Penfolds Grange - Australia's Most Famous Wine

Penfolds Grange is Australia's most famous wine; it is National Trust Heritage listed and is the quintessential collectable Australian wine. An unbroken sequence of vintages since its creation in 1951, controversy, hidden vintages, traditional and uncompromising wine making practices, hype, speculation and curiosity makes Penfolds Grange a wine a collectors dream.

Penfolds Grange was first made in 1951 by its founder and creator Max Schubert who toured Europe in 1950 and returned to the Barossa Valley to make a wine that would rival the finest Bordeaux wines in quality and ageing. The first vintage to be commercially released was the 1952 Grange. Negative reviews by wine critics and tough market conditions in the mid 1950's when fortified wines were all the rage, led Penfolds Management to ban Schubert from producing Penfolds Grange. Schubert however continued to turn out vintages without the knowledge of Penfolds Management, these Granges are known as the hidden Granges. As those early release Granges such as 1952, 1953, and 1954 began to age, they evolved and their beauty started to be appreciated by collectors and critics. In 1960 Penfolds Management instructed Schubert to recommence production of Grange, not realizing that Schubert had actually never stopped producing the wine.

The fruit for Penfolds Grange is sought from grapes grown in many vineyards and wine growing regions throughout South Australia. Grange is predominately a Barossa Shiraz; in most vintages a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (usually around 3% or 4% but up to 11% has been added) is blended with the wine, which gives the resulting wine more structure and complexity. Each vintage of Grange is different, not because of vintage conditions but because Penfolds have so many vineyards at their disposal to select the fruit used to make the wine. The same fruit used to make one vintage may not be used to make the next vintage of Grange, for example, 2004 vintage fruit was sourced from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Magill and the 2005 vintage fruit used was sourced from Barossa, McLaren Vale & Coonawarra. Only the very best parcels of fruit that are the Penfolds Grange style are selected to be included in the wine. Winemakers blind taste a number of shiraz wines prior to blending, and only the best are selected, the rest are used for other Penfolds wines. The new is matured in new American oak for around 14 months, sometimes longer and it is released after 5 years of bottle aging. Each bottle is individually numbered and depending on the vintage, about 100,000 bottles are produced, the exact number always remains a closely guarded Penfolds secret.

The best Penfolds Grange? Penfolds refer to the best Grange's as "A" grade Granges. The 1955 Grange won 12 trophies and 51 Gold Medals over 13 years from 1962. Many wine critics refer to the 1955 Grange as one of the best. Then there is the 1971 vintage, which won gold and topped its class at the Gault-Millau Wine Olympiad in Paris in 1979, beating the best Rhone Valley wines. The 1976 vintage was awarded 100/100 by the worlds leading wine critic Robert Parker Jnr, and Wine Spectator named the 1990 vintage as the red wine of the year. The "A" Grade Granges are 1952, 1953, 1955, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.

Is Penfolds Grange a good investment? It was, for those who purchased Grange in the 1950's and through to around 1990. At the moment, probably not, because it is quite expensive upon release and prices for Grange on the secondary wine market generally fall from the retail price. A bottle of Grange (vintages between 1972 and current release 2007) generally trade on the secondary wine market between $300 to $500, depending on the vintage and bottle condition. Vintage's pre 1972, trade a lot higher, up to $50,000 for the 1951 vintage, $6500 for the 1955 vintage and $900 for the 1971 vintage Grange. Because of its value, collectors and traders of fine wine continually buy and sell Penfolds Grange on the secondary wine market. Penfolds Grange however is still seen as a very collectable item and each new release see's another 100,000 bottles of Grange released in to the market and another vintage of Grange added to Grange collections throughout Australia and around the world.

Some interesting facts about Grange
· Grange carries a Bin designation, referring to its storage location in Penfolds Cellars whilst aging. 1951 was Bin 1, 1952 was Bin 4, and other vintages carried various designations.
· 1964 the designation was standardised as Bin 95.
· The name 'Hermitage' was removed from the label with the 1990 vintage.
· 1951 vintage, 160 cases made, an experimental wine that was not commercially released.
· 1957 vintage, the first hidden Grange.
· 1958 vintage, the second hidden Grange.
· 1959 vintage, the third and last hidden Grange.
· 1960, retail price of approx $1.75. Grange officially resumes production.
· 1971 Grange, retail price $10 and considered an "A" grade Grange.
· 1976 Grange, the first Australian wine to have a retail price over $20.
· 1980, red bottle capsules standardised from this vintage onwards.
· 1986, retail price around $85.
· 1990, retail price around $140.
· 1994, laser-etching bottles introduced.
· 2002, retail price around $500.
· 2008, awarded 100/100 by Robert Parker Jnr's Wine Advocate, a price increase of $100 per bottle to $795 retail.

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