Penfolds
Location	Magill and Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia
Winery Founded	1844
Key people	Christopher Rawson Penfold Max Schubert
Parent company	Foster's Group
Cases/yr	1.4 million [1]
Known for	Penfolds Grange
Varietals	Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Grenache, Riesling
Website: www.penfolds.com.au

Penfolds is an Australian wine producer, founded in 1844 by Dr. Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia and his wife, Mary Penfold. It is one of Australia's oldest wineries and a company brand with an extensive product range.

[edit] History

Christopher Penfold was a believer in the medicinal benefits of wine, and before emigrating to Australia he obtained some vine cuttings from southern France. Arriving in Australia, he set up in practice at Magill on the eastern outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia and planted vines around his stone cottage which he called The Grange after his wife, Mary's, former home. Initially, Penfold produced fortified wines for his patients in the style of sherry and port. As demand for the wines increased the winery was expanded.

Penfolds Magill Estate, South Australia

Mary Penfold assumed the running of the winery after the death of her husband in 1870. After Mary retired in 1884 her daughter Georgina and son-in-law Thomas Hyland took over the day to day running of the winery. The Penfold family continued to operate the business very successfully, and although the company became public in 1962, the Penfold family retained a controlling interest until 1976.

During the 1940s and 1950s the company changed its focus to table wines to accommodate changing tastes. This led to experiments by Penfolds' chief winemaker, Max Schubert, which eventually led to the production of Penfolds' and Australia's most famous wine, Grange Hermitage, later renamed Grange.^[2]

Control of Penfolds passed to Tooth and Co., a brewer based in New South Wales, in 1976, and to the Adelaide Steamship Company in 1982. In 1990, S.A. Brewing purchased Adelaide Steamship's wineries. It then separated into three entities: the brewing assets retained the S.A. Brewing name, the wine assets were named Southcorp wines, and the whitegoods and other manufacturing interests became Southcorp, an Australian conglomerate.^[3] Since 2005, Southcorp wines have become part of the Foster's Group. Penfolds currently operates two wineries; Magill at the base of Adelaide's eastern foothills, and Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley. Despite the fact that the Adelaide area has been deemed a "Super Zone" by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation,^[4] the Magill Estate remains the only winery operating within the city limits of Adelaide.^[5]

[edit] Popular Culture

Penfolds was the longtime sponsor of the now merged St George Dragons Rugby League Football Club from 1971 to 1995. This was one of the longest corporate partnerships in Australian sporting history.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Vineyards

Penfolds operates a number of vineyards in the Adelaide region that produce many different grape varieties.^[6]

• Adelaide
  • Magill Estate (12.94 acres) – shiraz
• Barossa Valley
  • Kalimna (700 acres) - shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, mataro, sangiovese
  • Koonunga Hill (158 acres) – shiraz, cabernet sauvignon
  • Waltons (783 acres) - shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, mataro
  • Stonewell (80 acres) – shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, grenache, semillon, chardonnay
• McLaren Vale - shiraz, grenache, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sauvignon blanc
• Clare Valley – riesling, chardonnay, shiraz
• Coonawarra - cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, chardonnay, riesling
• Other regions: Bordertown District, Padthaway, Robe, Orange

[edit] See also

• South Australian food and drink
• Penfolds Grange

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Penfolds official site