Despite carrying many different Bin numbers in the early years, Grange was always labelled Bin 95 from the 1970 vintage. This wine is a favourite of Don Ditter, who worked at Penfolds from 1946 and succeeded Max Schubert as Chief Winemaker in 1975. The 1970 Penfolds Grange is a blend of 90 per cent Shiraz and 10 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, from Kalimna, the Barossa and Adelaide's Magill Estate vineyard. Vintage conditions were dry, a growing season with rainfall 40 per cent less than normal.

A wine of extraordinary dimension and power, intensely concentrated and packed with fruit sweetness, Penfolds Grange requires medium to long-term cellaring. With time, it develops into an immensely complex, beguiling wine that seduces the senses. Considered a very successful release from what Max Schubert considered a difficult vintage, 1969 Grange went on to win five Trophies, six Gold, six Silver and two Bronze medals between 1969 and 1975. Bottles from this vintage were labelled with two different Bin numbers 826 and 95.

A great vintage from a magnificent era, bottles labelled Bin numbers 71, 72 and 95.1966 Penfolds Grange claimed four significant gold medals and several prestigious accolades between 1969 and 1980. A cépage of 88% Shiraz and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, picked off the eminent Kalimna site and several other distinguished blocks of Barossa vine, the revered Magill Estate and Morphett Vale properties in Adelaide Hills. A fairly dry growing season followed by a warm vintage with near ideal conditions, matured eighteen months in all new American oak hogsheads.

The 1964 Grange claimed a Trophy, four Gold and three other medals in 1968 and 1969. Individual bottles are labelled Bin numbers 95, 395, 66, 67 and 68.

Bottles labelled Bin numbers 59, 95, 456, 59A.

By the early sixties, Penfolds Grange had secured its future. The experimental work carried out by Max Schubert left lasting impressions. Penfolds work in research and development, working hand in hand with new ideas within the constraints of the knowledge of the time, resulted in an emerging Penfolds house style. This is the first Grange to use grapes from the cool-climate Coonawarra district. The wine won two Gold and three Silver medals in Australian wine shows between 1963 and 1968. Bottles labelled Bin numbers 95 and 395.

A significant turning point for Penfolds Grange, bottles were labelled Bin numbers 49 and 95, and are now becoming increasingly rare.

Last of the three hidden and secret Granges made by Max Schubert in defiance of a company order to cease production, the wine was released commercially after the ban was lifted. New oak was not used during the three secret vintages. Bottles were labelled Bin numbers 46, 49 and 95. The story of Grange is steeped in the Australian ethos. Max Schubert is an Australian folk hero, a lifelong winemaker who battled against the odds and then succeeded in creating one of the very great wines of the world.

Max Schubert knew intuitively that fruit power, concentration and ripe tannins were key components of optimum quality, he was well ahead of his time. Second of the three hidden, or secret Granges, made by Schubert in defiance of a company order to cease production. The wine was matured in the previous year's Grange barrels as new oak was not available. A blend of 94 per cent Shiraz and 6 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon from the Magill Estate and Morphett Vale at Adelaide, the Kalimna Vineyard and from other vineyards in Barossa and McLaren Vale.

The first of the so called hidden Grange, the wine was made without the knowledge of Penfolds management, who had ordered Max Schubert to cease production, eventually released as Bin 50 and Bin 113. A blend of 88 percent Shiraz and 12 percent Cabernet Sauvignon grown at the Magill Estate and Morphett Vale in the Adelaide Hills, with further components from vineyards in the McLaren Vale. A mild dry growing season, the wine received eighteen months maturation in the previous years Grange barrels.

Penfolds 1956 Grange is extremely rare - a curio and valuable collector's item. Well cellared bottles may show fully developed fruit and lacy tannins but most are past their best. A lighter Grange which spent less time (about nine months) in oak and was bottled early. Bottles labelled Bin numbers 14 and 53. The 1956 included a small amount (4 per cent) of Cabernet Sauvignon. From humble beginnings in the 1950s, Grange has maintained it's place as Australia's most prestigious red wine, and one of history's most unique.

An exceptionally long-lived Grange, a beautifully focused wine, considered one of the best Granges ever produced. The most decorated of all Granges, winning 12 Trophies and 51 Gold medals over 13 years from 1962. A lighter Grange that spent only nine months in oak, the 1955 Grange was a favourite of Max Schubert's, partly because it was the vintage that vindicated him by winning a Gold medal in the open Claret class at the 1962 Sydney Wine Show. Bottles were labelled Bin numbers 13, 14, 53, 54 and 95.

