Langton's Classification of Australian Wine is a listing of fine Australian wines compiled by wine-specialist auction house and online merchant Langton's. The Classification is a ranking of the best-performing Australian wines based on secondary market support over a minimum of 10 vintages. It was first published in 1991. [1] [2] [3] [4] The Classification is divided into three categories - Exceptional, Outstanding and Excellent - and new editions have appeared at intervals of approximately five years. The seventh edition was published in August 2018 and includes 136 of Australia's finest wines. Editions of the classification are identified by Roman numerals. [1]
Langton's has been owned by Woolworths since 2009, until 2021 when it was spun off with other liquor businesses to make Endeavour Group. [5]
The most recent Classification was released in August 2018. Classification VII has three tiers; the Classification V had four tiers. The new tiers are
The first Classification was published in 1991, Langton's Classification of Distinguished Australian Wine I, had its background in a publication from 1990, the Langton's Vintage Wine Price Guide. In the 1991 classification, 34 wines were classified using three categories: Outstanding (A), Outstanding (B), and Excellent. Only one wine was classified as Outstanding (A): Penfolds Grange Shiraz. [7]
Langton's sees its classification as "loosely modelled on the Bordeaux Classification of 1855", [7] but with its regular reclassifications it is more similar to the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine, although with several differences: no official governmental recognition, a much wider geographic scope, and with several different wine styles classified using the same categories.
Langton's Classification of Distinguished Australian Wine II was published in 1996, and included 64 wines in four categories: Outstanding A (three wines), Outstanding, Excellent A, and Excellent.
Langton's Classification of Australian Wine III was published in 2000, and included 89 wines in the four categories also used for classifications IV and V; Exceptional (seven wines), Outstanding, Excellent, and Distinguished. From classification III, fortified wines ("Port") were no longer included. [7] This changed with the addition of Seppeltsfield 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny for Classification V in 2010.
Langton's Classification of Australian Wine IV of 2005 included 101 wines, of which 11 at the Exceptional level. [7]
In 2009, Langton's was purchased by Woolworths. [8] Despite concerns raised at the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, [9] the purchase went ahead, and Woolworths therefore owns the Classification.
So far (2018), no wine included in the top ("Exceptional") category has ever been demoted; this category remains the smallest but has progressively expanded to include additional wines with each edition of the Classification. [6]
In the Classification VI (2018), the following 22 wines are included in the "Exceptional" category. [6] The year when the wines were included in the 'Exceptional' category (or its predecessor "Outstanding A") is indicated. [7]
Vineyard | Wine | Location | Year of first inclusion | Edition of first inclusion |
---|---|---|---|---|
Penfolds | Bin 95 Grange Shiraz | South Australia | 1991 | I |
Henschke | Hill of Grace Shiraz | Eden Valley, South Australia | 1996 | II |
Mount Mary Vineyard | Quintet Cabernet Blend | Yarra Valley, Victoria | ||
Leeuwin Estate | Art Series Chardonnay | Margaret River, Western Australia | 2000 | III |
Moss Wood | Cabernet Sauvignon | Margaret River, Western Australia | ||
Penfolds | Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon | South Australia | ||
Wendouree | Shiraz | Clare Valley, South Australia | ||
Bass Phillip | Reserve Pinot Noir | South Gippsland, Victoria | 2005 | IV |
Cullen Wines | Diana Madeline Cabernet Merlot | Margaret River, Western Australia | ||
Giaconda | Chardonnay | Beechworth, Victoria | ||
Rockford Wines | Basket Press Shiraz | Barossa Valley, South Australia | ||
Brokenwood | Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz | Hunter Valley, New South Wales | 2010 | V |
Chris Ringland | Dry Grown Barossa Ranges Shiraz | Barossa Valley, South Australia | ||
Clarendon Hills | Astralis Syrah | McLaren Vale, South Australia | ||
Clonakilla | Shiraz Viognier | Canberra District, New South Wales | ||
Grosset Wines | Polish Hill Riesling | Clare Valley, South Australia | ||
Torbreck | RunRig Shiraz | Barossa Valley, South Australia | ||
Henschke | Mount Edelstone Shiraz | Eden Valley, South Australia | 2014 | VI |
Jim Barry Wines | The Armagh Shiraz | Clare Valley, South Australia | ||
Seppeltsfield | 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny | Barossa Valley, South Australia | ||
Wynns Coonawarra Estate | John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon | Coonawarra, South Australia | ||
Best's Great Western | Thomson Family Shiraz | Grampians, Victoria | 2018 | VII |
Penfolds Grange is an Australian wine, made predominantly from the Shiraz (Syrah) grape and usually a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is widely considered one of Australia's "first growth" and its most collectable wine. The term "Hermitage", the name of a French wine appellation, was commonly used in Australia as another synonym for Shiraz or Syrah. Penfolds is owned by Treasury Wine Estates.
