We tasted and rated more than 2,700 Australian wines in 2019, easily our broadest coverage of this category and a huge investment in what is one of the most diverse and exciting wine continents on Earth. Of those 2,700 wines, just three were awarded 100 points this year, all shiraz, and all very different.

The 2019 Australian Wine of the Year is the 2015 Penfolds Grange. It is so good to see such an important and iconic wine in such stunning form. This 2015 is a classic Grange that will need cellaring to fully appreciate the depth and detail that right now is buried beneath a raw and powerful expression of the rich, Barossa-driven shiraz style that has defined Australia’s most successful wines for 20 or more years.

Our second-ranked wine is the 2018 Tyrrell’s Old Patch Shiraz, which has now collected three consecutive 100-point ratings with its elegant yet powerful and focused shiraz from an ancient Hunter Valley vineyard. Opposite in so many ways to Grange, Old Patch is the product of a single dry-farmed plot of vines planted in 1867. This wine was raised in a single 2,700-liter oak vat and is one of the world’s great wines from one of Australia’s greatest and oldest vineyards.

Penfolds appears again in third spot with another 100-point wine, a new Special Bin bottling and the first Special Bin to combine the Clare Valley (51 percent) with Barossa (49 percent) and create a new and excellent dual-region blend. Where Grange is a classically styled statement of grunt and power, this is a much more refined expression that delivers power and elegance. Matured in French oak for 18 months, the high-grade finish of this wine reminds one of a Bordeaux First Growth.

Add in outstanding releases of Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier and T&L Vineyard, Penfolds St Henri, Brokenwood Graveyard, Tyrrell’s 4 Acre, Torbreck The Factor and Run Rig, Sami-Odi Hoffmann-Dallwitz, The Standish Wine Company Lamella and Schubert Theorem, Henschke Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone, Sons of Eden, Hentley Farm, Oatley, Cherubino and there’s hardly been a more impressive showing of Australian shiraz in modern times.

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Australian chardonnay and pinot noir also on form

Styles cover the full gamut of possibilities, from warm climate to very cool and from Western Australia right across the East Coast. Significant reserves of old vines, in particular those of South Australia, play a significant role in the greatness of so many of these shiraz wines as well as underwriting their stylistic diversity.

Chardonnay is the other big winner in this year’s Australian Top 100. Tasmania’s Tolpuddle 2018 again asserts a case for the Coal River Valley as one of the most outstanding sources of great Australian chardonnay and the likes of Deep Woods Reserve 2017, Cloudburst 2018, Cullen Kevin John 2017, Xanadu Reserve 2017 and Vasse Felix Heytesbury 2017 cement Margaret River’s standing at the top. The chardonnay offering from Victoria from the likes of Oakridge, Giant Steps, Moorooduc Estate and Giaconda is also worthy of your attention.

The quality of Australian pinot noir continues to rise. Gippsland (Bass Phillip & William Downie), Macedon (Bindi), the Yarra Valley (Giant Steps & Mayer) and Tasmania (Dr. Edge & Two Tonne Tasmania), Mornington Peninsula (Montalto & Hurley) as well as the Adelaide Hills (Murdoch Hill & Deviation Road) all represent the major regions with high quality and diverse offerings.

Finally, there are so many wines in this year’s Australian Top 100 that represent outstanding value in a global sense: high-quality wines that can be bought and enjoyed in quantity. It is a list that offers wines that are immediately drinkable as well as those that are immensely cellar worthy. There’s something for everyone here.

– Nick Stock, senior editor

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