A Heritage-listed wine, the story of Grange is steeped in the Australian ethos. Penfolds 1954 Grange is extremely rare, a curio and valuable collector's item. All but extremely fine bottles are well past their peak. Internal criticism of Grange led Max Schubert to lighten the style slightly and the 1954 had only about nine months in oak. The criticism fired at Max Schubert's early Granges reflected the conservatism prevalent throughout winemaking circles.

260 cases of this wine were produced. This is the first Grange to incorporate wine from the Kalimna region in the Barossa. This was a revelation. An astonishing, great wine with remarkable vigor and freshness, this wine has a dark garnet color with considerable amber at the edge. A sweet nose of mushrooms, roasted herbs, tar, red and black fruits, and underbrush is followed by a wine with considerable opulence, flesh, and vivacity. The wine has terrific harmony and a long finish. It is an amazing effort that should continue to drink well.

A very hedonistic, almost decadent style of Grange, gorgeously opulent, almost Pomerol-like Grange with an over-ripe characteristic to the fruit. Cherry liqueur intermixed with cranberry and cassis presented in a seductive, full-bodied, very soft, forward style is truly not the classic Grange in the sense of having huge structure and massive concentration, but this wine is loaded, very corpulent, and fleshy. The wine is going to last for up to two decades, but it will be uncommonly succulent and delicious to drink young.

Though retired, Grange creator Max Schubert was proclaimed Man of the Year by UK Decanter Magazine in 1988. The hallmark of Grange 1988 is it's powerful fruit intensity, dominant length and profound complexity, persistent fruit and oak, reflecting the exceptional quality of the 1988 vintage.

No other Australian wine can rival the quality and development pattern of Grange. Always exciting and opulent, the pinnacle of Australian reds, 1987 Grange is an elegant edition, beginning juicy and plummy, culminating in a very firm, dry finish. The growing season and vintage were marked by cool weather, crops in most South Australian regions were reduced by hailstorms in October.

A very great Grange vintage.

Shiraz with a small amount (1%) Cabernet, from the Kalimna and other superior vineyards in the Barossa, Clare Valley and Modbury (Adelaide Plains). A cool to mild growing season followed by similarly good conditions at vintage, with late rain delaying picking. An elegantly structured vintage with blackberry black olive plum flavours, and firm savoury tannins.

Max Schubert's experimental work in the 1950s determined that South Australian Cabernet was unreliable, he recognised that Grange should be based around a spectrum of fruit. One of the great strengths of Grange is, whilst mostly a Shiraz, it does not rely on the performance of a single vineyard. From fruit grown at the Kalimna and other Barossa vineyards, Magill Estate in Adelaide, and other superior vineyards in the Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley, the 1984 is balanced with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon 5%.

This vintage was seriously affected by drought, and the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires. Summer rainfall was half the average, following by record rains and flooding in March.

A very good vintage with a mild growing season, culminating in a burst of warm weather.

Winemaker John Duval called the 1981 a big, tannic Grange. A warm to hot, drought-affected summer yielded a powerfully concentrated wine with chocolate raisin fruit, earthy nuances, and pleasant oak.

The 1980 Grange is predominantly Shiraz with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon (4%) from the Kalimna and other Barossa vineyards, the Clare Valley, Magill Estate, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. A generally good growing season with fine and warm conditions, was followed by a cool vintage.

Penfolds Grange has maintained its place as Australia's most prestigious red wine over four decades. An Australian icon, Grange represents a tradition in winemaking that is totally uncompromising. Grange has bypassed the fads and trends of modern winemaking in the sense that it has maintained an integrity of style and remained true to its origins in the mind of Max Schubert. An unusually wet (but hot) growing season, the 1979 was sourced from the Kalimna and other Barossa vineyards, the Clare Valley, Magill Estate and the McLaren Vale.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Grange established an unassailable reputation as one of the world's great and enduring first growths when it claimed top honours at the 1979 Paris Wine Olympiad. Grange is unique for its remarkable capacity to articulate the influence of vintage, while remaining consistent from year to year, possibly the only grande marque to be assembled from an extensive canon of superior vineyards. Grange remains one of the few global icon wines to experience a continued and unprecedented surge in eminence and prestige.

