Try Penfolds Grange before you die!
Why? It is Australia’s most famous red wine, one of the world’s great age-worthy wines, and a piece of Australian wine history. It is also extremely expensive. The good news is that you do not necessarily need to buy a whole bottle to understand why it matters.
Ten Second Summary
- What it is: Australia’s flagship red wine: a powerful, age-worthy, multi-regional wine made primarily from Shiraz, sometimes with a little Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Tastes like: Dense black fruit, dark chocolate, spice and American oak when young; increasingly savoury, complex and integrated with bottle age.
- Why it matters: It broke new ground for Australian fine table wine, proving Australia could produce a distinctive dry red capable of ageing alongside the world’s great wines.
- Why it is expensive: Quality, history, longevity, reputation, collectability and global demand. The current Australian release is priced like international fine wine, not everyday Shiraz.
- Buying shortcut: If Grange makes your wallet mutter dark threats, Penfolds Bin 389 is often called the “poor man’s Grange”.
- When to drink: Good vintages can develop for decades. With older bottles, provenance and condition can matter as much as the year on the label.
Penfolds Grange at a glance
| First vintage | 1951 experimental; 1952 first commercial release |
| Grapes | Predominantly Shiraz, sometimes with Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Origin | Usually selected vineyards across more than one South Australian region |
| Winemaking signature | Fermentation completed in new 300-litre American oak hogsheads, followed by about 18–20 months’ maturation |
| Bin number | Bin 95 |
| Ageing potential | Several decades in strong vintages under excellent storage conditions |
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| Penfolds Grange: Australia’s flagship red wine and a genuine bucket list bottle | © penfolds.com |
What's on this page
- Why Penfolds Grange belongs on a wine bucket list
- What is Penfolds Grange and how is it made?
- Max Schubert and the secret history of Grange
- What does Penfolds Grange taste like?
- Why is Penfolds Grange so expensive — and is it worth it?
- The best Penfolds Grange vintages
- When and how to serve Penfolds Grange
- What is the “poor man’s Grange”?
- The best affordable alternatives to Penfolds Grange
- How to buy an older bottle of Grange
- Where to find a bottle of Penfolds Grange
- Penfolds Grange FAQ
1. Why Penfolds Grange belongs on a wine bucket list
Although made primarily from Shiraz, Penfolds Grange was inspired by the great wines of Bordeaux. It is not quite as pricey as the First Growths, but it is still up there. Like with the First Growths, I've never bought a bottle of Grange. I've tasted it plenty of times though.
Grange is sufficiently famous that vertical tastings, wine dinners and occasional by-the-glass opportunities do happen fairly frequently. Trying a well-cellared mature bottle at a tasting can be far cheaper — and possibly more revealing — than buying the current release and waiting 20 years.
But the reason Penfolds Grange belongs on a bucket list is not just its price, prestige or collectability. It belongs there because it has meaning. It helped prove that Australia could produce a dry red wine with the concentration, structure and longevity to stand beside the great wines of the world.
It is sometimes described as the first Grand Cru of the New World. That is not an official classification, of course, but it captures Grange’s historical importance. This is not just a wine; it is a piece of history.
In other words, if you are trying to drink the best red wines before you die, Penfolds Grange has to be somewhere on the list.
2. What is Penfolds Grange and how is it made?
Grange is a bit of a fine-wine anomaly. Most famous wines focus relentlessly on where the grapes are grown: the estate, region, vineyard or even a small section of a vineyard. Grange normally takes the opposite approach.
It is usually a multi-regional South Australian blend. The vineyards and regional proportions can change from one vintage to the next because the goal is not to reproduce one place. The goal is to select the best available parcels and construct the best possible Grange in that year.
Max Schubert described his ambition as making an “all-round wine”. Freed from dependence on one vineyard, Penfolds can combine the strongest qualities of different sites: aromatic intensity, ripe tannin, concentration, structure and balance. This philosophy has roots in the company’s fortified-wine heritage, where blending across vineyards and regions to create a consistent house style was perfectly normal.
The wine is predominantly Shiraz, sometimes with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon (especially earlier in its history). The exact blend and fruit sources vary by vintage. Potential Grange parcels are assessed on quality rather than being entitled to the name simply because they came from a particular vineyard.
One of thhe most distinctive winemaking steps, especially at the time, is not merely that Grange is aged in new American oak. Its components complete fermentation in new 300-litre American oak hogsheads, before spending approximately 18–20 months maturing in new American oak. This integration of fermentation and oak helped create the wine’s signature combination of powerful fruit, structure, spice, vanilla, mocha and long ageing potential.
