Penfolds Grange (until the 1989 vintage labelled Penfolds Grange Hermitage) 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. [1] 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.
The first vintage of Penfolds Grange was made on an experimental basis in 1951 by Penfolds winemaker Max Schubert and were largely given away at the time. [2] Having toured Europe in 1950, Schubert implemented wine-making techniques observed in Bordeaux upon his return, aiming to create a red wine able to rival the finest Bordeaux wines both in terms of quality and ageing potential. [3]
Individual bottles of the 1951 vintage are still held by collectors; one sold at auction in 2004 for just over $50,000 AUD. [4] The first vintage to be commercially released was the 1952. Penfolds Grange was styled as a powerful still wine in an age when fortified wines were in fashion. Negative reviews by wine critics and poor commercial prospects for the wine led Penfolds management in 1957 to forbid Schubert from producing Penfolds Grange, but Schubert persisted in secret through 1959. [1] [3] As the initial vintages aged, however, their true value came to be appreciated, and in 1960 the management instructed Schubert to restart production, oblivious to the fact that Schubert had never stopped production and had not missed a vintage.
The great 1955 vintage was submitted to competitions beginning in 1962, and over the years has won more than 50 gold medals. The vintage of 1971 won first prize in Shiraz at the Wine Olympics in Paris. The 1990 vintage was named 'Wine of the Year' by the Wine Spectator magazine in 1995, which later rated the 1998 vintage 99 points out of a possible 100.
Penfolds Grange also carries a "Bin" designation, referring to its storage location in Penfolds cellars while aging. 1951 was Bin 1, 1952 was Bin 4, and later vintages carried various designations. By 1964 the designation was standardised as "Bin 95".
The 1971 vintage received the top score against other renowned international wines of the 1970s in a blind tasting with an international panel of judges in 2015. [5] Originally released for around AUD $10 in 1976 [6] the 1971 sells at auction between AUD $700 and AUD $1,100. [7]
Schubert retired in 1975, passing the custodianship of Grange to Don Ditter. Ditter had been working at Penfolds since 1950 after graduating from Roseworthy Agricultural College. [8]
Ditter retired as Penfolds' Chief Winemaker in 1986. During his time as Chief Winemaker several highly regarded Grange vintages were released, including 1976 and 1986. 1976 was awarded 100 points by American critic Robert Parker Jr. [9] 1986, Ditter's last vintage, has been labelled as the 'defining vintage of the 1980s' as well as an 'important and very successful vintage'. [10]
John Duval assumed the mantle of Penfolds Chief Winemaker from Ditter in 1986 until resigning in 2002. He was named International Winemaker of the Year in 1989 by the UK's International Wine & Spirit Competition.
The 1990 vintage of Grange attracted a great amount of interest after Wine Spectator Magazine named it their 'Wine of the Year' in 1995. [11] The name "Hermitage" was dropped from the label with the 1990 vintage, following objections by the European Union authorities to the use of a French place-name; no third-country wine entering EU may carry a geographical name recognised by European wine officials. [1] [12]
In 1991 and in 2000, Duval was named Red Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge in London. [13] Each of these awards were conferred during Duval's period as custodian of Grange.
Duval also oversaw the 'White Grange' project at Penfolds. This project was intended to produce a white wine that would equal the quality and reputation of Grange. The resultant wine, Penfolds Yattarna, was first released with the 1995 vintage. [14]
In 2002, Peter Gago assumed custodianship of Penfolds Grange as the replacement Chief Winemaker for the outgoing John Duval. [15] During the ensuing years Gago has overseen a number of highly acclaimed Grange vintages, including 2008.
The 2008 vintage of Grange was awarded 'perfect' 100-point ratings from two influential American wine reviewers, "Wine Spectator". [16] and "Wine Advocate". [17] With these accolades this vintage became the first 'New World' wine to receive 100 points from both reviewers. [18]
By the end of the 1980s the wine came to be regarded as a collectors' item. [19] The first vintage, 1951, is now considered highly collectable with one sold at auction in 2004 for just over $50,000 AUD. [4] Collections of Grange have been sold at auction in Australia for AUD $431,000. [20]
Listed in the 4th edition of Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine at the "Exceptional" level, [21] [22] [23] Grange has been in the top Langton classification since 1991. [24] [25]
Penfolds Grange is the only wine to be heritage listed by the South Australian National Trust. [2]
Unlike most expensive cult wines from the Old World which are from single vineyards or even small plots (called blocks) within vineyards, Grange is made from grapes harvested over a wide area. This means that the precise composition of the wine changes from year to year; it is the expertise of the winemakers which purchasers value, rather than the qualities of the specific places where the grapes are grown, or the particular vines. The quantity of Penfolds Grange produced varies from year to year, with 1,800 bottles of the original 1951 vintage produced. [26] Gago states that 7,000 to 9,000 cases are made each vintage as of 2013. [27] Despite the vagaries of grape sourcing and vintage variation due to growing conditions, some[ who? ] believe that there is a consistent and recognisable "Penfolds Grange" style.[ citation needed ]
In the 1980s, Tooth & Co. (who were then part of the Adelaide Steamship Group) purchased a number of wineries, including Penfolds. AdSteam sold its wineries to SA Brewing Holdings in 1990, who then amalgamated all of its wine holdings into "The Penfolds Wines Group". In 1994 SA Brewing Holdings split into three companies: brewing into SA Brewing Company, wine in Southcorp Wines, and other activities into Southcorp. Upon its acquisition of Southcorp Wines in May 2005, ownership of the Penfolds brand, along with its museum collection of Penfolds Grange, passed to the Foster's Group.
