Syrah, also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche. Syrah should not be confused with Petite Sirah, a cross of Syrah with Peloursin dating from 1880.
Grenache or Garnacha is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditions such as those found in Spain, where the grape is believed to have originated. It is also grown in the Italian island of Sardinia, the south of France, Australia, and California's Monterey AVA, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara County and San Joaquin Valley.
Penfolds Grange is an Australian wine, made predominantly from the Shiraz (Syrah) grape and usually a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is widely considered one of Australia's "first growth" and its most collectable wine. The term "Hermitage", the name of a French wine appellation, was commonly used in Australia as another synonym for Shiraz or Syrah. Penfolds is owned by Treasury Wine Estates.
McLaren Vale is a wine region in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area and centred on the town of McLaren Vale about 38 kilometres (24 mi) south of the Adelaide city centre. It is internationally renowned for the wines it produces and is included within the Great Wine Capitals of the World. The region was named after either David McLaren, the Colonial Manager of the South Australia Company or John McLaren (unrelated) who surveyed the area in 1839. Among the first settlers to the region in late 1839, were two English farmers from Devon, William Colton and Charles Thomas Hewett. William Colton established the Daringa Farm and Charles Thomas Hewett established Oxenberry Farm. Both men would be prominent in the early days of McLaren Vale. Although initially the region's main economic activity was the growing of cereal crops, John Reynell and Thomas Hardy planted grape vines in 1838 and the present-day Seaview and Hardy wineries were in operation as early as 1850. Grapes were first planted in the region in 1838 and some vines more than 100 years old are still producing. Today there are more than 95 cellar doors in McLaren Vale. The majority are family-run operations and boutique wineries.
Rosslyn Park is an eastern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Burnside.
The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor to the Australian economy through production, employment, export, and tourism.
Max Schubert was a pioneering Australian winemaker, with Penfolds, who is best known as the creator of Grange Hermitage. Schubert was included in the Sydney Morning Herald's 100 most influential Australians of the century, which was published in 2001.
Schiller Vineyards located in the wine region of Barossa Valley, South Australia; was established back in 1864 when the first vines were planted by Carl Freidrich Schiller. Carl arrived in 1855 to South Australia and settled in the small Barossa village of Light Pass. Schiller Vineyards today is a sixth generation family owned and operated vineyard, and producer of aged red wines.
The South Australian wine industry is responsible for more than half the production of all Australian wine. South Australia has a vast diversity in geography and climate which allows the state to be able to produce a range of grape varieties–from the cool climate Riesling variety in the Clare Valley wine region to the big, full bodied Shiraz wines of the Barossa Valley.
Château Teyssier is a Bordeaux wine producer from the appellation Saint-Émilion, whose grand vin is ranked Grand cru in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine. The winery is located in the Right Bank of France's Bordeaux wine region in the commune of Vignonet, in the department Gironde.
Seppeltsfield, one of Australia's oldest wineries, was founded in 1851 by Joseph Ernst Seppelt. The Seppeltsfield winery is well known for its signature wine, the 100-year-old Para Tawny.
Tintara is an Australian winery located in McLaren Vale, South Australia within the McLaren Vale wine region. The winery was established in 1861 and incorporated in the 1862 as the Tintara Vineyard Company by Alexander Kelly, a medical physician and winemaker who wrote the early Australian winemaking and viticultural text Winegrowing in Australia and The Vine in Australia. Several prominent figures in the early history of South Australia and McLaren Vale were initial investors in the winery including the founder of the University of Adelaide, Walter Watson Hughes, landowner Samuel Davenport and politician Thomas Elder. Today the winery holds the distinction of producing the oldest surviving bottle of Australian wine—an 1867 Tintara Vineyard claret. The Tintara wine earned the distinction when the previous record holder, an 1864 bottle of Pewsey Vale Cabernet Sauvignon, was accidentally broken by an office cleaner at Christie's auction house.
The Barossa Valley wine region is one of Australia's oldest and most premier wine regions. Located in South Australia, the Barossa Valley is about 56 km northeast of the city of Adelaide. Unlike most of Australia whose wine industry was heavily influenced by the British, the wine industry of the Barossa Valley was founded by German settlers fleeing persecution from the Prussian province of Silesia. The warm continental climate of the region promoted the production of very ripe grapes that was the linchpin of the early Australian fortified wine industry. As the modern Australian wine industry shifted towards red table wines in the mid-20th century, the Barossa Valley fell out of favor due to its reputation for being largely a Syrah from producers whose grapes were destined for blending. During this period the name "Barossa Valley" rarely appeared on wine labels. In the 1980s, the emergence of several boutique families specializing in old vine Shiraz wines began to capture international attention for the distinctive style of Barossa Shiraz, a full bodied red wine with rich chocolate and spice notes. This led to a renaissance in the Barossa Valley which catapulted the region to the forefront of the Australian wine industry.
Kingston Estate was established in 1979 by Sarantos and Constantina Moularadellis.
Benjamin Cane is an Australian winemaker who currently owns Duke's Vineyard in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
Force Majeure is a Washington/Oregon wine estate, specializing in Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon as well as other Bordeaux and Rhone-inspired blends. The brand was founded in 2004, and beginning with that vintage began the "Collaboration Series" of wines made by some of Washington's top winemakers, using fruit from Red Mountain's Ciel du Cheval vineyard. Since 2014, the wines have been made by acclaimed winemaker Todd Alexander, who moved from the Napa Valley to the Pacific Northwest at that time. The brand labels also changed in 2014, to signify the winemaking change and the use of their estate vineyards for the wines, going forward. Todd Alexander continues to craft these limited production wines to this day.
Mary Penfold, née Holt (1820–1895), was an English businesswoman, pioneering winemaker and co-founder of Penfolds Winery.
Deep Woods Estate is an Australian winery at Yallingup, in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia.
Thomas Francis Hyland was a businessman of Victoria, Australia, instrumental in turning Penfolds Wines from a cottage industry to an Australian icon.
Arthur Ray Beckwith was a South Australian wine chemist, whose methods enabled Penfolds' winemaker Max Schubert to produce excellent table wines, and develop his Penfolds Grange. For most of his long life his achievements and influence were overlooked but came to be recognised after his retirement.
