Australian wine is having a moment on shelves and dinner tables across the country this year, with industry buyers and reviewers pointing to a lineup that spans world-class cellaring icons priced in the hundreds of dollars down to everyday bottles that consistently outperform their price tag. Drawing on rankings and tasting notes compiled by wine retailers and reviewers through 2026, here is a look at 10 of the best wines available to Australian buyers right now.
Penfolds Grange
1. Penfolds Grange
Widely regarded as Australia’s most prestigious wine, Penfolds Grange continues to anchor discussions of the country’s top bottles in 2026. Priced in the range of $750 to $800, the wine offers aging potential and critical acclaim that industry reviewers say rivals Burgundy Premier Cru or Napa Valley cult Cabernets costing several times more, cementing its position as the benchmark for serious Australian cellaring.
2. Yalumba Caley Cabernet Shiraz
The 2016 vintage of Yalumba’s Caley Cabernet Shiraz blend has been highlighted among the top wines available to Australian buyers this year, representing the classic Cabernet-Shiraz combination that has become one of the country’s signature styles, particularly out of South Australia’s most established wine regions.
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3. Torbreck RunRig
Torbreck’s RunRig, drawn from old-vine Barossa Valley fruit, remains one of the region’s most sought-after bottles for collectors and serious drinkers alike. The 2020 vintage in particular has drawn attention this year as one of the standout releases from a producer known for concentrated, powerful Barossa reds built around the region’s century-old Shiraz vines.
4. Henschke Hill of Grace
Alongside Grange, Henschke’s Hill of Grace is frequently cited as one of the two defining wines of Australian fine wine culture, priced similarly in the $750 to $800 range. The wine is produced from a single vineyard of ancient, ungrafted Shiraz vines in the Eden Valley and remains one of the most collected Australian wines internationally.
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5. Penfolds Bin 389
For buyers seeking Penfolds quality without the flagship price tag, the Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, priced around $85, has been singled out this year as delivering the house’s signature style and genuine cellaring potential at a fraction of Grange’s cost, offering what reviewers describe as quality that would cost roughly three times more from equivalent Bordeaux or Burgundy producers.
6. Barossa Valley old-vine Shiraz
Beyond individual labels, the broader category of Barossa Valley old-vine Shiraz has drawn strong attention heading into 2026, with the 2019 and 2021 vintages singled out as the strongest recent years for the region. The 2019 vintage in particular has been praised for its concentration and tannin structure, reflecting the depth that comes from vines in many cases exceeding a century in age.
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7. Thistledown Thorny Devil Grenache
Representing McLaren Vale’s growing reputation for elegant, lighter-styled reds, Thistledown’s Thorny Devil Grenache has been highlighted this year in the $30 to $50 price bracket as an example of the more perfumed, restrained style of Grenache increasingly favored by Australian winemakers, offering red berry and savory spice character without the heaviness traditionally associated with the variety.
8. Clare Valley Riesling
Clare Valley continues to be recognized as one of the world’s premier regions for dry Riesling, with bottles in the $30 to $70 range offering what industry reviewers describe as some of the most exciting drinking available at that price point globally. The region’s crisp, mineral-driven whites remain a consistent recommendation for buyers looking to diversify beyond Australia’s red wine reputation.
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9. Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon
Western Australia’s Margaret River region continues to produce some of the country’s most highly regarded Cabernet Sauvignon, with bottles in the $30 to $70 range drawing praise this year for combining structure and elegance in a style often compared favorably to more expensive international Cabernet-producing regions.
10. Budget-friendly Barossa and McLaren Vale reds
Rounding out the list, buyers looking for reliable everyday drinking without the premium price tag have several strong options in the $20 to $50 range, including McLaren Vale Shiraz, Barossa GSM blends, and Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. Producers such as Langmeil, Credaro and Oliver’s Taranga have been specifically highlighted this year for delivering exceptional quality within that more accessible price bracket, proving that Australia’s wine strength extends well beyond its most expensive labels.
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A strong year for Australian wine overall
Industry commentary through 2026 has consistently pointed to Australian wine as offering some of the best value in the global market, with reviewers noting that $25 to $65 now buys a level of complexity and character that increasingly rivals far more expensive European labels. That value proposition, combined with the continued strength of the country’s most prestigious icon wines, has helped reinforce Australia’s position as one of the most dynamic wine-producing nations heading through 2026.
Whether shoppers are building a long-term cellar with icon wines like Grange and Hill of Grace, or simply stocking up for weekend entertaining with reliable bottles from the Barossa and McLaren Vale, this year’s lineup reflects the breadth of what Australian winemaking now offers across virtually every price point and style, from crisp Clare Valley Rieslings to some of the most collectible red wines produced anywhere in the world.