In May 2011 Penfolds, along with the rest of Foster's wine brands, were spun off into Treasury Wine Estates, a separate company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. [28]
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.
Rosslyn Park is an eastern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Burnside.
Roseworthy Agricultural College was an agricultural college in Australia. It was 50 km (31 mi) north of Adelaide and 7 km (4.3 mi) west of Roseworthy town. It was the first agricultural college in Australia, established in 1883. It is now part of the University of Adelaide.
Torbreck is an Australian winery in the Barossa Valley, established in 1994. The winery was named one of the World's Top 100 Wine Estates by Robert Parker. The winery is named after a forest in Scotland where the original owner Dave Powell worked as a lumberjack. The wines are made in a style emulating those of the Rhône Valley and are made from various grapes including red grapes Shiraz, Grenache and Mataró as well as white grapes Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne.
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.
Schubert is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly covering an area of 2,017.8 km2. It is named after Max Schubert, the winemaker of Penfolds Grange Hermitage. The Barossa Valley area was first represented by the seat of Barossa. The seat of Custance was abolished and recreated as Schubert in the 1994 redistribution and first contested at the 1997 election. Schubert currently covers the Barossa Valley area, the northern parts of the Adelaide Hills and much of the inner north and northwest plains bordering Adelaide. Areas covered include Eden Valley, Kangaroo Flat, Nuriootpa, Lyndoch, Springton, Tanunda, Wasleys and Williamstown.
Peter Gago is a British-Australian winemaker and author. Gago has been chief winemaker at Penfolds and custodian of Penfolds Grange since 2002, the most iconic Australian wine.
Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard is a family-owned wine company based in Milawa, Victoria, Australia. Brown Brothers was founded in 1889 by John Francis Brown and continues to be owned and operated by his descendants on the original property. Brown Brothers makes wine from a wide range of grape varieties and into a range of styles.
Penfolds is an Australian wine producer that was founded in Adelaide in 1844 by Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia, and his wife Mary Penfold. It is one of Australia's oldest wineries, and is currently part of Treasury Wine Estates.
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.
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.
The Grampians is an Australian wine region located in the state of Victoria, west of Melbourne. It is located near the Grampians National Park and the Pyrenees hills. The area is dominated by red wine production, particularly Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.
New South Wales wine is Australian wine produced in New South Wales, Australia. New South Wales is Australia's most populous state and its wine consumption far outpaces the region's wine production. The Hunter Valley, located 130 km (81 mi) north of Sydney, is the most well-known wine region but the majority of the state's production takes place in the Big Rivers zone-Perricoota, Riverina and along the Darling and Murray Rivers. The wines produced from the Big Rivers zone are largely used in box wine and mass-produced wine brands such as Yellow Tail. A large variety of grapes are grown in New South Wales, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Sémillon.
Langton's Classification of Australian Wine is a listing of fine Australian wines compiled by wine-specialist auction house and online merchant Langton's. The Classification is a ranking of the best-performing Australian wines based on secondary market support over a minimum of 10 vintages. It was first published in 1991. The Classification is divided into three categories - Exceptional, Outstanding and Excellent - and new editions have appeared at intervals of approximately five years. The seventh edition was published in August 2018 and includes 136 of Australia's finest wines. Editions of the classification are identified by Roman numerals.
Henschke is a family-owned, 155-year-old Australian winery, located in Keyneton, South Australia in the Eden Valley wine region. It produces the 'Hill of Grace', one of Australia's "cult wines", and was considered Australia's second best wine by James Halliday in 2009.
Giaconda is an Australian winery in Beechworth, Victoria.
Leeuwin Estate is an Australian winery and restaurant based in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia.
Grampians Grape Escape is one of the longest running food and wine festivals in Australia and a hallmark event for Victoria. It was launched in 1992.
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.
Philip Shaw is an Australian winemaker.
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