Australia · South Australia

Penfolds

Penfolds is Australia's most prestigious wine producer and the creator of Grange — arguably the Southern Hemisphere's greatest wine. The estate was founded in 1844 by Dr. Christopher Rawson Penfold in Adelaide and grew to become South Australia's dominant wine company. The modern era began in 1951 when winemaker Max Schubert created Grange Hermitage (now simply Grange) as Australia's answer to the great Bordeaux, using Shiraz rather than Cabernet and aging in American oak rather than French. Initially rejected by the company board, Schubert continued to make the wine in secret, and by the late 1950s it was winning major trophies. Grange is now classified as a Heritage Icon of South Australia and commands prices at auction that rival the world's greatest wines. The broader Penfolds portfolio — Bin 707 (Cabernet Sauvignon), Bin 389, Bin 407, St Henri, Magill Estate, RWT, and the remarkable Yattarna Chardonnay — represents the most complete range of any Australian producer. The annual release of Penfolds wines is a major event in the Australian wine calendar. At auction, Grange is the most traded Australian wine by value, with historic vertical collections commanding extraordinary sums; the 1971, 1976, 1986, and 2004 are among the most celebrated single bottles.