Penfolds Grange Bin 95

In 1951, Max Schubert returned from Bordeaux determined to build Australia's first age-worthy red — not from a single château plot, but by blending the best fruit across South Australia's districts and completing fermentation inside new American oak hogsheads, a technique he borrowed from the Médoc and made entirely his own. That founding transgression remains the technical core of every Grange made since.

The 2020 blend draws predominantly from Barossa Valley (typically 77–82% of the final wine), where ancient, deep alluvial and sandy loam soils — phylloxera-free since settlement — force Shiraz vines into low-yield concentration. McLaren Vale's sea-breeze-moderated Mediterranean warmth and Magill Estate's urban hillside block at the foot of the Mount Lofty Ranges contribute structural counterpoint in select proportions.

Fermentation proceeds in small open-top stainless steel fermenters, with the final stages completed inside the aging vessel itself — 100% new American oak hogsheads (slightly larger than Bordeaux barriques), where the wine then matures for 18–20 months. Acclimatised pure yeast cultures and temperature-controlled fermentation, a Penfolds innovation pioneered by Ray Beckwith, underpin vintage-to-vintage consistency. The blend is typically 93–98% Shiraz with 2–7% Cabernet Sauvignon, sealed under natural cork at approximately 14.5% ABV.

No other commercially produced wine in the New World is heritage-listed by a national trust — Grange holds that status in South Australia — and no peer has matched its documented 40–50+ year cellaring trajectory outside Bordeaux's First Growths.