Cult wines are at the boundary between wine appreciation and wine collecting. Many wine lovers know about them few drink them, either because they can't find them, or they are just too expensive.
The price of such wines is much higher than the intrinsic value of the wine, rather the reselling price or snob value is the determining factor.
The wines are undoubtedly very good to drink but skeptics ask "Are they really worth it?"
Most wine lovers would say that they can find better drinking at fraction of the cost, but drinking the wine is often the least motivation of the collector of cult wines. They are likely to be more concerned about the condition of the label than of the wine itself.
Ten Australian Cult Wines
Any discussion of rare and cult wines will inevitably get to Penfolds Grange, but the list below contains a few other wines that are worth the (often considerable) trouble to find. It includes wines from a few different varieties and a number of Australian wine regions.
- Penfold's Grange. This wine is the most famous and talked about Australian wine. It has been produced since 1952. For many years it was called Grange Hermitage, but modern laws prevent the use of the word "Hermitage" for wines produced outside that region in France. Grange is predominantly made from old vine Shiraz sourced from the Barossa and Clare Valleys. Occasionally it contains some Cabernet Sauvignon and material from other regions. There is an active auction trade in this wine.
- Henschke's Hill of Grace. This wine is 100% Shiraz grown in an Eden Valley vineyard of the same name. The vineyard is named after a nearby Lutheran Church. The old vines are from pre-phylloxera stocks bought to the Eden Valley in the 1860s. As you would expect the wines are rich, complex, elegant and powerful.
- A P Birk's Wendouree. This historic Clare Valley winery produces three iconic wines, a Cabernet Malbec, A Shiraz and a Shiraz Mataro. The Shiraz is the most sought after. The wines are made from grapes in a low yielding vineyard by old fashioned methods. They are unashamedly old fashioned wines, dense, tannic and intensely flavored. The winery proudly retains the equipment, buildings and vines to produce heritage in a bottle.
- Torbreck Run Rig. This wine is the premier product of Dave Powell who's mission is to preserve the old bush pruned vineyards in the Barossa Valley. If you taste the wines you will see why the effort is worthwhile.
- Irvine Grand Merlot. This wine is made from a grape variety that is sometimes scorned by uninformed critics. But James Irvine from the Eden Valley in South Australia has spent decades of research and experimentation getting everything just right. The grandness of the wine is it's completeness, elegance and style rather than the brute strength of many other Australian reds. Enough winelovers have seen beyond the deprecation of the Merlot variety to bid up the price of the Grand Merlot to earn the wine its cult status.
- Clarendon Hills Australis Vineyard Syrah. This wine from McLaren Vale is made for longevity. Wine critic Robert Parker says of the 2002 Vintage "those lucky enough to taste in its prime (circa 2025-2035) will give the respect it most certainly will demand."
- Wild Duck Creek "Duck Muck." This wine is made at a vineyard near Heathcote in Victoria from a relatively young vineyard. The Wild Duck Creek Estate achieved cult status during the 1990s and is especially popular in the US.
- Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier. This wine has rapidly attained cult status from the relatively new Canberra Wine District winery. The wine is regarded as the benchmark for the Shiraz-Viognier style.
- McWilliams Maurice O'Shea Shiraz. This wine commemorates legendary Hunter Valley winemaker Maurice O'Shea. It is made from 120 year old vines at the Mt Pleasant Winery in the Hunter Valley.
- Cullen Wines Diana Madeline. This wine is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, it includes the other Bordeaux red varieties in smaller proportions. In a few short decades the Margaret River wine region has attained an international reputation for Cabernet based wines. This wine shows why.
Where are these cult wines available?
Most of these wines are rare and sold on allocation. This means that only favoured customers can buy them directly from the winery.
You may have more luck buying them at auctions. Or you can see Vinodiversity's Cult Wines page for some information about merchants who may be able to help you.
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