Table wine is a wine term with two different meanings: a style of wine and a quality level within wine classification.
Bordeaux wine is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gironde department, with a total vineyard area of 110,800 hectares, is the largest wine growing area in France.
Dan Murphy's is an Australian liquor store owned by Endeavour Group, with over 250 stores across the country. The business was founded in 1952 by winemaker Daniel Francis Murphy. Dan Murphy's competes principally with Coles Group brands First Choice Liquor, Vintage Cellars and Liquorland. The business offers a "lowest liquor price guarantee" and promises to beat any competitor's advertised price.
The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor to the Australian economy through production, employment, export, and tourism.
Sauternes is a French sweet wine from the region of the same name in the Graves section in Bordeaux. Sauternes wine is made from Sémillon, sauvignon blanc, and muscadelle grapes that have been affected by Botrytis cinerea, also known as noble rot. This causes the grapes to become partially raisined, resulting in concentrated and distinctively flavored wines. Due to its climate, Sauternes is one of the few wine regions where infection with noble rot is a frequent occurrence. Even so, production is a hit-or-miss proposition, with widely varying harvests from vintage to vintage. Wines from Sauternes, especially the Premier Cru Supérieur estate Château d'Yquem, can be very expensive, largely due to the very high cost of production. Barsac lies within Sauternes and is entitled to use either name. Somewhat similar but less expensive and typically less-distinguished wines are produced in the neighboring regions of Monbazillac, Cérons, Loupiac and Cadillac. In the United States, there is a semi-generic label for sweet white dessert wines known as sauterne without the "s" at the end and uncapitalized.
The Cru Bourgeois classification lists some of the châteaux from the Médoc that were not included in the 1855 Classification of Crus Classés, or Classed Growths. Notionally, Cru Bourgeois is a level below Cru Classé, but still of high quality. Many wine writers consider that there is some overlap in quality between the Classed Growths and the Cru Bourgeois, although also saying that by and large the Classed Growths still represent the best wines.
The classification of wine is based on various criteria including place of origin or appellation, vinification method and style, sweetness and vintage, and the grape variety or varieties used. Practices vary in different countries and regions of origin, and many practices have varied over time. Some classifications enjoy official protection by being part of the wine law in their country of origin, while others have been created by, for example, growers' organizations without such protection.
In considering the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, Alexis Lichine held the opinion that the list, some hundred years after the selection was made, no longer expressed the whole truth concerning the ranking of Bordeaux wine. Working for a reevaluation and change of structure of the classification of Bordeaux estates, he ended up spending much of his professional life on a campaign that lasted more than thirty years to accomplish a revision. Having published his Classification des Grands Crus Rouges de Bordeaux in 1962, with several revisions over the following years, Lichine came to be viewed as "the doyen of unofficial classification compilers".
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Howard Park Wines are Margaret River and Great Southern wine specialists and a family-owned winery owned by the Burch family, which is responsible for such brands as Howard Park, MadFish, and Marchand & Burch. With an established winery based in Margaret River, Western Australia and vineyards in the Great Southern, the Burch family are the first Australians to gain ownership in the production of a French Burgundian Grand Cru.
Henschke is a family-owned, 155-year-old Australian winery, located in Keyneton, South Australia in the Eden Valley wine region. It produces the 'Hill of Grace', one of Australia's "cult wines", and was considered Australia's second best wine by James Halliday in 2009.
Clonakilla is an Australian winery based in the Canberra wine region of Murrumbateman, New South Wales.
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Cullen Wines is an Australian winery based in Wilyabrup, within the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia.
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Charles Melton Wines is an Australian winery based in Tanunda, within the Barossa Valley wine region of South Australia.
Dalwhinnie Wines was established in 1976 by Ewan Jones. The vineyard is located in the cool climate of Moonambel. Moonambel is a sub-region of Victoria's Pyrenees wine region, which was pioneered by the vineyards of Taltarni, Warrenmang, Redbank and Dalwhinnie.