Target customers began reporting problems accessing the retailer’s website and mobile app Friday morning, according to outage-tracking service Downdetector, in what appeared to be a developing disruption affecting the company’s digital shopping platforms.
Downdetector said user reports indicating problems with Target began climbing at 10:03 a.m. Eastern time. The tracking service posted about the rising number of reports on its official account on the social platform X, asking affected users to describe how the outage was impacting them and tagging the post with the hashtag “TargetDown.”
As of Friday morning, Target had not issued a detailed public statement addressing the scope, cause or expected resolution timeline for the reported disruption. Separate outage-monitoring services showed a mixed picture of the retailer’s status around the same period. One tracker, WebsiteDown, reported that its automated probe found Target’s website reachable and responding normally, while noting that any issues appeared to have already cleared by the time of its check. Another service, Outage.now, similarly indicated it had not detected any outages affecting Target over the preceding 24 hours as of Friday, though it remained unclear whether that data reflected conditions before or after the wave of reports Downdetector flagged at 10:03 a.m.
Target does not maintain a widely publicized, continuously updated public status page of its own for customer-facing outages, meaning shoppers and outside observers typically rely on Downdetector and similar third-party monitoring tools, along with the company’s official social media accounts, to gauge the scope of a disruption before Target issues any direct acknowledgment.
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Friday’s reported issue would not be the first time Target’s digital platforms have experienced problems. In December 2025, the retailer’s website and app suffered a significant outage that began generating elevated Downdetector reports shortly after 6 a.m. Eastern time and continued disrupting customers throughout the day, landing just days before Christmas during the peak holiday shopping period. At the time, a Target spokesperson acknowledged the issue directly in a statement, saying, “We’re aware of intermittent issues with our digital experience and a fix is underway,” while noting that the company’s physical stores remained open and ready for holiday shoppers. Target also posted updates to its official X account during that earlier incident, telling affected customers at one point that the company’s systems were “temporarily down” and advising them to try their transactions again within one to two hours.
Target’s digital and point-of-sale systems have experienced other significant disruptions in past years as well. In one earlier incident, the company experienced a global point-of-sale outage that left many stores able to accept only cash and gift cards, with checkout systems down for more than two hours on the first day and continuing to cause problems into a second consecutive day. Following that episode, Target confirmed the disruption was not connected to any data breach or security incident, telling customers that no guest information had been compromised, and attributing the outage instead to an internal technology issue without disclosing further specifics.
Target operates one of the largest e-commerce and retail platforms in the United States, with its website and app supporting product browsing, checkout, order tracking, and in-store pickup scheduling for millions of customers. According to monitoring services that track the retailer’s digital infrastructure, outages affecting Target’s online systems have historically tended to spike around high-traffic shopping periods, including the release of the company’s weekly promotional deals, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when checkout systems face significantly elevated transaction volumes.
For customers experiencing ongoing issues Friday, standard troubleshooting guidance compiled by outage-tracking services recommended several basic steps, including forcing a full browser refresh, clearing browser cache and cookies, trying an alternate web browser, and disabling browser extensions that could potentially be interfering with the site’s normal functionality. Customers were also advised to check Target’s official social media accounts for any outage-related announcements and to contact the company’s customer support team directly through the app’s help section for issues specifically related to existing orders.
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Given the discrepancy between Downdetector’s report of rising complaints beginning at 10:03 a.m. and other monitoring tools showing no detected issues around the same general timeframe, the true scope and duration of Friday’s disruption remained difficult to independently confirm using publicly available tracking data alone. Some outage reports affecting large retailers can reflect brief, localized or quickly resolved technical issues that do not register clearly across every third-party monitoring service, particularly when a problem affects only a specific subset of site functionality, such as checkout or order tracking, rather than the platform as a whole.
This remains a developing situation, and additional details regarding the precise scope, underlying cause and resolution timeline of Friday’s reported Target outage were not immediately available. The company had not issued an official public acknowledgment of the disruption as of Friday morning, leaving affected customers largely reliant on Downdetector and Target’s own customer service channels to determine whether their individual access problems were part of a broader, platform-wide issue.
Over the past decade, more than half of Latin America’s nations have voted socialists out. From large countries like Argentina to tiny ones like El Salvador, socialists have been replaced with conservative leaders who’ve made significant progress turning their economies around.
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That list could grow as Cuba and Nicaragua are on the cusp of collapse after their oil lifelines from Venezuela were cut following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro.
