The release of the World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection 2026 is a moment to pause, wonder and reflect. A thunderous list at an odd but lengthy 115 wines which, on a surface level, does a pretty good job of working through global diversity. There are 16 countries represented and a breadth of important, established wine regions make landfall alongside wines from emerging, lesser-sung wine-growing areas. 

Hence wines from Texas, USA, British Columbia in Canada and Maldonado of Uruguay make landfall with wines from Bordeaux, Champagne and Piedmont. There are Portuguese whites that sing with indigenous character and a smart inclusion of a solitary orange wine, but hey, it’s from the home of the style, Georgia. Argentinian malbecs of classic pedigree are included, fortifieds from important regions for those styles are involved, and European stalwarts ranging from reds of Rioja through to topflight Mosel riesling also get a guernsey. It all looks pretty good at a glance. 

But look closer, and there’s a curiously conservative strain running through the canon. Wear a parochial wine-community hat and there’s a glaring, massive omission. Where the bloody hell are the Australian wines? In a global selection this expansive, that absence is striking. 

Credit: The Vinter's Daughter

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This is especially curious – nay, weird – given the sheer depth of world-class producers we’ve seen emerging from our wide, brown land. Without being myopic, there’s global recognition that could span a wealth of conversation about world-beating chardonnay from a myriad of Australian regions. There’s chatter to come about oversight of internationally recognised icons of Hunter Valley semillon, and the seismic, landmark red-wine styles from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Margaret River. And that’s before getting into the nuance of diversity – emerging varieties and styles that make Australia one of the most interesting places on earth to drink wine. 

This is even more curious when one considers the repetition found in some of the listings here. Italy and Portugal dominate in volume, with Italy alone accounting for 20 wines  (principally red), and Portugal manages to make a mark with whites, reds and fortifieds. Chile, a huge wine-producing nation, gets eight slots in the red-wine category alone. And, while turning the lens once more to Texas wine country, this somewhat obscure wine region seems to get a disproportionate three wines selected in the red-wine section before even a vague glance in the direction of Australia’s outstanding efforts. 

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I’m all about a world increasingly excited to champion ‘the next big thing’ or the emerging sect of cult wine-producing places, but could the Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc – street price of $19 at Dan Murphy’s – outdo the fine-wine-paradigm, premium producers of the same variety of New Zealand’s best while shutting out Giaconda or Cullen chardonnay from Australia? One could poke holes in the perceived merit of the Champagne listed, Barolo producers selected; a greater omission of the world’s most famed cult producers, too. There seems to be a lot of question marks in regard to the selection. 

All this amounts to a curious blind spot. It’s not about an ‘every child gets a prize’ mentality to this selection. But in the rigours of tasting, were some of the great wines of the world omitted by a lack of understanding, by non-performance? Or is there a more curious pay-to-play operation going on here? 

The wines are allegedly tasted into this list through consensus via a panel of top sommeliers, who write some of the world’s best wine lists for their restaurants, which are selected for the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list. And yes, Australian wine may play only a small role in such vinous tomes, but one suspects that masters of global wine knowledge – as required to fulfill jobs in such restaurants – surely require an understanding of finer wine from the Antipodes. So too, a recognition of the stylistic evolution and excellence that has and is occurring in Australian wine. 

I’m going to scratch my head once more and have a sip of this very fine Beechworth nebbiolo as I work my way back through this seemingly half-baked list. 

What is the World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection

A spin-off of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, the World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection is compiled by expert sommeliers from 17 countries. The final list included more than 100 wines from 16 countries.

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