Every year, the editors of US-based Wine & Spirits Magazine blind taste thousands of wines to select wineries that consistently deliver exceptional wines.
The outcome is the Top 100 Wineries list, which honours a diverse range of producers around the world for maintaining a high standard of outstanding wines.
Wine & Spirits Magazine has now announced their 2020 list which includes four Australian wineries – Bindi Wines, Chambers Rosewood Vineyard, d’Arenberg and Penfolds.
Considering the year the industry has faced, it’s even more reason to celebrate, as the editor of Wine & Spirits Magazine, Joshua Greene, noted.
“It’s been a challenging year for wine retailers to keep up with demand… We were pleased to be able to shepherd 9,200 wines through our blind tasting process, focusing on the categories important to our readers and finding a host of great new releases to share. There is a lot of delicious and compelling wine from the producers in our Top 100,” Greene said.
For the Australian wineries on the list, this is a bright spot in an incredibly tough year, and shows they are doing Australian wine proud on a global scale.
The news is also extra sweet for Penfolds, where Chief Winemaker Peter Gago said they are thrilled to make the list again.
“To obtain Wine & Spirits ‘Top 100 Winery of the Year’ for the 28th year, more than any other winery in the world, is quite an honour and we are very thankful to the Wine & Spirits team for the recognition,” Gago said.
“It’s a testament to 176 years of Penfolds winemaking and innovation, and wonderful to be part of an impressive list of global wineries included.”
Michael Dhillon of Bindi Wine told National Liquor News it was an honour to be included on the list, especially alongside the other Australian wineries.
“We represent the big and bold and in between and the very small! It’s lovely to have cold climate Australian Chardonnay and Pinot Noir recognised in the USA market,” Dhillon said.
“For over 20 years we have had our wines represented by Vine Street Imports and well received in fabulous restaurants in the USA. It’s great to have participated in Texsom, Oregon’s International Pinot Noir Celebration as well as Australia Decanted at Lake Tahoe where it’s been possible to show and discuss the philosophies and passion that drive what we do in the vineyards.”
Stephen Chambers, CEO and Winemaker at Chambers Rosewood Vineyard said the ‘interesting group’ of wineries recognised shows the amazing potential of Australian wine on an international stage.
“As a smaller multi-generational winery who process under 200 tonnes to be recognised internationally on such a list is fantastic. What’s more being only one of four Australian Wineries is even more amazing,” Chambers said.
“It is such an interesting group of Australian Wineries from the smaller producers like Bindi Wines and ourselves to larger more well known operations with d’Arenberg and Penfolds. It truly goes to show there are some truly amazing wines and producers in Australia and regardless of your size you can be recognised on the international stage.”
Fourth generation Chief Winemaker at d’Arenberg, Chester Osborn added: “This award reinforces d’Arenberg’s standing as a producer of world class wine. It’s great to be acknowledged in the US, where we have been performing so well for almost 30 years,” Osborn said.
The full list of wineries from across the world is available here.