Argentine President Javier Milei said in 2024 that, “We’re here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world. Rather, they are the root cause.” (Angelia Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
The real incentive for dumping socialism is voter recognition that it just hasn’t worked. What is working are policies based on market solutions.
In Argentina, monthly inflation has tumbled from 25% to just 2%. Massive cuts in government have led to fiscal surpluses, and Moody’s upgraded their investment outlook to positive.
“We’re here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world. Rather, they are the root cause,” Argentine President Javier Milei said in a 2024 speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
In Argentina, monthly inflation has tumbled from 25% to just 2%. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
Following the ouster of a socialist government in Ecuador, economic conditions there improved, with the GDP rebounding 3.7% in 2025 and the nation returned to international bond markets this year.
In Costa Rica, voters’ rejection of the ruling leftist party coincided with an estimated 20% relative decline in poverty from 2021 to 2024.
And those are just a few examples of the progress being made. Latin America has had many course changes over the years, and all this could turn around again. But probably not while memories of many socialist failures are so fresh and painful.
Latin America’s growing rejection of socialism also coincided with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s cancellation of 83% of USAID programs, which he claims were doing more harm than good.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the cancellation of 83% of USAID programs in March 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Lument Finance Trust, Inc. (LFT) Q2 2026 Earnings Call August 14, 2026 8:30 AM EDT
Company Participants
Andrew Tsang James Flynn – CEO & Chairman of the Board James Briggs – Chief Financial Officer Greg Calvert – President
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Conference Call Participants
Lee Zulch
Presentation
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Operator
Good morning, and thank you for joining the Lument Finance Trust Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. Today’s call is being recorded and will be made available via webcast on the company’s website.
I would now like to turn the call over to Andrew Tsang with Investor Relations at Lument Investment Management. Please go ahead.
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Andrew Tsang
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call to discuss Lument Finance Trust’s Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results. With me on the call today are Jim Flynn, our CEO; Jim Briggs, our CFO; Greg Calvert, our President; and Zach Halpern, our Portfolio Manager.
Last evening, we filed our 10-Q with the SEC and issued a press release to provide details on our recent financial results. We also provided a supplemental earnings presentation, which can be found on our website.
Before handing the call over to Jim Flynn, I’d like to remind everyone that certain statements made during the course of this call are not based on historical information and may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These results and uncertainties are discussed in the company’s reports filed with the SEC, in particular, the Risk Factors section of our Form 10-K and Form 10-Qs. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks, and listeners are cautioned not to place
Wherever LeBron James goes this season, it will be the hottest ticket in town.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer announced last month that he will play his unprecedented 24th NBA season with the Philadelphia 76ers, automatically reigniting some key Eastern Conference rivalries.
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver admitted he was holding off on announcing each team’s schedule because he had no idea where James was going. But when James’ decision was announced, Silver went to work, and it’s now paying dividends.
LeBron James’ new Philadelphia 76ers jersey (Fanatics / Fox News)
The Sixers will open the 2026-27 season at Madison Square Garden, where the New York Knicks will hang their first championship banner in 53 years. And while those ticket prices likely won’t reach the five-figure average of the NBA Finals, it will still be a must-see.
StubHub said Friday that the Oct. 20 game is the site’s most in-demand NBA game of the entire season, with the current get-in price at more than $1,500.
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In fact, each of the top five and seven of the top 10 highest-demand games is a Sixers contest, and the Sixers are StubHub’s most in-demand NBA team, increasing 12.5 times from last year’s schedule release and up from No. 6 overall.
Christmas Day demand is nearly 50% ahead of last year, with LeBron’s return to Los Angeles for the Sixers-Lakers among the biggest draws.
James announced his decision in a post on X, saying he thought he was done at the end of last season and that he had likely played his final game.
However, “I still truly love this game, and I have more to give.”
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A LeBron James Philadelphia 76ers T-shirt made by Mitchell & Ness. (Fanatics / Fox News)
The 76ers will be the fourth team James has played for in his illustrious career. For Philadelphia, James is the second major star to join the team this offseason after they acquired Jaylen Brown in a stunning trade with the Boston Celtics.
Last season, the 76ers were swept by the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and they hope the additions of James and Brown can propel them to a championship. James is looking to become the first player in NBA history to win an NBA title with four teams.
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers dribbles the ball against Dominick Barlow of the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half of the game between the two teams at Crypto.com Arena Feb. 5, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images / Getty Images)
While James may not be the force he once was, he still remains a productive player entering his 24th season. In 60 games with the Los Angeles Lakers last season, James averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game and was named an All-Star for the 22nd time, extending his NBA record.
