1994 Australian Vintage

The 1994 season ran from spring 1993 through the autumn 1994 harvest. In the Barossa, frosts in the north and hail in the west and south in October affected crop levels, but overall a good season with average rainfall. Decanter reports that Tasmania and the cooler Victorian regions saw yields reduced by poor weather after flowering in November/December 1993, and describes a dry but cool summer for most Australian wine regions. The Upper Hunter Valley saw a couple of weeks of extreme heat before harvest that culminated in the worst bushfires for many years, shutting down many vineyards. Most South Australian regions had Indian Summer-like weather at vintage, sometimes cool, always sunny, while the Barossa was a long, cool, dry, disease free vintage. Western Australia was dry and warm to hot, ripening fruit perfectly at Margaret River and the Great Southern. The Barossa crushed 51,746 tonnes of grapes from 6,254 hectares.

• Decanter: a dry but cool summer for most Australian wine regions
• Barossa: October frosts in the north and hail in the west and south affected crop levels
• Upper Hunter Valley: extreme heat before harvest and the worst bushfires for many years
• Western Australia dry and warm to hot; South Australia Indian Summer-like at vintage

Decanter calls 1994 an excellent vintage in the Margaret River, with restrained, elegant cabernets and top wines from Western Australia's best regions. In South Australia it points to richly structured reds from the regions to the north and immediate south of Adelaide, and intensely flavoured cabernets and shirazes from Coonawarra and the state's southeast. It also notes some first-class pinot noirs from the cooler Victorian regions around Melbourne.

• Margaret River: an excellent vintage, with restrained and elegant cabernets
• Coonawarra: intensely flavoured cabernets and shirazes
• Victoria: first-class pinot noirs from the cooler regions around Melbourne

Decanter judges South Australia's 1994 wines perhaps a shade finer and more elegant than usual, but built to last. In the Barossa, the association reports good red wines and outstanding whites, especially Eden Valley Riesling, and says many believe this is one of the great red wine vintages of the decade.

• South Australia: a shade finer and more elegant than usual, built to last (Decanter)
• Barossa: good reds and outstanding whites, especially Eden Valley Riesling

Decanter names Cullen and Moss Wood (Margaret River) and Howard Park and Plantagenet (Great Southern) for exemplary cabernets, and Plantagenet and Cape Mentelle for Western Australian shiraz. It calls 1994 an excellent vintage for Penfolds Grange and other leading South Australian shirazes, including Tim Adams Aberfeldy, Henschke Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone, Peter Lehmann Stonewell and Orlando Centenary Hill. Its cabernets include Penfolds Bin 707, Katnook Estate and Petaluma Coonawarra, and its Victorian pinot noirs include Bannockburn, Bass Phillip, Coldstream Hills and Massoni.

• Penfolds Grange: an excellent 1994, per Decanter
• Henschke Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone among the leading South Australian shirazes
• Western Australia: Cullen, Moss Wood, Howard Park, Plantagenet and Cape Mentelle
• Victorian pinot noir: Bannockburn, Bass Phillip, Coldstream Hills and Massoni