Australia's greatest wine was developed over the course of a tortuous decade, by a personality who was driven by the consuming aspiration to create... Australia's greatest wine. Much adversity faced Max Schubert, his project was forbidden by Penfolds for a time, due to the expense. Early releases of Grange were disparaged by industry press for its richness and concentration. It has endured to become the new world's most precious red wine, desired as much for its investment value as for its generosity of flavour and long lived endowments.

The late great Max Schubert embarked on an adventure to formulate the first growth of Australian wine in the 1940s. After many years of trials and tribulation, his enduring legacy to the world is the mighty Grange. Essentially a rich, splendid Shiraz wine exhibiting a nonpareil intensity of complex fruit character and inseparable, regal oak. A Heritage Icon of South Australia, Grange remains the nation's most recognizable label in the world of wine. Twenty one months in new oak and three years in bottle, the structural and tactile Grange package.

Grange is a unique Australian style, officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. When the late, great Max Schubert embarked on his odyssey to define the nation's ultimate red wine, his efforts were met by adversity and derision from peers. Today Grange is recognised as one of the world's great wines, each vintage is eagerly awaited round the globe. The small 2005 vintage release makes no quality compromise. A Grange that is balanced, firm and polished. The first sip welcomes, the second sip asserts, the third entreats submission.

The wait for this Grange has indeed been worthwhile, arguably the finest vintage since mother nature's endowment of a number of stellar 1990s vintages. Just how good a vintage only time will tell, but all current indicators auger (very) well. Certainly stylistically in the mould of wonderful vintages.

Grange is Australia's most famous wine and is officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. The most powerful expression of Penfolds long and prolific traditions, Grange boasts an unbroken line of vintages from the experimental 1951, and clearly demonstrates the synergy between Shiraz with the soils and climates of South Australia. Grange displays fully-ripe, intensely-flavoured and textured Shiraz in combination with splendid oak. A unique Australian style, recognised as one of the most consistent of the world's greate wines.

Grange is both Penfolds and Australia's most famous wine and is officially listed as a heritage icon of South Australia. An exceptional vintage, 1998 remains a superbly balanced and sumptuous wine, with all the hallmarks of a great, long-living Grange.

Grange is likely to remain positioned as Australia's flagship wine, many vintages far into the future. When Max Schubert embarked on his voyage of discovery and innovation during the late 1940s, the fledgling wine industry was relatively amateurish and fragmented. Winemaker John Duval's contribution to the evolution of Grange has also been critical. His stewardship has probably seen the greatest developments and innovation in viticulture and winemaking. A remarkable vintage Grange is the 1997, considering it's place between the great 1996 and 1998 editions.

The benchmark by which exceptional red wines in Australia, and increasingly overseas, are often measured. The reasons for this are many, concentration of flavour, complexity and longevity. Grange blossoms with 15 to 20 years of bottle age, when most other reds have past their best, and better vintages can live to continue developing for decades longer. First produced by Max Schubert in 1951, the 1993 Grange represents over forty years of winemaking excellence. An earlier maturing vintage that's nevertheless rich and concentrated, very scented with apricot/camomile/dark berry/smoky aromas.

At first it presents as remarkably fruity, but the more you look at it the more it seems like an example of highly skilled engineering. It's a wine of considerable and outstanding finesse, with black and red berry fruit cascading through the mouth. Great structure, and it will get even better.

Wine Spectator Red of the Year. History will record 1990 as one of the great Australian vintages of a generation. Grange 1990 was one of the very best to date, with the potential to rival the classic vintages of 1955, 1962 and 1971. A superbly balanced wine, and a very great Grange vintage with tremendous finesse and understated power.

Penfolds Grange is an Australian icon, a National Trust of Australia heritage listed wine which captures the essence of Australian ingenuity and innovation. The story of Grange is steeped in the Australian ethos. It is the story of a winemaker who battled against the odds, possessed by the ideal of creating one of the very great wines of the world. The enduring spirit of Grange means that each vintage boasts its own character as the marque evolves and surprises. A seductive, richly concentrated wine, a timeless classic.

One of the great strengths of Grange is that it does not rely on the performance of a single vineyard. Nowadays, only a few hundred Grange magnum arew bottled each year. 2003 produced Shiraz with dense colour, impressive varietal characters and soft tannins.

A big, typical Grange and a very good wine from this vintage. Smooth, sumptuous and firmly structured, its deep, long palate of dark red and black berry flavours is wound around firm, but powder-fine tannins.