At the time, it was a radical table-wine recipe. Schubert had combined ideas from Bordeaux, Australian blending traditions and the scientific advances being made at Penfolds — including Ray Beckwith’s crucial work on pH control and wine stability — to create something distinctly Australian.
Given the success of Grange, it is surprising that more producers have not followed the same model. Then again, few have Penfolds’ access to vineyards across multiple regions, or a classification system capable of finding tiny parcels worthy of the flagship wine.
The result is not a wine that whispers politely about one small patch of dirt. Grange speaks in a much bigger voice.
Production details: Penfolds Grange Collection.
3. Max Schubert and the secret history of Grange
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| Max Schubert, the Penfolds winemaker who created Grange and helped change Australian red wine forever | © penfolds.com |
Max Schubert was the Penfolds winemaker who created Grange. He joined Penfolds as a messenger boy and rose to become Chief Winemaker. After visiting Europe, and especially after seeing the great long-lived red wines of Bordeaux, he returned to Australia with an idea that would have sounded slightly mad at the time: make an Australian red wine with the structure, concentration and longevity to sit beside the great wines of the world.
The first experimental wine was made in 1951 and was never commercially released. The 1952 was the first Grange sold to the public. Schubert named it Grange Hermitage after the Grange property established by Christopher and Mary Penfold in 1844; “Hermitage” was the Australian name then commonly used for Shiraz.
That wine became Grange, but the early years were not exactly smooth sailing. The style was completely new in Australia and the young wines met some ferocious criticism. The prominent vanilla character from the American oak was even compared with Coca-Cola.
Penfolds management was not impressed either. In 1957 Schubert was told to stop making it. He did not really stop. Instead, in one of the great acts of quiet stubbornness in wine history, he and a small cellar team continued producing the 1957, 1958 and 1959 wines in secret.
It was a team effort, rather than the work of one heroic winemaker acting entirely alone. Murray Marchant and Gordon Colquist helped hide and care for the forbidden wines, while Ray Beckwith’s scientific work had already helped give Penfolds the control and stability needed to make long-lived dry reds.
Without an official budget, the hidden Granges were materially different. Used American oak replaced new barrels, maturation was shortened from roughly 18 months to nine, and discarded bottles were reportedly recovered from the cellars for bottling. Schubert believed the wines were recognisably Grange, but lacked the new-oak element that lifted the wine from very good to great.
Then patience did what argument could not. In 1960, some of the same board members tasted the 1951 and 1955 again. The wines were then approximately nine and five years old respectively, and both were showing the development that their severe youth had concealed. This time they were greeted enthusiastically, and the board authorised production again in time for the 1960 vintage.
The medals began to flow, and Grange went from embarrassing experiment to Australian wine legend. The 1955 became a celebrated show wine and was later named by Wine Spectator as one of the twelve greatest wines of the twentieth century.
The wonderful irony is that Grange was saved not because Schubert changed direction, but because the wine was finally given enough time to become what he believed it could be.
Max’s loyalty, commitment and leadership are something to be emulated.
Max Schubert, Winemaker by Huon Hooke
A book about his life and how he developed Grange, Max Schubert, Winemaker, written by renowned Australian wine commentator Huon Hooke, is well worth a read. Even if Schubert had not developed Grange, his life still would have been a remarkable one.
I definitely recommend reading the book before trying Grange. If you have already drunk Grange, I recommend reading the book then drinking more Grange. It will, without a doubt, add to the experience. You could also try reading the book while drinking Grange … I’m not sure which will be harder to put down — the book or the Grange!
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| Max Schubert, Winemaker by Huon Hooke — a great read before, after, or possibly during a bottle of Penfolds Grange | find a copy on Amazon or wherever you can find one |
The Rewards of Patience by Andrew Caillard MW
If you want to go even deeper into Grange — how it is made, why the vintages differ and what happens as Penfolds wines age — The Rewards of Patience by Andrew Caillard MW is a great companion.
The book adds useful depth to the Max Schubert story. It explains the importance of Ray Beckwith and the cellar team; Grange’s links with Penfolds’ fortified-wine traditions; the classification of individual fruit parcels; and Schubert’s idea of creating a “dynasty of wines” with a recognisable family resemblance.
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| The Rewards of Patience by Andrew Caillard MW. My copy is the seventh edition; the current ninth edition includes more recent vintages | find on Amazon |
4. What does Penfolds Grange taste like?
Young Grange is usually an imposing wine. Expect concentrated blackberry, black plum and dark cherry fruit, with dark chocolate, liquorice, spice, mocha, vanilla and char from the American oak. It is full-bodied, structured and powerful, with substantial tannin and a long, dense palate.