Fox News’ Ryan Canfield contributed to this report.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Rookie professional golfer Jessica Bang of Australia died in a hospital in Thailand on Thursday at the age of 18, the WPGA Tour of Australasia said, after suffering a brain hemorrhage while preparing for a qualifying tournament in Bangkok less than two weeks earlier.
Bang collapsed on August 1 while in Bangkok preparing to compete in the KLPGA Tour’s 2026 International Qualifying Tournament, a qualifying event for South Korea’s women’s professional golf tour. She was taken to Synphaet Ramintra Hospital for urgent treatment, where she underwent emergency brain surgery and was subsequently placed on life support in intensive care as doctors worked to treat the hemorrhage. She did not recover, and her family confirmed she died Thursday morning in Bangkok.
The WPGA Tour of Australasia announced her death in a statement, expressing condolences on behalf of the broader Australian golf community. “The Australian golf community is deeply saddened by the passing of young tour member Jessica Bang in Thailand,” the tour said, adding that Bang “was an outstanding young talent who made a significant impression in her short time on the tour.” In a separate portion of its statement, the tour extended its thoughts to Bang’s family, friends and everyone who knew her during what it called an incredibly difficult time.
Bang earned her place on the WPGA Tour of Australasia through qualifying school at the end of last year, capping off what had been a standout amateur career. She won the Women’s New South Wales Open Regional Qualifying Event in February, remarkably in just her fifth professional start, a result that had marked her as one of the country’s most promising young players heading into the current season.
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In the days following her collapse, members of Bang’s family launched an online fundraiser to help cover her mounting medical expenses in Thailand, initially hoping the funds might also help bring her back to Australia for continued treatment closer to home. That homecoming never became possible. Following news of her death, fundraiser organizer Janette Yoon, a cousin of Bang’s, shared an emotional update thanking supporters for their contributions. “We are truly heartbroken by this news,” Yoon wrote, adding that the family wanted to continue celebrating Bang’s achievements, passion and dedication to the sport. Yoon said any remaining funds raised through the campaign would go to Bang’s parents to help offset the medical costs incurred during her treatment.
News of Bang’s initial collapse and subsequent death drew an outpouring of grief from across the golf world in Australia and beyond, with fellow players, tour officials and fans following updates on her condition closely in the days between her hospitalization and her death. Local Australian outlets had previously described the situation as a “devastating” turn for a golfer whose career had only just begun to take shape at the professional level.
Bang’s death adds to a difficult stretch of news across professional golf’s various tours this month, even as her passing stands apart given both her age and the suddenness of the medical emergency that led to it. Brain hemorrhages, while relatively rare among healthy young adults, can occur without significant prior warning and often require immediate emergency intervention to have any chance of a positive outcome, a reality that was reflected in the rapid escalation of Bang’s condition from initial collapse to major surgery within the same day.
The WPGA Tour of Australasia serves as the primary developmental and professional pathway for women’s golf in Australia, offering players like Bang a route into professional competition through its qualifying school and regional events before they progress toward larger international tours, including the KLPGA and LPGA circuits. Bang’s rapid rise, from earning her tour card through qualifying school to winning a professional event within her first five starts, had positioned her as a rising talent expected to compete at increasingly high levels in the years ahead.
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Tributes to Bang have continued circulating across Australian golf circles and social media in the hours following confirmation of her death, with many in the sport reflecting on the brevity of her professional career and the promise it had shown in its earliest stages. No further details regarding funeral or memorial arrangements had been publicly announced as of Thursday.
The circumstances surrounding Bang’s initial collapse remain largely as first reported at the time, with her sudden onset of symptoms while preparing for competition in Bangkok leading directly to her emergency hospitalization and the medical complications that ultimately proved fatal. Her death closes a professional career that, while brief, had already produced a breakthrough win and a place among the sport’s most closely watched young Australian talents.
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and very much welcome to the AKVA Second Quarter Presentation. The program for this morning is that I will do the introduction and the highlights. Ronny Meinkoehn, the CFO, will do financial performance, and please post any questions during the presentation. It goes straight to the highlights of the second quarter. We had a high quarterly revenue of NOK 1.189 billion and record high quarterly EBIT of NOK 111 million. We had a strong order intake of NOK 1.345 billion and order backlog of approx. NOK 3 billion at the end of the second quarter.
A small contract of approx. EUR 28 million was awarded from Laxey in April, subject to financing, which was secured in June. A dividend of NOK 1 per share will be distributed during the second half of 2026. Strategic review was announced start of April to maximize shareholder value. We’ll give a comment on that later. Then to the figures of the second quarter. It is — in the first place, it’s in line with the trading update we published on July 20. It’s a record high activity level of NOK 1.189 billion, EBITDA of NOK 179 million, where the segments came in Sea Based at NOK 143 million, Land Based at NOK 21 million and Digital at NOK 15 million. Actually, we are pleased with the activity and the performance in all the segments.
