What were Australia's top 10 most cellared wines of 2024?

Australia’s largest wine storage provider Wine Ark has recognised Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2021 as the most collected wine of 2024, ahead of Penfolds St Henri Shiraz 2018 and Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2024.

Interestingly, Penfolds Grange - the most collected wine in the most recent tri-annual Wine Ark Top 50 wines collected - did not make the top 15 shortlist in 2024. This is in spite of Penfolds holding the title of Australia’s most collected producer in 2024 by a significant margin.

“Over the years, we’ve observed a marked increase in the appetite for age-worthy chardonnay; however, I fully expected a red wine to take the top spot this year,” said John Cuff, Head of Wine Ark.

“There are over seven Chardonnays in the Top 25 wines added in 2024 including four in the top 10.”

In 2024, 20.6% of the wines cellared in Wine Ark facilities was Chardonnay, trailing second only to Shiraz’s 27.6%. In addition to Leeuwin Estate’s Art Series, The four most collected were the Giaconda Estate Chardonnay 2022, Pierro Chardonnay 2023, and Savaterre Chardonnay 2022.

Savaterre’s Owner and Winemaker Keppell Smith described the result as “a surprise for such a small producer.

“We put a lot of effort into delivering a great wine. I’m flattered and thrilled that people are using excellent storage for our wines. It’s terrific to be in such great company.”

Cuff added, “it’s heartening to see that the vast majority of wines purchased and stored at Wine Ark this year were produced by smaller, family-run wineries. While iconic names like Leeuwin, Giaconda, and Pierro Chardonnay dominate the Top 10, I was truly blown away to see the 2022 Savaterre Chardonnay from Beechworth rank as the 7th most cellared wine of 2024.”

Wine Ark’s list of most cellared wines of 2024 was based off of the 195,000 bottles it catalogued in 2024, a 15% increase on the year prior. John Cuff says this was pleasing to see in what has “been a tough year for the wine trade.

“There was a 15% increase in the number of bottles placed into storage from 2023 to 2024. Whether this reflects clients taking advantage of discounted parcels from retailers and wineries, or a shift toward purchasing larger volumes at lower price points to save for later."

Wine Ark now houses over one million bottles across five states and fifteen facilities, making it Australia's leading wine storage providor.