That description can make Grange sound like a blunt instrument. The best examples are not. They have what Schubert called buoyancy. The magical combination of sweet ripe fruit, freshness and generosity. Grange is a hugh wine to be sure but it has energy.
With bottle age, the parts begin to knit together. The primary black fruit becomes less obvious, the American oak retreats into the wine, and more savoury notes can emerge: leather, tobacco, earth, dried fruit, roasted meat, spice and old polished wood. The tannins soften, the texture becomes more seamless and the bouquet can become considerably more complex.
Vintage still matters. Grange has a recognisable house style, but it is not identical every year. The regions, vineyard parcels, grape blend and growing season change. Some vintages are more opulent; others are firmer, fresher or more restrained.
This is why drinking Grange very young may reveal its scale and raw materials without revealing its full point. You can admire the architecture, but the building may not yet feel lived in.
5. Why is Penfolds Grange so expensive — and is it worth it?
Penfolds Grange is so expensive because you are buying far more than the liquid in the bottle. You are paying for rigorously selected fruit, expensive new American oak, decades of proven ageing, historical importance, global reputation, collectability and demand for Australia’s most famous wine.
The current 2021 release has an Australian recommended retail price of A$1,000 per 750 ml bottle. That places it firmly in the international fine-wine market rather than the everyday Australian Shiraz market.
Its long track record matters. Collectors can look back across vintages to the 1950s, compare how they developed and buy with more confidence than they could with a newly invented luxury label. Grange also has a deep secondary market, so famous vintages and pristine bottles have value beyond the cellar door.
But is it worth A$1,000?
As a piece of wine history, a great mature bottle and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it can be. As pure drinking value, the answer is much less straightforward. There are outstanding Australian reds — including other Penfolds wines — that cost a fraction of the price. Some of what you pay for is the Grange name and the privilege of drinking the icon.
My recommendation is not necessarily to buy the current release blind. If you have never tasted Grange, look for a reputable mature-wine tasting, a wine dinner or a shared bottle with equally curious friends. Trying one good bottle at an appropriate age is more likely to explain the reputation than buying a young bottle solely because the label is famous.
Expensive and overpriced are not quite the same thing. Grange is unquestionably expensive. Whether it is overpriced depends on what you value: liquid, longevity, history, collectability or the experience of finally ticking it off the bucket list.
Current-release price: Penfolds 2025 Collection.
6. The best Penfolds Grange vintages
There is no single best vintage of Penfolds Grange. “Best” might mean the most historically important, the most critically acclaimed, the best to drink now, the longest-lived or the best value. Those are not always the same bottle.
| Category | Vintages to know | Why they matter |
|---|---|---|
| Foundational | 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959 | The experiment, first commercial release, famous show wine and one of the hidden Granges. Historically fascinating, extremely rare and highly dependent on condition. |
| Legendary mature vintages | 1962, 1971, 1976, 1986, 1990 | Benchmark years repeatedly associated with Grange’s reputation and longevity. The 1971 famously won first place at the 1979 Wine Olympiad in Paris; the 1990 was named Wine Spectator Wine of the Year in 1995. |
| Modern classics | 1996, 1998, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012 | Highly regarded modern releases with the concentration and structure expected of Grange. Several still benefit from patience. |
| Outstanding recent releases | 2016, 2018, 2021 | Prominent recent vintages with long futures. Buy these for the cellar rather than expecting mature Grange character now. |
Lists like this require caution. A beautifully stored bottle from a less celebrated vintage can give more pleasure than a famous vintage that has spent years in a hot cupboard. Once a wine is several decades old, the question is not only “Was it a great year?” but also “What happened to this particular bottle?”
Less famous vintages may also offer better drinking value because they carry a smaller collector premium. Before buying, check the most recent edition of The Rewards of Patience, Penfolds’ published tasting notes and recent auction results. A static vintage list can never tell you the current condition of an individual bottle.
7. When and how to serve Penfolds Grange
When should you drink Grange?
Grange is designed to develop in bottle. Strong vintages can age for many decades, but that does not mean every bottle needs to reach old age. Drink it younger if you enjoy concentrated fruit, prominent oak and firm structure; wait if you want the savoury complexity and integration that made the wine famous.
The ideal drinking window depends on the vintage and how the bottle has been stored. For an expensive older bottle, look for a recent, reputable tasting note on that exact vintage rather than applying one rule to every Grange.
