The Top 5 Producers/Wineries in Your Cellar Are...

[via collins]

Most enjoyable thread:

1. Marius (52 btl)
2. Tahbilk (34 btl)
3. Head (30 btl)
4. Blue Poles (22 btl)
= 5. Castagna (18 btl)
= 5. Hoddles Creek (18 btl)

All the Top 5 come from a different part of the country. I'd have more Hoddles Creek, but they are so damned gluggable!

6th was Freeman Wines from Canberra - another district, another hidden gem of Oz viniculture.

[Avid]

Great thread, tempted me out of lurkerdom. Listing a top 6, as the gap between 5 and 6 is not great.

Penfolds 12.8%
Clonakilla 9.7%
Hoddles Creek 5.7%
Wynns Coonawarra Estate 5.3%
McWilliam's Mount Pleasant Wines 4.4%
Tyrrell's 4.0%

I have a hugely scattergun approach to cellaring wine

I would rather drink a dozen different great wines than the same great wine a dozen times through the years. Everyone's different.

Mostly cellar only 1 or 2 of any given vintage of a particular wine, as each year there are 100s of cellar worthy wines produced, and I don't have infinite space.

Another interesting angle is to list by varietal. The wonders of cellartracker. Here's my top 5:

Shiraz 23.3%
Riesling 16.7%
Cabernet Sauvignon 11.9%
Pinot Noir 8.4%
Sémillon 8.4%

Over time I'll be reducing the % of shiraz and increasing the % of cab.

[grb2001]

Stats are impressive, but I know you can do better .... temperature in the cellar is what for each of these categories?

Ha - Would be a tad pretentious to post temperature graphs?

[griff]

Welcome Michael, presumably from the other SA? South Africa that is

As to your question I think most varieties of wine improve with age, it comes down to what you like to drink!

[sparky]

No real surprises in mine - staff price is hard to get past..

Penfolds
Devil's Lair
Wynns
Woodlands
Balgownie

Cabernet by a country mile followed by Chardy and then Shiraz.

[Michael McNally]

As I'm new to this forum - thought this was a good opportunity for my first post.

Penfolds
Chard Farm (Central Otago)
Stella Bella
Clairult
Brown Hill

The last three got a guernsey because I was in Margaret River a month or so a go and -----well : it's pretty hard to keep the credit card in check in an excellent winery.

Welcome to the Forum Katinns!

I hope the posts keep coming.

Cheers

Michael

[via collins]

staff price on Woodlands Sparky? We need to talk!

[phillisc]

staff price on Woodlands Sparky? We need to talk!

Agreed VC...staff price on Wynns perhaps...don't tease me Moira
I feel like I am having a Homer moment....ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Doughnuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers
Craig

[qwertt]

Got me to review and update my records:

1 Tyrrells 11.08% (mostly Private Bin stuff)
2 Wynns 9.53% (Mostly Cabernet and white label shiraz)
3 Seppelts 6.99% (Mostly Chalambar)
4 Marius 6.36%
5 Tahbilk 3.6%
6 Rockford and Keith Tulloch - both 3.25%

Too big a cellar.

[mjs]

No real surprises in mine - staff price is hard to get past..

Penfolds
Devil's Lair
Wynns
Woodlands
Balgownie

Cabernet by a country mile followed by Chardy and then Shiraz.

Moira,
We are as one on the varietal of choice!!
Malcolm

[sparky]

staff price on Woodlands Sparky? We need to talk!

I wish!! Staff price on everything else provides enough slush to afford the Woodlands - I just like their stuff

[Andrew Jordan]

I wish!! Staff price on everything else provides enough slush to afford the Woodlands - I just like their stuff :)

+1

[Mike Hawkins]

Balnaves (cultivating a decent Tally collection)

You wont be disappointed

[mphatic]

As others have posted, excellent thread, Hacker. It's always interesting to read about everyone else's wine journey and where they see their cellar heading in the future.

My current top 5 producers, by volume, are:
1. Penfolds (122 btls, 6.7%)
2. Tyrrells (92 btls, 5.0%)
3. Wynns (91 btls, 5.0%)
4. Seppelt/Seppeltsfield (83 btls, 4.6%)
5. J.J. Prum (79 btls, 4.4%)
Rounding out the current top 10 are Bindi, Grosset, Marius, Woodlands, and Clonakilla.

There were no real surprises for me on this list. Seppelt is somewhat artificially boosted by the dozens of cleanskin VP that I purchased over the years, that would now be labelled separately under the Seppeltsfield brand. Penfolds (mainly Bin 389 and St Henri) and Wynns (mostly Black Label cabernet, JR, and single vineyard wines) are reliable cellar staples that I generally buy in most decent vintages to form the core of the cellar. Producers in positions 5 to 10 are those that I probably covet most. Since my Top 5 only constitutes about 25% of the cellar total, I'm happy with the diversification I have from position 6 onwards across many other producers including a much greater international selection.

Circa five years ago my top 10 producers list looked similar in the top order, see below. However the biggest change from then to now is the percentage of my cellar filled by the big brands (Penfolds, Wynns, Seppelt). While my cellar has more than doubled in size during that five year period, the number of big brand wines hasn't increased significantly. I was less diversified back then; the Top 5 made up more than 38% of the cellar, with fewer producers and labels making up the rest.
1. Penfolds (101 btls, 11.7%)
2. Seppelt/Seppeltsfield (83 btls, 9.6%)
3. Wynns (69 btls, 8.0%)
4. Petaluma (42 btls, 4.9%)
5. Grosset (36 btls, 4.2%)
6. -10. Tyrrells, Mt Pleasant, Peter Lehmann, Bindi, Epis)

Looking forward to similar threads concerning Top 5 labels, Top 5 regions, Top 5 varieties, etc.

