Australia’s most expensive wine pairing is at Adelaide’s Restaurant Botanic

At $800 a pop, it’s Australia’s most expensive wine pairing – and it’s right here in Adelaide. Add food, and a meal at this restaurant will cost you nearly $1100 a head. See what it includes.

Feel like splurging on a wine or two over dinner? How about an $800 pairing that is almost certainly Australia’s most expensive?

That’s the price of the “Crème de la Crème” selection of bucket-list wines at Adelaide’s Restaurant Botanic, last week awarded top spot in the delicious.100 list of SA’s best restaurants.

The selection might include older vintages of Penfolds Grange or Henschke Hill of Grace, Italian barolo or the revered French sauternes from Chateau d’Yquem.

The restaurant says that on average, four or five customers a week are forking out for the ultimate pairing, as well as paying up to $295 to eat the celebrated Garden Trail menu of chef Justin James.

The wines are sourced through private collections, auctions and contacts in wine companies, with rarer vintages often purchased a bottle or two at a time, meaning the list is constantly updated.

Restaurant Botanic beverage director Marcell Kustos in the wine cellar. Picture: Tom Huntley

Sommelier Marcell Kustos, who has the tough job of choosing and sampling the wines, says reputation alone is not enough to make the list.

“We don’t just want it to be a list of big name, coveted wines,” he says. “If they don’t match the food, don’t add to the experience, then that would be meaningless.

“It has to be a holistic experience. It’s like a roller coaster ride, there are different elevations and a twist. Working with some of the best wines in the world, this has to be considered.”

In the case of iconic Australian shiraz, such as Grange, Kustos says it must be an older vintage from the 1990s in which the tannins are softer and rounder, and integrated with the acidity and oak.

Restaurant Botanic executive chef Justin James in the dining room. Picture: Tom Huntley

For diners not wanting to make such a large financial commitment, or tick off their entire vinous bucket-list in one hit, many of the wines are available by the glass. There are also two less expensive pairings (Sommelier’s Reserve, $330; The Botanic, $175), as well as a Temperance list of non-alcoholic beverages ($125).

“Someone can have the same budget … and spend it on a wine pairing, spend it on a couple of bottles, or they could spend it on three exceptional glasses of wine,” says James. “It just depends what they want.”

Beverage director Marcell Kustos with wine that forms part of Restaurant Botanic’s $800 pairing. Picture: Tom Huntley

CRÈME DE LA CRÈME PAIRING

(Sample selection)

2009 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon

2012 Dom Perignon P1

2014 Joh Jos Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese Riesling

2016 Maison En Belles Lies Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru Chardonnay

2018 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia

2008 Florent Baumard Savennieres ‘Clos du Papillon’ Chanin Blanc

1990 Penfolds Grange

2005 Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes