How the MW wines Classification System works

After evaluating what we believe would provide the greatest benefit to consumers MW wines concluded the model needed to:

1. Group like wines together in terms of their major Grape Variety


2. Rank wines within each wine variety in numeric terms rather than superlatives


3. Represent a current and update picture of the greatest Australian wines


4. Be objective and not subjective and therefore predicated on a purely formula driven outcome


5. Be a consumer driven model which recognised the contribution of those that shape consumer opinion

To expand a little further on these issues, after analysising different models from around the world we concluded that the best classification systems are based on Grape Variety, therefore Australian consumers would derive greater benefits from a model that grouped like wines together and then ranked them in descending numerical order.

If we examine the aspect of being current and up-to-date the most important aspect to recognise is that there has been an explosion of new wineries and top quality brands in the last decade. Therefore a balance needs to be struck between the need to set an adequate benchmark in terms of the number of vintage releases for a consistent standard of high achievement to have been demonstrated to consumers and the need to include high profile wines that have captured the consumer’s attention in more recent times.

In terms of developing an objective and not subjective model, MW wines determined that a formula driven model (based on price) was the best outcome. In this regard, MW wines has amassed vast quantities of historical auction data over the last decade and is ideally placed to analyse this data and utilise a quantitative mathematical formula to establish a price driven model for the classification of Australian wine.

MW wines believe that any classification system utilising a pricing model should be derived from secondary market data and not retail pricing. By ignoring the initial retail pricing of a wine and the secondary market price in the first year following its release, a true reflection of perceived value is obtained from consumers.

The important aspect of utilising auction pricing information is that the extent to which consumers are willing to pay more or less than the release price is highly driven by the wine critics and wine show system. This helps create perceptions and opinions regarding the quality of all wines and thus an analysis of secondary market prices incorporates the influence of a broad spectrum of expert reviews available to the public without being over influenced by one judge or critic in isolation.

We have developed this to be a truly independent reference tool for all stakeholders in the industry at large, fine wine collectors and traders, as well as consumers in general.

A combination of factors determines the overall rating of each wine within the index however; in essence, overall ranking is determined by the price within the secondary market that consumers are prepared to pay, adjusted for factors relating to supply and demand.

The main points associated with our new classification system are as follows:

1. In order to qualify for inclusion in the list, a wine must have a minimum of 5 vintages released into the market.


2. All wines with a minimum of 5 vintages are initially classified into their predominant grape variety.


3. Each wine within a category will be ranked from 1 down in numerical sequence.


4. All pricing information has been derived from the MW Wine Auctions price database which stores historical data from our auctions over the last decade in conjunction with published data from all other major Australian auction houses.


5. The quality index is a formula driven model, with scaling applied to raw auction price data for factors relating to supply and demand. The raw price data is modified to scale downwards the price of wines exponentially based on the limitation of the production quantity.

   The central and core premise here is that if a wine has a production run of only 1000 bottles, then due to rarity that the price paid in the secondary market will be artificially inflated to reflect its rarity and if the same wines were produced in large quantity, the secondary market price would be lower.

   In respect to the checking of our data model to ensure that it has integrity and properly recognises the effects of supply and demand on price we have utilised the services of an Associate Professor in The School of Behavioural Science at The University of Melbourne.

6. In all we set a target of classifying 100 wines. Once the overall modified scores for all wines were assessed, we found that based on a similar overall score at the cut off point for each bracket we were able to rank, our initial classification system contains a list of 46 Shiraz, 25 Cabernets, 10 Pinots and 10 Chardonnays. We believe that these are the major grape varieties grown in Australia where there are a significant number of quality wines and the overall cut off score was the determining factor in how many wines were in each group. To a degree we would assert that a consumer could draw a conclusion that this was reflective of the varying depth of top quality wines within different grape varieties.

   1. With other grape varieties, the next tier where there is a significant quantity of wine made would be: Merlot, Grenache, Riesling, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. For these varieties the overall depth of quality wine is very shallow and we have elected initially to publish only our top wine in each bracket.
   2. The remaining areas of the Australian wine industry which could be covered by a classification system are: Dessert style, Sparkling wines and Fortified wines. Given however that our classification system is based on grape varieties, there are issues in regard to the application of our model across all wines in these categories. Hence we have decided in this initial release to specify only one outstanding wine in each of these categories.


7. The Classification index will be updated every year.

For all the results clink on the link below:

The Top 100 wines grouped by Grape Variety

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