up by strong performances by the "must have" drinking vintages. 1990 1991 1996 1998 all making modest, but attractive advances throughout the year.

The winds of change are definitely blowing the Grange bubble and maybe next year will see it strained to breaking.

Every new release sees a 10-15% price hike and corresponding re-consideration of back vintage values.

The weakness in the Penfolds Grange Market is the very success and collectability of the stuff.

Not enough Grange is being drunk, too much is being stored (for future resale?) A catastrophic fall from Grange grace could see run on the market with a stampede of little old ladies, having dragged the grand kids inheritance from under the bed, throwing big volumes of back vintage Grange into the secondary market.

How many bad wraps from wine sages would it take to prick the Grange Balloon? How would prices stand up if the hoard of Grange collectors became sellers.

History can repeat, remember the heady days of Seppelt Para. The 100 year release and pre-war vintages were worth a fortune. In the early 1990's buyers became sellers and there were precious few drinkers and the rot quickly spread.

The "best of times, worst of times" …. Tale of the Second Wine; would have to a review of the fabulous fortunes of the Penfolds Bin 707.

In a sea of Shiraz wanna bees this is the story to watch. Yes Bin 707 is Cabernet (that tastes mighty like Shiraz) It certainly isn't cheap and it is selling like there was no tomorrow.

In fact, Penfolds Bin 707 must be the Sterling Auction Wine of 2009.

Based on demand, high price and unlikely growth in values, Bin 707 must be the darling of the Wine auction scene.

Shame that there are so many greedy owners holding the stuff and not sharing the joy by sharing it round.

The runners up for the wine of the year award would have to be another Penfolds player, the classic St Henri and the Henschke classic Mt Edelstone. Both have performed brilliantly growing in value, stature and collectability.

2009 must be the year of consolidation. Lots of great wines have celebrated their 10, 20 or even 30th Anniversary.

Interesting to see the list of "First Families of Wine" drawn up this year. To get a seat you had to be a family owned Australian Wine business that has two generations of ownership and a flagship vertical tasting of 20 vintages. There are already 12 players with a cumulative wine industry experience of over 1,200 years!

If you throw a net over D'arenberg, Brown Brothers, Campbells, DeBortoli, Henschke, Howard Park, Jim Barry, McWilliams, Tahbilk, Tyrrells, Taylors and Yalumba and take a good hard look you might just see the future of the industry, a granite backbone that will provide foundations for the next wave of Aussie wine success.

Maybe 2009 saw us get a little more sophisticated. Heck no one has accused me of that!

But; we are all starting to realize that the "Critter" wines that pushed the Aussie wine barrow for the past ten years and stretched our palates out of shape and are now a bit boring. After all, subtlety, elegance and power can be all seen in the same glass.

A benchmark, accessible wine for me is the D'Arenberg Dead Arm.

I will give the D'Arenberg Dead Arm my 2009 personal favorite award.

Year in, year out Dead Arm has delivered strong performances with style and character. (must come from Chesters contemplations on his "sky thunder-box").

Had a bottle of the 2001 Dead Arm a few days ago. What more could you want; under $80 at auction and Class Class Class! The Great American Mr Parker gave it 98 points a few years ago and it has not faded.

The search for the latest good thing, in so many ways, is so such old hat to the long suffering pioneers like Tyrrells who have tirelessly, over three generations, mastered the world of Semillon and waited for the punter to get with the program and learn to savor these delicate flowers as they slowly bloom in the glass; Not mow them down in a rush of thirst.

Wolf Blass is worried that we are at risk of confusing the wine world with too many "new" varieties.

I tend to agree. Many new generations of Managers "throw the baby out with the bath water" in a rush to modernize and embrace the opportunities of the new world. Maybe a bit boring, maybe predictable but Cabernet Shiraz Chardonnay Semillon Riesling and Sauv Blanc continue century after century to make up such a large percentage of the wine world. There must be a good reason.

A very good reason. They make the most magical wines in the world! (Spose I will have to put Pinot Noir into the list for fear of being attacked by the ladies lunch wine set)

Recently I have enjoyed many exciting new (unconventional) varieties as single expression wines.

From straight Viogniers to Sagratino and Sangiovese. There are wonderful wines made with these grapes in other countries. Never forget the 1,200 years experience of the "Australian First Families of Wine" and the undoubted 500,000+++ years of experience our 200 year old wine industry has notched up. We have done very well with the grapes that are popular because they have a proven track record, here in Australia, in many cases over a 100 year period.

The Aussie Chardonnay story is a sure mark of sophistication and progress.

Look at Giaconda; can you imagine any but lunatics paying over $100 a bottle for Oz chard ten years ago?

Well stand in line, $100 a bottle is well short of the auction price. Strong recent vintages of Giaconda Chard are being hammered down for over $120 a bottle.

And what Chardonnay! The doyens of the Yarra, Beechworth and Margaret River are making Chardonnays that ring all the bells.

Not just bashing away on butter, melons and Oak, the angelic chimes of our new generation of chards are light and crisp with mineral finish and amazing balance followed by even more amazing length.

No one I know will give me any Giaconda to drink (HINT HINT) but I recently looked at few recent releases of the Leeuwin Estate. Buy a bottle of both the 2006 and 2007 Leeuwin Art Series. You won't be disappointed.

If there is a Sterling Wine and a Personal "Lynton's choice" for 2009, it is fair that there is a Sterling Man / Person/ woman of the Year.

This year it is pretty easy to put Jeff and Amy Burch on the pedestal. (A husband and wife can be my person of the year)

An awesome team that have been unstoppable in 2009.

