[Akyeong Wine Cellar] Australia’s National Treasure 'Penfolds' Born from Fertile Imagination

<13> Australia’s 'Penfolds'

Australia’s National Treasure Winery Celebrates 180th Anniversary
Standing Tall on Experimentation, Curiosity, and Uncompromising Quality
'Grange' Iconic Wine Listed as Australian Cultural Heritage

Editor's NoteNo two wines under the sky are the same. Even when using grapes grown on the same land each year and employing the same methods of winemaking and aging, the results differ every time. Wine is a 'drink of chance' created through the harmony of humans and nature. Each wine that silently disappears after leaving only a single intense memory carries an intriguing story. 'Akyung Wine Cellar' shares these stories of wines, each crafted and matured under different circumstances, one by one.

"A truly excellent winemaker dreaming of outstanding wine requires fertile imagination above all else."

'Grange' holds a meaning beyond just wine in Australia. It symbolizes the pinnacle that Australian wine can reach, instilling pride in the Australian wine industry and excitement among enthusiasts. Max Schubert, the inaugural chief winemaker of 'Penfolds' who introduced Grange to the world, was a figure who rejected conventional, formulaic winemaking. Based on boundless imagination and relentless experimentation, he created the brilliant legacy of Grange, laying the foundation for Penfolds to build its reputation as a national treasure winery of Australia to this day.

The winery view of 'Magill Estate,' which marked the beginning of Penfolds.

The Pioneer’s Wine Crafted on Foreign Soil

The beginning of Penfolds, the soil from which Grange grew, was also initiated by pioneers armed more with curiosity than fear of the new. In 1844, the British couple Christopher Rawson Penfold and Mary Penfold left behind stable lives as doctors to seek new opportunities in Australia. Upon arriving in the early colonial era in South Australia, the couple purchased fertile land spanning 500 acres (about 610,000 pyeong) near Adelaide and established vineyards. This area, known as the 'Magill Estate,' continues to produce high-quality grapes and serves as a cornerstone in showcasing Penfolds' value to the world.

Christopher Penfold, a doctor, began cultivating vineyards and making wine because, at the time, wine was regarded not just as a beverage but as a medicinal treatment. Dr. Penfold made fortified wine for medicinal purposes while treating patients. Fortified wine is wine with distilled spirits such as brandy added to increase the alcohol content. While typical wine has an alcohol content of about 11-15%, fortified wine has a higher alcohol content around 20% due to the added spirits.

Christopher and Mary Penfold, the couple who founded Penfolds in 1844.

The prevailing view is that the British were the first to apply the concept of fortifying wine. In the past, when wine was transported in oak barrels, high temperatures often caused quality deterioration. This was a major problem for Britain, which relied solely on wine imports. British merchants realized that adding high-alcohol brandy to wine suppressed microbial activity, preserving quality for longer periods, and thus created fortified wines to solve this issue. Even today, the top fortified wines, Sherry and Port, are produced in Spain and Portugal respectively, but the largest consumers have always been the British.

In fact, Dr. Penfold was a novice winemaker with no prior experience before migrating to Australia. However, as a British native from the homeland of fortified wine, his diverse drinking experiences and pioneering curiosity likely helped him excel in medicinal wine production. The fortified wines he made gained great popularity, expanding beyond medicinal use to general consumption, leading the Penfolds couple to expand their vineyards and increase wine production.

An advertising image from the time when Penfolds produced fortified wine.

After Christopher passed away in 1870, his wife Mary took the lead in running the winery and driving its growth. She emphasized the importance of blending in winemaking through various experiments and expanded the cultivated varieties to include Riesling and Claret. In 1881, when Mary Penfold was managing the winery, Penfolds stored 107,000 gallons (about 405,000 liters) of wine at the Magill Estate, which accounted for one-third of all wine produced in South Australia at the time.

After Mary's retirement, her daughter and son-in-law continued the family business, and the winery flourished. By 1907, Penfolds had become the largest winery in South Australia, and in the 1920s, it was said that one out of every two bottles of wine sold in Australia was from Penfolds.

The National Treasure Wine 'Grange'

Max Schbert, the inaugural chief winemaker of Penfolds who created the 'Grange'.

More than 100 years after the Penfold couple first set foot on Australian soil, 1950 marked the beginning of the story of Grange, Penfolds' iconic wine. At that time, fortified wines still dominated the Australian wine market. However, consumer preference for lighter table wines was gradually increasing. Sensing this market shift, Penfolds sent its first chief winemaker, Max Schubert, to Europe to acquire advanced wine production techniques.

