Ask most buyers what Australian wine tastes like and you get a description from twenty years ago: a 14.5 percent Shiraz the colour of ink, a critter on the label, and a price that says pile it high. That picture sold a lot of wine once, and it is now the single biggest reason a good Australian section gets skipped when a list is rebuilt. The country moved on. A Classic and Contemporary masterclass I sat through, poured a long way from Australia in a room in the Low Countries, made the case in eight bottles: the classics have quietly changed, and a whole contemporary Australia has grown up next to them that most European lists are not carrying yet.
None of this asks you to tear out the Australia you already stock. It asks you to notice that the country got a lot wider while its reputation stood still, and that the gap between the two is now a commercial opening. Start with how the reputation was built, because that is what has to be updated.
The reputation that won, then boxed Australia in
Shiraz made its way to Australia more than two hundred years ago, and today it is close to a quarter of the country's production and its single biggest wine export. It built the reputation. In the 1980s the same confidence ran through the whites, when Australian Chardonnay meant rich, oaky, ripe and loud, the wine equivalent of shoulder pads. That style travelled the world and won shelf space everywhere, and then it set like concrete around the country's image.
The trouble for a buyer is the scale of the misunderstanding. Australia is roughly the size of Europe, yet only about 146,000 hectares of it are under vine, an area close to Bordeaux and Burgundy combined, spread across 65 wine regions growing more than 150 grape varieties. The famous style came from a handful of warm sites. It was never the whole story and treating it as the whole story is exactly what leaves the good stuff off the list. A buyer who writes off Australia on the strength of one warm-climate red is writing off the equivalent of dismissing all of France because of one supermarket Merlot.
Proof I did my homework
Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2022
94/100
Giant Steps Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2022
95/100
Hollick Old Vines Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
95/100
Peter Lehmann Stonewell Barossa Shiraz 2016
94/100Proof I did my homework: Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2022 (94/100) · Giant Steps Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2022 (95/100) · Hollick Old Vines Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (95/100) · Peter Lehmann Stonewell Barossa Shiraz 2016 (94/100).
Classic still delivers, and it is not what you remember
The masterclass opened with four classics, and none of them behaved like the cliche. Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2022 from the Clare Valley was bone dry and taut, chalky minerality over lemon, lime and a little apricot, the fruit shaped by hot 35 degree days and cold 10 degree nights that hold the acidity in place. Giant Steps Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2022 was the anti-1980s Chardonnay: modest on the nose, subtle oak, wild-fermented, built in larger and older barrels as the whole region moves away from heavy new wood.
Hollick Old Vines Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 came off the region's famous terra rossa, iron-red loam over limestone, cooled by a coast just up the road, all capsicum, black fruit, pencil shavings and firm ripe tannin. And Peter Lehmann Stonewell Barossa Shiraz 2016 carried the weight you expect, at 14.8 percent, but with it came farmhouse spice, chocolate and genuinely integrated alcohol, drawn partly from vines planted in the 1800s. That last point pays its way commercially: the Barossa Old Vine Charter, set up in 2009, formally recognises Old Vines at 35 years and Ancestor Vines at 125 years or more, some of the oldest producing vines on earth, protected by the fact that phylloxera never reached these sites. Classic Australia, done well, is a precision product with a heritage story most regions would sell their cellar for.
Proof I did my homework
First Drop Vivo Adelaide Hills Arneis 2019
94/100
Yangarra Ovitelli Blanc 2020
96/100
Anvers Adelaide Hills Gamay 2022
95/100
Ochota Barrels Fugazi McLaren Vale Grenache 2021
96/100Proof I did my homework: First Drop Vivo Adelaide Hills Arneis 2019 (94/100) · Yangarra Ovitelli Blanc 2020 (96/100) · Anvers Adelaide Hills Gamay 2022 (95/100) · Ochota Barrels Fugazi McLaren Vale Grenache 2021 (96/100).
Contemporary is where the growth is
The second four wines are the ones your competitors probably do not list yet. First Drop Vivo Adelaide Hills Arneis 2019 takes a northern Italian white grape and grows it cool and high, all smoke, pear, lime and apple, a proper alternative to the house Pinot Grigio. I might not have picked it for its label, which says a bit too much "I'm alcohol-free vibes", but it is a darn good wine! Yangarra Ovitelli Blanc 2020 from McLaren Vale is a southern Rhone white blend fermented on skins in ceramic eggs, golden, textural and savoury, off a certified organic and biodynamic estate.
