Origin: Australia
South Australia
Alcohol content: 14.5% vol
Winery information:
Penfolds was founded in 1844 by Christopher Rawson and is now Australia's best-known winery. The company is comprised of two wineries in South Australia: the historic first winery, where the first wines were made, is in Adelaide, and the main winery is now in the Barossa Valley.
Christopher Rawson, of British origin, was a doctor by profession. When he created the first winery, he worked with vines brought from Europe and made fortified wines to use as medicine. The evolution of this winery over time led it to change these Sherry and Port-type wines that made it famous, to create a wide range of wines that currently includes the most prestigious and reputable wine on the southern continent and among the most recognized on the planet, Grange.
After Christopher Rawson, four technical directors have headed the winery: Max Schubert, Don Ditter, John Duval and currently Peter Gago. A generational succession of three winemakers who have always followed the same guidelines. Max Schubert was a visionary who marked a line of work and way of understanding wines. His philosophy, also maintained by Ditter and Duval, would end up having a great influence on the evolution of wines in Australia. Research and experimentation led him to create the two greatest Penfolds wines, Grange and Bin 707. Today, Peter Gago, maintaining the philosophy created by Schubert, is the person in charge of all the wines.
Penfolds has amazing potential in hectares of vineyards grown on their own and spread across different areas of South Australia. The Barossa Valley is a vast expanse of gently rolling hills, where Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz are perfectly suited. Coonawarra is characterised by homogeneous chocolate-coloured soil on a limestone base. McLaren Vale is in an area with little rainfall (420 mm) with gentle hills of clay soil ideal for growing Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Clare Valley is a collection of different soils with different colours and textures, where they plant Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. They also have vineyards in Eden Valley and Adelaide Hills. Despite the large number of vineyards on their own, they also buy grapes from growers whom they advise in Padthaway, 100 km north of Coonawarra. Most of their wines are made from a blend of grapes from different areas.