EBIT for the group at NOK 111 million which is representing a record quarter. Then looking into the figures for the first half. Revenue there at NOK 2.329 billion, which is ballpark 7% higher than
Friends close to music producer David Foster have pushed back against claims that he deliberately snubbed Meghan Markle during a red carpet appearance in Canada earlier this month, adding fresh detail to a controversy that has continued generating attention days after Foster himself publicly denied any intentional slight.
The moment in question occurred August 7 at the David Foster Foundation’s 40th anniversary gala in Victoria, British Columbia, an event that organizers said raised $14.5 million in support of the foundation’s work funding life-saving organ transplants for Canadian children. Video from the red carpet showed Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, extending her hand toward Foster as he arrived alongside Prince Harry, only for Foster to continue past her and pose for photos instead alongside his wife, singer and actress Katharine McPhee. The clip spread quickly online, with one widely shared post on X describing the moment as Meghan being “publicly snubbed by host David Foster.”
According to an insider who spoke with RadarOnline, the moment was a simple oversight rather than any deliberate gesture. The source said Foster “wasn’t” consciously walking past Meghan or ignoring her outstretched hand, and argued that the viral clip failed to capture the full context of the evening. “What the short clip doesn’t show is everything that happened beforehand,” the insider said, explaining that Foster had already greeted Harry and Meghan warmly earlier in the night, well before the red carpet photos were taken. By the time the group reached the carpet, the source said, nobody involved felt there was any unresolved greeting still owed.
The insider also attributed Foster’s apparent oversight to the demands of hosting a major fundraising event, saying the 76-year-old had a great deal to manage that evening and likely simply missed Meghan’s gesture rather than intentionally rebuffing it. The source described Foster as genuinely “thrilled” to have the Sussexes attend the occasion.
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A separate insider, cited by IBTimes UK, offered a similar account, saying Foster had been “so excited to see Harry and Meghan” and pointing to the fact that he was actively conducting interviews at the moment the photo was taken. That source said Foster and the Sussexes had already exchanged greetings, including hugs, before the red carpet moment, and that Foster had also used the opportunity to introduce Harry and Meghan to other family members in attendance. A source separately speaking with Page Six offered a consistent account, confirming that Meghan and Harry had already greeted Foster before the viral clip was filmed.
Foster addressed the controversy directly himself in an on-the-record statement to PEOPLE, pushing back firmly against the snub narrative. “As the host of the David Foster and Friends foundation event, I had already greeted our friends, the Duke and Duchess, at the entrance 10 minutes before the red carpet encounter,” Foster said, adding that both Harry and Meghan had generously given their time to engage with attendees throughout the evening. He was direct in criticizing the coverage that followed, saying, “It’s sad that certain media chose to deceive a red carpet encounter for clickbait. They turned simple ‘positioning’ to get the best photo into a hurtful lie.” Foster went on to affirm his relationship with the couple, saying, “Harry and Meghan are dear friends of mine. Anyone watching can see there was no awkward moment and certainly no snub.”
The friendship between Foster and the Sussexes predates the current controversy by several years. McPhee has previously described her husband’s bond with Harry in warm terms, telling Access Hollywood in 2020 that the two share “a really, really beautiful relationship,” comparing them to father and son. McPhee’s own connection to Meghan traces back to their overlapping years at Immaculate Heart, a Los Angeles school, though she has said the two were never especially close as students, with their friendship instead developing later through their husbands’ relationship.
That closeness has extended into practical support in the past. Foster has said he helped Harry and Meghan find a place to stay in Canada around the 2019 holiday season, shortly after the couple, along with their infant son Prince Archie, sought time away from the UK. He described the gesture as rooted in his own Canadian background and connection to the Commonwealth.
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Despite the friends’ accounts and Foster’s own public denial, the episode has continued to draw commentary in entertainment and royal-focused media, reflecting the intense scrutiny that continues to follow even brief, ambiguous public interactions involving Harry and Meghan. The claims from anonymous insiders defending Foster, while consistent with one another and with Foster’s own on-record statement, remain attributed to unnamed sources rather than independently verified accounts from other attendees at the gala.
Neither Buckingham Palace nor representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have issued separate public comment on the incident beyond what has already been reported through Foster’s own statement and the accounts provided by sources close to him. For now, the controversy appears to have been addressed primarily through Foster’s direct denial and the surrounding insider accounts corroborating his version of events, even as the viral video itself continues circulating among those unconvinced by the explanation.
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