Howard Park has a seat at the "First Families of wine" table, they just keep plugging away at picking up big overseas "against the world" awards from funny places that I can never pronounce.

Having a bench mark Aussie Cabernet, Riesling and Chardonnay under the Howard Park Banner and some true commercial world beaters under the Mad Fish, Leston and Scottsdale flags might be enough for some folks.

Combine that with the arty stuff like an architect's winery that would have made Frank Lloyd Wright proud and lots of social and charity stuff you start to get worn out.

But wait for it, that's not all!

Jeff has teamed up with one of the brightest lights from Burgundy, a big wheel by the name of Pascal Marchand, to set up a wine axis capable of shaking the Old world temple to its foundations!

Marchand & Burch are making Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz in WA's Great Southern. This is serious stuff that is not a fad for family indulgence.

These guys are gunning for the big game and have moved straight to the top table in just two years with rave reviews for their Aussie wines. (see the Website http://www.marchandandburch.com.au/)

Yes of Course there is more, in a "Coals to Newcastle" saga M&B are making special wonder wines in Burgundy under their Aussie / International label.

Keep and eye on these guys and don't forget; Amy Burch is the cosmopolitan, strong, charming and elegant buttress holding all this together with sheer strength and a winning smile!

During the year I have listed some of the wine that got my attention.

Here is my end of year list.

D' Arenberg Dead Arm, Marchand & Burch Chardonnay, Lindemans Hunter Burgundies / Shiraz, Tyrrells Vat 1 and the crazy mixed up Vat 47, Jacobs Creek Johann and Centenary Hill, Leeuwin 2006 Art Chardonnay, Moss Wood Cabernet 2005 & 2006, Cullen Cab Merlot 2005 & 2006, Woodlands Margaret Cab Merlot 2001, Houghton White Burgundy / White Classic and Jack Mann, Massena 11th Hour, Kays Amery Block 6, Tahbilk 1860 old vine and 1927 Marsanne, best budget wines Wynns Coonawarra Shiraz, Saltram Metala Cab Shiraz and Penfolds Koonunga Hill.

A review would be incomplete without a look at the world financial crisis. Worst recession since the great depression you know.

Maybe in Spain and Iceland, certainly not here. Despite the best efforts of certain political leaders who have done their best to talk down and kneecap any Aussie economic growth prospects we have done just fine. This past year has been a lot like 2001 where nothing in particular happened but there was a lot of worry and waiting. Waiting for a sign.

Here's a sign. Sterling has dealt with fewer vendors in financial distress in 2009 than any year in the past five! Yes, the auction business is just about the only way to cash in a flash cellar you can no longer afford.

Death, divorce, bankruptcy retirement and disease with deal a tough hand to us all sooner or later. Sterling has helped fewer folks with money troubles cash in the wine collection this year than last year or the year before. Gotta be a sign there!

A want to close the review of 2009 with my though or question of the year.

Have you tasted? Do you like "old fashioned" Aussie red wines that are low in Alcohol, wood influence and have little extracted / pressed fruit?

Two of the most exciting and enjoyable wine experiences for me this year were the Lindemans 1991 Hunter Burgundy and the Seville Estate 1995 Yarra Shiraz. Another memorable experience was the 1986 Brands Laira Original Vineyard

Tell me if you can buy Aussie wine made like this from recent vintages? Funny thing when I talk to winemakers on this subject they immediately chime in with how well the entry level Rhone wines do this style. Why aren't we doing it? So often you hear huge praise heaped on the bin 60a Penfolds Cab Shiraz mega icon from 1962. Wasn't the alcohol on this one, the supposed best wine ever made in Australia, well under 12%?

Slipped in my tasting notes FYI. go to http://www.sterlingwine.com.au/whatdrink.php for all the published tasting notes for 2009

2009-10-27      Lindemans Hunter River Burgundy Bin 8203 1991

This is me spoiling myself. It was my birthday and I wanted to drink this one. Was supposed to share with another old Hunter shiraz fan. Sorry Tony, you had your chances; next time

Let's begin with the 11.5% alcohol, this is almost 50% lower than many of the red monsters lurking below corks. Might be kidding myself and I might be confusing the effect of massive extraction with monster alcohol (funny they always seem to go hand in hand) But I reckon that the lower alcohol in this wine suited me and increased my enjoyment! (Anyone want to throw in their thoughts on this subject ?)

Back to the wine. I LOVED IT Why? Because it was different? No; it was more than that. There wasn't the gob bomb of flavor charging the gums. Nor was there a tasting invasion charging down my throat. In fact; concentrating on length, this wine didn't linger that long. Not in the overt sense. Maybe more of a spooky phantom presence. It was there lingering in my throat and palate but it wasn't there!

Lovely, gentle Shiraz characters mixed with bottle age, classy hunter leather and touch of funky mushrooms. You don't have to blow big bucks to top the wine love scale. This gem cost me under $40 at auction and got the highest praise from my little Bella Darling, who was put off by the idea of crushed ants; she was much more relaxed with sweaty saddles!

2009-05-28       Seville Estate Shiraz 1995 Yarra Valley

Seville Estate have always captured my imagination and interest. Spose wondering if Carmen or Jose Carerras would burst out of the bottle will do that. Very interesting little slip of a thing. Light clean fresh, not burdened by wood or big licks of alcohol. I like wines like this. 1995 was a BAD vintage for most of Australia. Droughts etc. Stark contrast with WA which had one of its best wine vintages ever. Can't imagine this wine is available for the asking. I would like to look at this style against what is now popular. How many punters have ever had a wine like this. Looks like I might have to get Kung Fu to do a little more wandering and righting wrongs in search of this great truth!