Contrary to the winery’s plan to shift towards lighter table wines, Schubert was captivated by the robust wine style of Bordeaux, France, known for its long aging potential. Returning to Australia the following year, he began experimental winemaking aimed at producing long-aging wines capable of maturing for at least 20 years. After many trials and errors, he created 'Grange Hermitage' using perfectly ripe, high-quality Shiraz from the Magill Estate. The name 'Grange Hermitage' was inspired by the French word 'Grange' meaning granary and the village of Hermitage in the Rh?ne region of France, the heartland of the Syrah (Shiraz) grape. However, due to European Union origin regulations, the name 'Hermitage' was dropped from 1990 onward.

Penfolds' Icon Wine 'Grange'

However, the Penfolds board reacted coldly to Schubert’s expectations. The heavy, tannic Grange was far from the light, easy-to-drink wine the board had requested. Despite the board’s negative response, commercial production of Grange began, but in 1957, the board ultimately halted its production. Undeterred, Schubert secretly produced vintages of Grange (1957, 1958, 1959) and in 1960 demanded a reevaluation from the board, leading to the decision to resume production.

The board’s approval to resume Grange production was ultimately due to its undeniable high quality. Schubert proved the immense value of high-quality aged red wine. Since its revival, Grange has won numerous awards domestically and internationally, firmly establishing itself as Penfolds’ and Australia’s flagship wine. In 2001, on its 50th anniversary, Grange was uniquely registered as a cultural heritage of South Australia, the only wine to receive such recognition.

A view of Penfolds' Barossa Valley vineyard.

Grange is made exclusively from the finest Shiraz grapes selected from several Penfolds vineyards in South Australia, centered around the Barossa Valley. It is not made from grapes of a single vineyard but rather from the best grapes harvested each year from various vineyards, blended to achieve and maintain the highest quality. Grange features ripe berry fruit aromas complemented by complex oak-aged bouquet, followed by honey and grapefruit aromas, roasted meat flavors, and nuances of toasted nuts. Its soft tannins help the wine remain robust yet elegant.

Joshua Im, Penfolds Brand Ambassador, explained, "Grange is released after about 4-5 years of aging because drinking it too young, like a Bordeaux wine, does not allow one to fully appreciate its charm. The wine introduced to the Korean market this year is the 2019 vintage." He emphasized, "In Australia, new oak barrels are generally avoided to prevent overpowering the natural grape aromas, but Grange uses only the finest grapes that can withstand new oak aging, which enhances its complexity."

Penfolds' vineyards are located in the South Australia region, the center of Australian wine production.

The Product of Diverse Experimentation: The BIN Series

While Grange is undoubtedly Penfolds’ flagship wine, the winery does not rely solely on this star. A representative example is the diverse 'BIN' series. Originally, BIN stood for 'Batch Identification Number,' referring to the classification number of storage space in the wine cellar. However, since 1959, when Schubert secretly experimented with Grange, BIN combined with numbers has been used as wine names.

Penfolds has several wines with BIN numbers, and the meanings of these numbers vary, which can be confusing. Among them, 'BIN 389' is known as the 'Baby Grange.' It uses grapes slightly below Grange quality and is aged in the same oak barrels that matured Grange, thus carrying the essence of Grange.

Also, the label of BIN 389 states 'Cabernet Shiraz,' indicating a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. In Australia, including Penfolds, when two or three grape varieties are blended, the grape names are listed in order of quantity used. A typical example is 'GSM,' a blend of Grenache, Shiraz, and Mourv?dre.

Penfolds' Chardonnay wine 'Yattarna BIN 144'.

Among white wines, 'Yattarna BIN 144' is noteworthy. 'Yattarna' means 'gradually' in an Australian Aboriginal language, reflecting the slow ripening of grapes in the cool climate of Tasmania, Australia's southernmost region, where the Chardonnay grapes are grown. This wine was created after 144 experiments. It is comparable to high-quality Chardonnay from Burgundy, France, and is considered Penfolds’ white Grange.

Penfolds emphasizes that its 180-year history has been possible thanks to the 'Penfolds DNA' of curiosity and experimental spirit. Peter Gago, Penfolds’ current chief winemaker, said, "The combination of innovative vision and unwavering commitment to tradition underpins the continuous evolution of Penfolds wines, and Penfolds will continue to evolve through new connections and collaborations."

Penfolds logo.