Anvers Adelaide Hills Gamay 2022 is cool-climate, light and refreshing, riding the same demand that has turned light reds into a category rather than a curiosity. And Ochota Barrels Fugazi McLaren Vale Grenache 2021 was the room's quiet star: pale, perfumed, whole-bunch, all rosewater, rhubarb and strawberry, Grenache handled as an infusion rather than an extraction, off unirrigated bush vines planted in 1947. These are not novelties. They sit mostly at 12.5 to 13.5 percent alcohol, they are certified organic or biodynamic more often than not, and they answer precisely what younger on-trade buyers keep asking for.
Read them as list positions and they place themselves. The Arneis and the Ovitelli Blanc are the by-the-glass whites that make a wine-literate guest look twice, priced where a premium pour still holds its margin. The Gamay and the Fugazi Grenache are the chillable, food-flexible reds a sommelier can hand to a table that thinks it wants Pinot Noir, and they turn over fast because they drink young. None of them clashes with a classic Barossa Shiraz further down the same list. They simply widen the number of reasons a guest says yes, and every one of those reasons is a variety or a style your competitor two doors down is still buying from France.
The through-line: cooler, lighter, screwed down
Line the eight wines up and the direction of travel is obvious. The contemporary set sat a full two percentage points of alcohol below the classic reds, and that is no accident. Australia is one of the fastest-moving no-and-low markets in the world, with no-alcohol wine volumes growing at around 18 percent a year across 2019 to 2024, and that instinct for lightness is feeding back into the full-strength range too. Almost everything poured was under screwcap, in a country where roughly 80 percent of wine is sealed that way, which for the on-trade means no cork failure and clean, fast by-the-glass service.
Cool-climate sites, alternative varieties and organic certification kept recurring, not as a gimmick but as the mainstream of what these producers now do. The consumer has already moved from the classic style toward this fresher, lower-alcohol profile. The useful question for a buyer is not whether that shift is real, but whether your list has caught up with it yet.
Australia never stopped making sunshine in a glass. It just grew a cooler, lighter country next to it.
The commercial case for relisting
Here is why this is a trade story and not a tasting note. Australia sells 59 percent of its wine by volume abroad, so these producers are export-built, import-ready and used to working with the trade. The masterclass alone ran from an 18 euro Arneis to a 65 euro Rhone-style white, with serious Riesling and Cabernet at 20 to 25 euro, which is a full by-the-glass-to-cellar spread from a single country.
The move is not to rip out your classic Australia. A great Barossa Shiraz and a bone-dry Clare Riesling still earn their place. The move is to anchor with a classic the customer already trusts, then hook them with a contemporary bottle they cannot find anywhere else on your street. Carry both, tell the story of the range, and Australia stops being the tired section at the bottom of the list and starts being the one that makes you look like you are paying attention.
The country that gave us sunshine-in-a-glass Shiraz never stopped making it. But it also grew a cool-climate, lower-alcohol, alternative-variety Australia that is arguably the most interesting thing happening in the New World right now. The wines have done the hard part. All that is left is for the trade to update the picture in its head and relist accordingly.
Sixteen more from the free-pour table
The masterclass was eight bottles making an argument. The free-pour table next to it was the evidence: an open run of Australia you tasted at your own pace, classic benchmarks and contemporary curveballs standing side by side. Here are sixteen I scored on the day, with my notes from the room.