[bdellabosca]

Rockford
Cape Mentelle
Mayer
Voyager
Mount Pleasant

[n4sir]

1. Penfolds
2. Seppelt/Seppeltsfield
3. Lindemans
4. Wynns
5. Yalumba

My stocks of Lindemans should be decimated by a couple of planned verticals this year, will probably be replaced by Reynella in the top 5.

Wynns may well take a good dent too and drop to 5th.

[DJ]

Seppelt 9.9%
Marius 7.3%
Penfolds 6.0%
Wynns 4.3%
Rockford 4.0%

Gee I haven't looked at that for ages - Surprised at Seppelt but I have been buying Drumborg Riesling and Chalambar fairly regularly. Marius had to be up there - it is my only automatic buy at the moment. Penfolds - still top 3 but I've barely bought any since 2005 vintage just lots of my older cellar. Wynns - the first thing I bought to cellar (86 Black label in 1990) recently been buying white label shiraz and still keep up the black label C/S. Rockford is now out of the budget, intersting its in the top 5

[jafa]

Great thread. Time to add a little kiwi flavour.
1 Te Mata
2 Stonyridge
3 Craggy Range
4 Esk Valley
5 Villa Maria

And there's no Savvy in that!
Interestingly, about 45% of cellar is french, but spread around many more producers.
If thread was top 12 or so,then producer list would likely include
Leoville Barton, Calon Segur, d'Armaillac, Pontet Canet, Gigault, du Tertre...........

[alexc92]

Great thread! Really good insight into peoples prized collections.

Would love to contribute but I'm a long way off an 'established cellar'

I'd have to say at the moment my top 3 are probably Tahbilk, D'arenberg and Curly Flat.

One day i hope to have a cellar as impressive as yours!

[Diddy]

Finally got around to running the numbers... My top 5 are:-

1. Best's Great Western
2. Penfolds
3. Seppelt
4. Wendouree
5. Wynns Coonawarra Estate

[Broughy]

Seppelt-St Peters, Chalambar, Drumborg Riesling,
Penfolds- 389,28, St Henri
Derwent Estate - Pinot , riesling, chardonnay
Petaluma - Coonawarra
Voyager Estate, Woodlands, Bay of Fires, Clemens Hill roughly the same

[Hacker]

Great thread! Really good insight into peoples prized collections.

Would love to contribute but I'm a long way off an 'established cellar'

I'd have to say at the moment my top 3 are probably Tahbilk, D'arenberg and Curly Flat.

One day i hope to have a cellar as impressive as yours!

Hey Alex, your top three are just as beneficial as every one else's. I assume you are 23 years old, and this is an ideal time to assemble a collection of wines, not only from Australia but 'old world' wines as well. So enjoy the learning process just like the rest of us, join in some offlines and have a great time!

[phillisc]

Alexc,
I would whole heartedly endorse Hacker's sentiments.

I have been buying wine for 30+ years and my cellar compared to some or the regular posters here is not even in the ball park.
However its not an issue as I buy what I like to drink and two, when I catch up with mates I can usually offer them something they have never heard of or something with a bit of age.
Its a pleasure to see their enjoyment.

Cheers
Craig

[alexc92]

Thanks guys, great advice! Look forward to the long and winding journey

[Diddy]

Thanks guys, great advice! Look forward to the long and winding journey

Two words for you Alex - 'salary sacrifice'

[Mike Hawkins]

Alexc,
I would whole heartedly endorse Hacker's sentiments.

I have been buying wine for 30+ years and my cellar compared to some or the regular posters here is not even in the ball park.
However its not an issue as I buy what I like to drink and two, when I catch up with mates I can usually offer them something they have never heard of or something with a bit of age.
Its a pleasure to see their enjoyment.

Cheers
Craig

I second that....

[rossmckay]

Great thread! Really good insight into peoples prized collections.

Would love to contribute but I'm a long way off an 'established cellar'

I'd have to say at the moment my top 3 are probably Tahbilk, D'arenberg and Curly Flat.

One day i hope to have a cellar as impressive as yours!

Hey Alex, your top three are just as beneficial as every one else's. I assume you are 23 years old, and this is an ideal time to assemble a collection of wines, not only from Australia but 'old world' wines as well. So enjoy the learning process just like the rest of us, join in some offlines and have a great time!

Bloody hell, I wish I was young with access to resources available now. My first $1000 worth of wine to start a cellar after I sold my first house included a sixer of Wolf Blass red label. Didn't age as well as expected.

[deejay81]

Haven't really checked but I would probably say

1- Mount Pleasant (mostly Elizabeth but lots of Mt Henry and OP&OH too)
2- Turkey Flat (Butchers Block Red & Shiraz)
3- Taittinger (Comtes & NV)
4- Penfolds (389 & 28)
5- Rockford (BP & RR)

[Mike Hawkins]

Haven't really checked but I would probably say

3- Taittinger (Comtes & NV)

Nice work on the Comtes...

[Wayno]

Interesting:

Probably

1. Rockford (buy a lot, don't drink enough of them though)
2. Penfolds (although this is dwindling - havent bought one for years - with the exception of some St Henris a few months ago)
3. Wynns (again, dwindling)

From there it gets hard to easily tell