Stand an old bottle upright
If the bottle has been stored on its side, stand it upright well before serving so the sediment can settle. Several hours is useful; a day or two is even better if the bottle can be moved gently and kept cool.
Decant according to age, not habit
Young Grange may benefit from a generous decant to soften its structure and let the aromas open. An old Grange needs more caution. Pour a small taste first. If it seems fragile and already expressive, decant only gently to remove sediment and serve it without delay. A vigorous, lengthy decant can exhaust a very old wine before everyone reaches the table.
Pour slowly with a light behind the neck of the bottle and stop when the sediment approaches. Double-decanting — rinsing the bottle and returning the clear wine to it — can be useful when the bottle needs to be transported or presented at the table, but keep oxygen exposure in mind.
Temperature, glassware and food
Serve Grange at roughly 17–18°C, not at the temperature of an overheated dining room. A large red-wine glass gives the wine space to open without requiring an enormous pour.
Rich but simply prepared food works well: roast beef, lamb, venison, slow-cooked beef cheek or mushrooms. The wine should be the complicated part of the meal.
Decanting guidance: Penfolds — How to Decant Wine.
8. What is the “poor man’s Grange”?
Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz is the wine most commonly called “Baby Grange” or “poor man’s Grange”.
The nickname is not simply marketing. Max Schubert first made Bin 389 in 1960 as part of his intended “dynasty of wines”, and components have traditionally matured in barrels previously used for Grange and Bin 707. It shares Penfolds’ multi-regional blending philosophy and some of the house style.
But Bin 389 is not miniature Grange. It is a Cabernet–Shiraz blend, bringing Cabernet’s structure together with Shiraz’s mid-palate richness. Grange is normally dominated by Shiraz and receives a much more lavish new-American-oak treatment.
If Grange is the dream, Bin 389 is the more realistic dinner-table version for most of us. It is still a serious, age-worthy wine — “poor man’s” is increasingly a relative term — but it is one of the smartest ways to explore the Penfolds family resemblance without needing to sell a small family heirloom.
Find Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz on Wine-Searcher
9. The best affordable alternatives to Penfolds Grange
No cheaper wine is exactly Grange. The useful question is which part of the experience you want: the Penfolds house style, age-worthy Shiraz, American oak, Shiraz with a splash of Cabernet, or a wine with the famous Mex Schubert bouyancey.
Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz
The obvious answer to “poor man’s Grange”. Choose Bin 389 for the strongest nickname and family connection, a classic Australian Cabernet–Shiraz blend and proven ageing potential.
Find Penfolds Bin 389 on Wine-Searcher
Penfolds St Henri Shiraz
St Henri may be the more revealing alternative if your interest is mature Penfolds Shiraz rather than Grange’s new-American-oak signature. It is matured in large, old vats, so the fruit is not overlaid with obvious new oak.
Young St Henri and young Grange can look strikingly different, yet The Rewards of Patience observes that after roughly 10–15 years they can begin to resemble stablemates: rich fruit, rounded tannin and developed Penfolds complexity reached by different routes.
Find Penfolds St Henri Shiraz on Wine-Searcher
Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz
First made in 1959, Bin 28 offers warm-climate, multi-regional Shiraz in a considerably more accessible Penfolds register. It does not have Grange’s grandeur or longevity, but it is a sensible starting point if you want ripe fruit and the broader house style.
Find Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz on Wine-Searcher
Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz
RWT is not cheap, but it is normally a meaningful step below Grange. It is Barossa Valley Shiraz matured in French rather than American oak, making it a polished alternative rather than an imitation. Choose it if you want serious Penfolds Shiraz with a different regional and oak expression.
Find Penfolds RWT Bin 798 on Wine-Searcher
John Duval Entity or Eligo Shiraz
John Duval was Penfolds Chief Winemaker and custodian of Grange from 1986 until 2002 before establishing his own label. That makes his wines relevant alternatives rather than random additions to a list.
When I first tasted John Duval's eponymous wines nearly 20 years ago, the sales rep wasn't discrete in letting it be known that John sourced his grapes from growers that also supplied grapes for Grange. How true this was or still is, I don't know. But, the wines were amazing and I've continued to enjoy and recommend them over the years.
Entity Shiraz is the more accessible introduction to his Barossa style. Eligo Shiraz is the flagship: more expensive and cellar-worthy, but still usually well below Grange. Neither is intended to copy Grange, yet both let you taste what one of its most important former winemakers chose to make under his own name.
Find John Duval Entity on Wine-Searcher
Find John Duval Eligo on Wine-Searcher
10. How to buy an older bottle of Grange
With mature Grange, you are buying a bottle’s history as well as its vintage. A famous year does not undo decades of poor storage.