Proof I did my homework
Yetti and the Kokonut B'Rose 2021
90/100
Giant Steps 'Ocarina' Chardonnay 2020
93/100
Jim Barry Assyrtiko 2023
94/100
Tahbilk Marsanne 2022
93/100
Norfolk Rise 'Estate' Sauvignon Blanc 2023
93/100
Pikes 'Hills & Valleys' Riesling 2020
94/100
Yering Station 'Village' Pinot Noir 2022
95/100
Ochota Barrels 'A Forest' Pinot Noir 2021
95/100
An Approach To Relaxation 'Sucette' Grenache 2019
97/100
Kaesler 'The Fave' Grenache 2021
96/100
Noon 'Eclipse' Grenache Shiraz Graciano 2021
92/100
Yarra Yering 'Agincourt' Cabernet Malbec 2017
94/100
Leeuwin Estate 'Art Series' Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
94/100
Mount Langi Ghiran 'Cliff Edge' Shiraz 2020
92/100
Paxton 'NOW' Shiraz 2022
93/100
First Drop 'Mother's Milk' Shiraz 2020
93/100Proof I did my homework: Yetti and the Kokonut B'Rose 2021 (90/100) · Giant Steps 'Ocarina' Chardonnay 2020 (93/100) · Jim Barry Assyrtiko 2023 (94/100) · Tahbilk Marsanne 2022 (93/100) · Norfolk Rise 'Estate' Sauvignon Blanc 2023 (93/100) · Pikes 'Hills & Valleys' Riesling 2020 (94/100) · Yering Station 'Village' Pinot Noir 2022 (95/100) · Ochota Barrels 'A Forest' Pinot Noir 2021 (95/100) · An Approach To Relaxation 'Sucette' Grenache 2019 (97/100) · Kaesler 'The Fave' Grenache 2021 (96/100) · Noon 'Eclipse' Grenache Shiraz Graciano 2021 (92/100) · Yarra Yering 'Agincourt' Cabernet Malbec 2017 (94/100) · Leeuwin Estate 'Art Series' Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (94/100) · Mount Langi Ghiran 'Cliff Edge' Shiraz 2020 (92/100) · Paxton 'NOW' Shiraz 2022 (93/100) · First Drop 'Mother's Milk' Shiraz 2020 (93/100).
1. Yetti and the Kokonut B'Rose, Barossa Valley 2021. 90/100. A skin-contact oddball of Cabernet Franc, Muscat and Semillon that keeps pulling you back for another sniff. A touch of reduction reads as youthful energy, then it turns grippy and bitter with grapefruit and orange peel. Different, and all the more refreshing for it.
2. Giant Steps 'Ocarina' Chardonnay, Yarra Valley 2020. 93/100. Reductive and taut, clearly built to age. Super fresh and delicate underneath, with oak so well judged you stop noticing it.
3. Jim Barry Assyrtiko, Clare Valley 2023. 94/100. A Greek grape at home in the Clare: cool and pleasant, light and fresh, the kind of white you drink without thinking twice.
4. Tahbilk Marsanne, Nagambie Lakes, Central Victoria 2022. 93/100. Floral, with a powdery mouthfeel that a line of fresh acidity keeps upright, peach and apricot through the middle.
5. Norfolk Rise 'Estate' Sauvignon Blanc, Mount Benson 2023. 93/100. Fresh and aromatic, vegetal in the good way, with asparagus and gooseberry lift over apricot. Light-bodied and easy going.
6. Pikes 'Hills & Valleys' Riesling, Clare Valley 2020. 94/100. Mineral and easy on the nose, then high acid carrying ripe tropical yellow fruit, all on a lovely body.
7. Yering Station 'Village' Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley 2022. 95/100. Floral, fresh and ripe-fruited in a proper cool-climate style, with medium-plus acid and body and the structure to hold it together.
8. Ochota Barrels 'A Forest' Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hills 2021. 95/100. Whole-bunch and lifted, strawberry and cranberry, light and fresh with lively acidity and a finish that lingers.
9. An Approach To Relaxation 'Sucette' Grenache, Barossa Valley 2019. 97/100. My wine of the room. Old sand-grown bush vines giving real concentration: cherry, strawberry, spice and violets, rich and alive, with soft velvety tannins, a long finish and alcohol you cannot feel.
10. Kaesler 'The Fave' Grenache, Barossa Valley 2021. 96/100. Cut from similar cloth to the Sucette, with more cherry-fruit weight and spice, a touch more extraction and bright acidity underneath.
11. Noon 'Eclipse' Grenache Shiraz Graciano, McLaren Vale 2021. 92/100. Very floral and fresh, red fruit with a lick of bergamot, and so refreshing the glass empties before you notice. The kind of bottle that explains why Noon has a cult following at home.
