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Making remarkable wines since 1844.

Making remarkable wines
since 1844.

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Penfolds Red Wines

PENFOLDS RED WINEMAKING

A story of imagination, innovation and 180+ years of breakthrough

The Penfolds red wine portfolio is now truly global, guided by a curious and restless creativity. The seeds for this were sown by founders Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold in 1844, early innovators in fortified wine who ventured into Claret-style red wines as early as 1870.

The invention of Grange in 1951 and the early Penfolds Bin wines of the 1960s redefined possibilities for Australian red winemaking. These were wines of depth and detail, however it was their aspiration to ageworthiness which marks a breakthrough in the ascent of a modern Penfolds.

To taste from Koonunga Hill to Bin 23 Pinot Noir to Grange reveals a recognisable House Style and an interconnected DNA. Today Grange and this ‘ecosystem’ of wine form the enduring legacy of one highly imaginative Chief Winemaker.

DISCOVER RED WINES

Penfolds Grange

MAX SCHUBERT AND THE INVENTION OF GRANGE

It began as an inkling. During a research trip to Bordeaux in 1950, Chief Winemaker Max Schubert mused on whether an Australian red wine could be capable of aging a minimum of twenty years.

Bringing observations of French red winemaking to groundbreaking Penfolds red wine techniques lead Schubert to begin the ‘Grange wine experiment’ in 1951. Key to this was sourcing the best quality Shiraz the season allowed, picked optimally. Temperature controlled fermentation with daily racking followed until maturation in 100% new American oak. Schubert’s work was aided by early breakthroughs by Penfolds chemist Dr Ray Beckwith on how acidity could protect against spoilage.

Despite being ordered to cease production in 1957, Schubert continued making Grange in secret. This determination won out. As the medals began flowing, the green light to continue was granted and a legend was born.

Today, the capability of Grange in the cellar supersedes even Schubert’s expectation, with great vintages proven to last well over fifty years.

THE BIN PROJECT: THE PENFOLDS RED WINES ECOSYSTEM

With Grange at the pinnacle, Schubert further envisioned a collection of wines which not only ‘married together’ but bore their own unmistakable style despite the variation of vintage. This ushered in the Penfolds House Style and a suite of wine, red and white, synonymous with quality: the Penfolds Bin wines.

Referring to the cellar storage area where the wine had aged, bin numbers had been used by Penfolds since the 1940s to label wines for entry into wine shows. As the market came to associate a consistent quality with these bin numbers, their use became a convention. The first commercial release was Kalimna Bin 28 Shiraz, a Barossa Valley red wine first produced in 1959.

Schubert’s vision is embodied in the development and style of many early Bin wines. First made in 1964, Bin 707 is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine made with a similar winemaking process to Grange. Bin 389, created in 1960, is a quintessential Australian Cabernet Shiraz blend, featuring declassified Grange and sometimes Bin 707 parcels in its makeup.

Today, the Penfolds House Style is as much about quality as it is consistency. With grapes graded by viticulturists prior to fermentation, a strict classification process with the Penfolds winemaking team continues throughout fermentation with tastings to grade the wine towards a required style.

This intricate, detailed work upholds Penfolds reputation for excellence, but ultimately pays its dividends in the glass.

Penfolds Back Vintage Wines

GLOBAL RECOGNITION FOR PENFOLDS RED WINEMAKING

Since the creation of Grange, the Penfolds portfolio continues to find critical acclaim:

Over 35 perfect 100-point scores for Grange, including for vintages 1976, 1986, 1990, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018.
Penfolds twice awarded Winery of the Year from Wine Enthusiast Magazine (US) in 2013 and again in 2015.
In 2017, Grange was classified a First Growth in Liv-ex's recreation of the Bordeaux 1855 classification, signifying its continued status as one of the great wines of the world.

In addition to this critical acclaim, Grange and the Bin wines are amongst Australia’s most collected and recognisable wines.

EXPLORE ALL ACCOLADES

CRAFTING INNOVATION FOR THE FUTURE

Behind each new Bin wine are countless wine trials which stretch back many years to find genesis simply in a new idea. Just as it threaded through the winemaking of his day, Schubert’s innovative spirit continues to fire within the Penfolds winemaking team today.

Penfolds Senior Winemaker Steph Dutton has crafted Penfolds red wines since 2010. In referencing the spirit of imagination which marks Penfolds work, Steph says:

"One thing you can always be sure of at Penfolds, is that we constantly have experiments bubbling away behind closed doors. What a lot of people forget is that by the time we are ready to share something new with our community, years (if not decades) of curiosity, trials and exploration have passed in the lead up."

DISCOVER OUR GLOBAL RED WINE PORTFOLIO

As we break ground with international collaborations and new wines of the world, our red wine collection remains united by that Penfolds ‘stamp’ of Australian red winemaking, renowned for over 180 years.

DISCOVER RED WINES

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Grange Collection

Our Wines

Grange Collection

Bottles in cellar

Our Wines

Cellaring Your Wine

Penfolds History

About Penfolds

Our History

Winemaking team

About Penfolds

Our Winemakers

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