By Amy Looker
The release of Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine V paints a positive picture for the Australian wine industry with 33 new listings – strongly indicating rising auction demand and increasing quality across the Australian wine industry.
The latest classification illustrates an expanded ultra-fine wine scene, increasing in size by 22 per cent, reflecting widening secondary wine market demand and a growing interest in regional and single vineyard ultrafine Australian wine. Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine V comprises 58 Shiraz/blends, 40 Cabernet/blends, 10 Pinot Noirs and 15 white wines.
As is the tradition, Penfolds Grange heads up the list – the dominance of Shiraz, including five new ‘Exceptional’ entrants, reflects the variety’s reputation for longevity and diversity of style. Langton’s Classification was first released in 1990 and created to build confidence in a fledgling Australian secondary wine market.
Representative wines from family-owned winemaking group, Australia’s First Families of Wine (AFFW), feature heavily on the updated Langton’s Classification – a total of 123 wines are listed on the definitive Australian classification list, with 16 of the wines hailing from the nine members of AFFW.
AFFW chairman, Ross Brown from Brown Brothers said, “We are delighted with the overall results in the Langton’s Classification list and congratulations go to not only AFFW members, but to all the producers featured. This list reflects the quality and depth of Australian wine and can only help to raise the profile of the premium Australian wine offering in both domestic and international markets, which is a key objective of the AFFW initiative. A great result.”