12. Yarra Yering 'Agincourt' Cabernet Malbec, Yarra Valley 2017. 94/100. Vegetal and jammy at once, cherry, almond and cassis with a forest edge. Juicy acidity keeps it tight and refreshing, black fruit running all the way through.
13. Leeuwin Estate 'Art Series' Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River 2019. 94/100. Vegetal, cassis, dark fruit and chocolate, with slightly drying tannins, medium-plus acidity and the body to match.
14. Mount Langi Ghiran 'Cliff Edge' Shiraz, Grampians 2020. 92/100. High acid, dark fruit and violets, medium-plus body and tannin. Cool-climate Shiraz that argues its own case.
15. Paxton 'NOW' Shiraz, McLaren Vale 2022. 93/100. The no-added-sulphur, organic bottling, and none the worse for it: fresh dark fruit, medium-plus body, drying ripe tannins, concentrated fruit, well balanced with the alcohol tucked in.
16. First Drop 'Mother's Milk' Shiraz, Barossa Valley 2020. 93/100. Full-bodied and spiced the way the Barossa does best, black ripe fruit with chocolate and cacao and medium-plus tannin. A crowd-pleaser with the goods to back it up.
People also ask
Any questions related to this topic? Maybe you can find your answer here. Click here!
Is Australian wine still all big, jammy Shiraz?
No. Shiraz is still close to a quarter of production and the single biggest export, but a whole cool-climate, lower-alcohol Australia has grown up alongside it, with alternative varieties like Arneis, Assyrtiko, Gamay and Grenache made in fresh, light styles. Most contemporary bottles now sit at 12.5 to 13.5 percent alcohol, a full two points below the classic reds.
Why should a wine buyer relist Australia?
Australia exports 59 percent of its wine by volume, so its producers are export-built, import-ready and used to the trade, and the price spread runs from an 18 euro Arneis to a 65 euro Rhone-style white. Anchoring a list with a classic the customer already trusts and hooking them with a contemporary bottle they cannot find elsewhere widens the reasons a guest says yes, without clashing with a classic Barossa Shiraz further down the same list.
What is the Barossa Old Vine Charter?
Set up in 2009, it formally recognises Old Vines at 35 years and Ancestor Vines at 125 years or more, some of the oldest producing vines on earth. They survive because phylloxera never reached these sites, which gives classic Barossa Shiraz a heritage story most wine regions would envy.
Why is most Australian wine sealed under screwcap?
Around 80 percent of Australian wine is bottled under screwcap, a choice driven by reliability rather than cost. For the on-trade it means no cork failure and clean, fast by-the-glass service, which matters most when you are pouring the lighter, fresher styles that need to show bright.
Which Australian wines suit a modern by-the-glass list?
Cool-climate whites like Adelaide Hills Arneis and skin-contact McLaren Vale blends make wine-literate guests look twice at a premium pour, while chillable reds like Gamay and whole-bunch Grenache drink young and turn over fast. They sit mostly at 12.5 to 13.5 percent, are often organic or biodynamic, and answer what younger on-trade buyers keep asking for.
Resources
- Wine Australia, Australian Wine Sector at a glance, on national vineyard area, regions and variety count: https://www.wineaustralia.com/market-insights/australian-wine-sector-at-a-glance
- Wine Australia, Production, Sales and Inventory Report 2025, exports at 59 percent of sales by volume: https://www.wineaustralia.com/news/media-releases/australian-wine-production-sales-and-inventory-report-2025
- Wine Australia, no and lower alcohol market update, around 18 percent annual growth for no-alcohol wine volumes: https://www.wineaustralia.com/news/market-bulletin/issue-332
- Barossa Grape and Wine, the Barossa Old Vine Charter, defining Old Vines at 35 years and Ancestor Vines at 125 years: https://www.barossa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Barossa-Old-Vine-Charter.pdf
- The Australian Wine Research Institute, on screw cap closures and Australia's roughly 80 percent adoption: https://www.awri.com.au/industry_support/winemaking_resources/storage-and-packaging/packaging-operations/applying-screw-cap-closures/
Margot van Lieshout
Wine marketeer, sales expert with over 20 years in the trade, public speaker and international wine judge. Thousands of wines scored from Steiermark to Ningxia, and a trade she knows from the inside out. Wine with Margot is where she helps wine brands tell the stories that sell them.
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