Sourced from Kalimna in the Barossa, McLaren Vale, the Magill Estate and Padthaway. An exceptional vintage in both quality and quantity.

Grange 1994 represents an excellent offering from an above average vintage. Layers of massive Shiraz fruit and expertly crafted oak manifest themselves. Forceful, ripe tannins are balanced by sheer weight of fruit.

Penfolds Grange, blossoms with fifteen to twenty years of bottle age, when most other reds have past their best, and better vintages can live and continue developing for decades longer. A self-taught, practical winemaker with a natural inquisitiveness for winemaking theory, creator Max Schubert embraced a romantic view of winemaking. Though he retired as Chief Winemaker at Penfolds in 1973, Max remained involved as a mentor and Winemaker Emeritus for another 20 vintages. 1993 is an earlier maturing vintage under Magnum, kept optimumly cellared.

The pinnacle of Australian reds, Grange represents opulence, vintage 1992 offers great complexity and balance, a powerful and rich release with mouth-coating tannins. No other red wine in Australia can rival the reputation, consistent quality or proven development pattern of Penfolds Grange. A full-bodied Shiraz wine, fleshed out with a component of exceptional Cabernet fruit, under magnum, the 1992 was destined for a long cellar life. Deep crimson in colour, with smoky/dark chocolate/blueberry/ plum aromas and flavours, fine grained with slightly leafy tannins, finishing very firm and tight.

The 1991 Grange shocked me with its sweet, forward display of jammy black fruits, smoke, roasted coffee, and copious toasty oak scents and flavors. This mouthfilling Grange, inevitably becomes more complex and civilized with ten or more years of cellaring.

The 1990 and 1991 Granges are regarded by many as extraordinary wines with incredible power and finesse. James Halliday calls this vintage flawlessly supple. In 1990 Grange dropped the Hermitage tag, to align with the name by which it had been known internationally for many years. 95% Shiraz, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon from Kalimna and other Barossa Valley vineyards, Clare Valley and Coonawarra. A very great vintage with a perfect warm, dry growing season and harvest, yielded a Grange with solid structure and dominant fruit characters.

A long time between drinks, the last Cellar Reserve Cabernet Shiraz was the tiny, yet unforgettable 1993. The tradition of innovation and experimentation is central to Penfolds and is perpetuated in the form of Penfolds Cellar Reserves. These one-off releases emerge periodically when experimental wines are deemed appropriate for public release. The wines do not necessarily fit into any particular genre and provide Penfolds winemakers with the freedom to strive for new styles and definitions of excellence in their expression.

Vintage 2008 will be remembered for Bin 620, a legendary Penfolds wine from a great Coonawarra year. The unique and enduring Australian mix of Cabernet and Shiraz, from the pick of low yielding Penfolds Coonawarra Blocks 5, 10 and 20, a harvest of the most superb quality fruit, a collation of parcels exhibiting tremendous definition in flavour, affording the construct of a wine similar in stature and style to the original 1966 Bin 620.

The Poor man's baby Grange, so called because components of the wine are matured in the same barrels that held the previous vintage of Grange. First made in 1960, this was the wine that helped to build Penfolds solid reputation with true red wine enthusiasts. Combining the structure of Cabernet with the richness of Shiraz, Bin 389 also exemplifies Penfolds skill in balancing fruit and oak. Sculptured tannins, length, weight and texture sit well. Embellishment is never required. Experiencing is believing.

Outstanding Langtons Classification. The Poor man's baby Grange, so called because components of Bin 389 are matured in the same barrels which held the previous vintage of Grange. First made in 1960, this was the wine that helped to build Penfolds solid reputation with true red wine enthusiasts. Combining the structure of Cabernet Sauvignon with the richness of Shiraz, Bin 389 articulates the skill of the Penfolds team in balancing fruit with oak. Sculptured tannins, length, weight and texture sit well. Embellishment is never required, experiencing is believing.

Penfolds were at the genesis of Australian viticulture and remain unique, in that they can still source fruit from some of the nation's oldest and most distinguished vineyards. Created by the legendary Max Schubert, Bin 389 is one of Australia's most cherished wines, referred to as the poor man's baby Grange, in part because components are matured with the same barrels which held the previous vintage of Grange. First made in 1960, this was the wine that helped build Penfolds solid reputation with enthusiasts of Australian first growth icon reds.