Before paying serious money, check:
- Provenance: Where has the bottle been, and how was it stored?
- Fill level: Some ullage is expected as a bottle ages, but an unusually low fill can indicate leakage or oxidation.
- Seepage: Look for sticky residue, staining or signs that wine has escaped around the cork.
- Capsule and cork: Raised, sunken or damaged closures deserve closer attention.
- Heat damage: A pushed cork or dried seepage may suggest exposure to high temperatures.
- Seller: Prefer a reputable merchant or auction house that provides clear photographs, condition reports and storage information.
- Authenticity: Rare and expensive bottles justify additional scrutiny.
Labels matter to collectors, but a scuffed label does not necessarily harm the wine. For drinking, I would rather have an unattractive bottle with an excellent fill level and documented cool storage than a cosmetically perfect bottle with a mysterious past.
Compare recent auction results and retail listings for the same vintage, bottle size and condition. Asking prices are not always selling prices, and a bottle with impeccable provenance can reasonably command more.
11. Where to find a bottle of Penfolds Grange
The easiest way to find a bottle near you is to use Wine-Searcher. Because Grange is collected, traded, cellared, auctioned, gifted and generally fussed over, prices can vary wildly by vintage, condition, location, tax, storage history and whether the seller knows what they have.
Find Penfolds Grange on Wine-Searcher
For drinking rather than collecting, I would rather buy from a reputable merchant with a clear storage history than chase the absolute cheapest bottle on the internet. A well-stored mature Grange can be a wonderful thing. A badly stored bottle can be a very expensive lesson.
Also look for tastings. Sharing a bottle among ten people is considerably less painful than buying one yourself, and a curated vertical can show how Grange changes with vintage and age in a way that one bottle never could.
And if Grange is currently a stretch too far, there is no shame in starting with Bin 389 or one of the alternatives above.
12. Penfolds Grange FAQ
Is Penfolds Grange Shiraz or Cabernet?
Penfolds Grange is predominantly Shiraz. Many vintages include a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, but the exact blend changes from year to year.
Why is Grange called Bin 95?
Early Grange releases carried several different bin numbers. Bin 95 became the standard designation from the 1970 vintage. A bin number originally identified a storage location in the cellar rather than a quality ranking.
Why is Penfolds Grange so expensive?
Grange combines expensive fruit selection and new-oak maturation with a long record of ageing, historical importance, global reputation, collectability and strong demand. You are paying for the wine, but also for the name and its place in Australian wine history.
What is “poor man’s Grange”?
“Poor man’s Grange” or “Baby Grange” usually means Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz. It has genuine links to Max Schubert and the Penfolds house style, and components have traditionally been matured in barrels previously used for Grange and Bin 707. It is not, however, a miniature version of Grange.
What is the best year for Penfolds Grange?
There is no universally agreed best year. Famous vintages include 1955, 1962, 1971, 1976, 1986, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2021. For mature bottles, provenance and condition may matter as much as vintage reputation.
Does Penfolds make Grange every year?
Grange has been made in every vintage since 1951, including the 1957–1959 wines produced secretly after management ordered Schubert to stop. The amount made varies because only parcels that meet the required standard are selected.
How long can Penfolds Grange age?
Strong Grange vintages stored under excellent conditions can develop for several decades, and exceptional bottles can last longer. The realistic lifespan of an individual bottle depends on the vintage, cork and storage history.
Can you drink Penfolds Grange young?
Yes. Young Grange can display impressive fruit, power and structure, but its oak and tannins may still be prominent. Bottle age allows these components to integrate and brings out the mature savoury complexity for which the wine is famous.
What is the difference between Grange and Bin 389?
Grange is a Shiraz-dominant flagship matured in new American oak. Bin 389 is a Cabernet–Shiraz blend traditionally matured partly in barrels previously used for Grange and Bin 707. Bin 389 is much less expensive, but it has its own identity.
What is the difference between Grange and St Henri?
Both are serious Penfolds Shiraz-based wines, but their oak regimes are almost opposites. Grange completes fermentation and matures in new American oak hogsheads; St Henri matures in large, old vats and shows little overt new-oak character.
Where is Penfolds Grange made?
Grange is a South Australian wine, usually blended from selected vineyards across several regions. The sources change by vintage; Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Magill Estate and Coonawarra have all contributed at different times.
How much is an old bottle of Penfolds Grange worth?
Value depends on the vintage, condition, fill level, provenance, bottle size and current market. Check recent auction results and Wine-Searcher listings for the exact vintage, and remember that an asking price is not necessarily a sale price.
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