2004 Penfolds Grange Bin 95 - Syd Australien - 6 Flasker (0,75 L)

Penfolds is Australia's most famous wine producer, best known for its flagship wine Grange, one of the most acclaimed wines in the world. The historic estate has pioneered the wine industy of Australia since its inception in the mid-19th Century.

Among many other accolades, the 1955 Grange was named one of the top 12 wines of the 20th Century by Wine Spectator Magazine; the 1971 vintage was ranked as the greatest wine of the 1970s by FINE Wine Magazines and tastingbook.com, and the 2008 gained a perfect 100-point score from both Wine Spectator and Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. It is a mainstay of the secondary market – auction prices for the wine have regularly been used as key performance indicators for the wider Australian economy.

Occasionally Grange is 100-percent Shiraz – the 2011 was the sixth time that happened in six decades – but more typically it also contains up to around 15 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. It is the flagship for Penfolds' celebrated multi-vineyard, multi-region blending philosophy, and is sourced from Barossa, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra (occasionally) and Magill Estate at the base of the Adelaide Hills, just to the east of the city.

Penfolds has a long-standing reputation for consistent high quality across its broad portfolio, and there are several other wines that feature regularly in auctions, including the Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Henri and RWT Shiraz wines, Bin 389 Cabernet – Shiraz and Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon. These have been joined by experimental or periodic releases such as the Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon and Bin 60a Cabernet – Shiraz. In 2018, the portfolio was expanded into California with the release of the Bin 704 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

A desire to introduce a flagship white led to the 1995 debut of the Yattarna Chardonnay of which is still produced to this day. The extensive portfolio includes numerous other bin-numbered releases, the Max's, Koonunga Hill and Cellar Reserve ranges, and a selection of tawny fortified wines.

Vineyards
The company has extensive vineyard holdings located across the various winegrowing regions of South Australia. Some of these are among the most iconic properties in the country, including Magill Estate, and the Kalimna and Koonunga Hill vineyards in the northern Barossa.

The Woodbury estate in the Eden Valley is planted entirely to Riesling where a cooler climate is well-suited to the variety. In comparison, the Coonawarra estate is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz on the terra rossa soil type that the region is famous for. This clay-based soil type has remarkably good drainage characteristics and is found in numerous other wine regions throughout the world, most notably La Mancha in Spain.

In addition, a wide range of grape growers are also used, both in the core South Australian regions and further afield, particularly for Chardonnay. In total, around 220 different sources contribute to production.

History
Penfolds was founded in 1844 when Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold and his family arrived in Australia from England. He paid £1200 for 500 acres (200 hectares) of prime land in what was then called Mackgill and is now apart of Adelaide surburbia as Magill. He planted it with cuttings sourced from France, with the intention of making medicinal wine.

By the 1920s, the company accounted for half of all wine sales across the country. Max Schubert was delegated as chief winemaker in 1948 who would eventually propel the company onto the global stage with the inception of Grange in the 1950s. To adjust to consumer demands, this was also the decade that the production of table wines commenced with the release of Bin 389, Bin 707, Bin 28 and Bin 128.

Penfolds and its parent company Southcorp have had a complex history in recent decades with various mergers and acquisitions. Today, the company is a part of Treasury Wine Estates that includes Matua, Beaulieu Vineyard, Beringer and Wolf Blass within its brand portfolio.