A bottle of Penfolds grange
Credit: Park Dale / Alamy Stock Photo
(Image credit: Park Dale / Alamy Stock Photo)

This marks a significant increase on the AU$120,000 (£67,525) procured from the 2019 Barossa Wine Auction, and has provided a great fillip for a region rebounding from tough COVID-19-affected sales and export restrictions in the past year.

The auction is a highlight of the biennial Barossa Vintage Festival, and was conducted on Friday 16 April before a live audience at Chateau Tanunda Winery in South Australia.

The star attraction of the auction – a four-litre Imperial of 2016 Penfolds Grange – sold for AU$50,000 ($28,134) to an Australian consortium of private buyers, but a dearth of bidders for this item saw the price sit below expected peaks.

However, bidders were much more active across most other items in the 29-lot catalogue of special wines offered at the auction – with most items attracting at least 30% more than prices that auctioneers Langton’s had expected.

Some surprise attractions included an Imperial of Standish Wines’ 2004 The Relic Shiraz Viognier selling for AU$6000 (£3,376), and six bottles of Poonawatta Estate’s The 1880 Shiraz (2005-2010 vintages) selling for $2300 (£1,294) – more than 10 times the expected price.

The highest price yet paid for Barossa Grenache was recorded by a six-litre Imperial of Torbreck Wines’ 2010 Les Amis Grenache, selling for AU$6000 (£3,376) – reflecting rising buyer confidence in this style at the highest quality levels.

Other highlights included strong support for Henchke’s new release 2015 Hill of Grace Shiraz (packaged with a bottle of 2015 Hill of Roses Shiraz and 2015 Hill of Peace Semillon), which opened with a starting bid of AU$1900 (£1,069) before quickly rising to AU$3400 (£1,913).

Several specialised auction lots attracted lively bidding, including a set of nine Barossa wines that have attained 100-point scores (led by 1998 Greenock Creek Roennfeldt Road Shiraz and Cabernet) that attracted $8400 (£4,726) – and a set of 12 bottles of Rockford Basket Press shiraz (vintages 2006-2017) for $6500 (£3,657).

COVID-19 attendance limits resulted in a live audience of 190 people joined by 70 online bidders – but now the Barossa Wine Auction 2020 will, for the first time, stage a separate Sydney event (with 30 entirely different auction lots) conducted on Friday 29 April, and an online auction of 58 lots will continue to take bids until Sunday 2 May.

Barossa Grape and Wine Association chief executive James March said prices recorded across this year’s auction ‘served to set a new high benchmark for the Barossa, and underlined buyer confidence in Australian wine in general’.

On Decanter Premium

Henschke 2016 releases – Hill of Grace and more

Penfolds Collection 2020: Including Grange 2016 and £2000 G4

David Sly
David Sly

After 30 years in journalism, Australian freelance writer, author and editor David Sly has been fortunate enough to indulge his passions in print. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, David has moved from newspapers to specialise in food and wine writing, being published in national and international magazines, from Gourmet Traveller to Decanter, and is Food & Wine Editor of SA Life magazine. He has focused intently on the specialised regional produce and wines of South Australia, winning national awards, and is a graduate of the University of Adelaide/ Le Cordon Bleu Gastronomy course.