Almost every wine-producing country is home to a handful of “cult wines” — bottlings that serious collectors absolutely must have, regardless of the price.
In the United States, virtually all of the cult wines come from the Napa Valley and are made either entirely or mostly from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
The economic downturn kept the prices of these wines fairly level this year, but most still command as much as many of us pay for several bottles or even a full case of supposedly “lesser” wines.
In Australia, there are fewer cult wines, and one rises head and shoulders above all the others.
According to Wine Ark, a company that accounts for about half of the country’s wine storage market, that wine is the famous “Grange” Shiraz, made by Penfolds.
That conclusion was reached by analyzing the cellar make-up of some 8,500 private collectors who share lists of their wines with the company.
No. 2 on the list of most collectible wines Down Under? It’s another Penfolds product — a blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon dubbed “Bin 389.”
