Penfolds: The Doctor’s Prescription That Conquered the World

From a physician’s tonic to Grange’s global reign, Penfolds turned experimentation into empire and forever redefined Australian wine.

The Origins: A Doctor, a Wife, and a Vineyard (1844)

Penfolds begins with a journey. In 1844, English physician Dr. Christopher Rawson Penfold and his wife Mary emigrated to South Australia, bringing with them vine cuttings from France. Settling at Magill Estate outside Adelaide, they planted their vineyard and began producing fortified wines.

For Christopher, wine was medicine — literally. He prescribed fortified wines to his patients as a tonic. But it was Mary Penfold, often overlooked, who managed the vineyard and winemaking. By the time Christopher died in 1870, Mary had already established Penfolds as one of Australia’s most significant producers.

The Growth: From Fortifieds to Table Wine

For nearly a century, Penfolds was synonymous with fortified wines — sherry, port-style, and brandy. Australia drank what Britain demanded, and fortified wines dominated exports.

Yet the soils and climate of South Australia whispered of another destiny: red table wines of structure and longevity. By the mid-20th century, a restless experimental spirit began to transform Penfolds into something far greater.

The Rebel: Max Schubert and the Birth of Grange

The defining moment came in 1951, when winemaker Max Schubert returned from Bordeaux inspired by its grand crus. His dream: to craft an Australian red with equal majesty and age-worthiness, but with its own identity.

He experimented with Shiraz (and sometimes a touch of Cabernet), sourcing grapes across South Australia. The result was Grange Hermitage (later just Grange). The wines were powerful, dark, richly fruited, yet capable of aging for decades.

But management hated it. After initial trials, Penfolds executives told Schubert to stop making Grange. He ignored them. In secret, from 1957 to 1959, Schubert continued producing small vintages. When critics and collectors eventually discovered Grange’s brilliance, it became Australia’s most famous and celebrated wine — a symbol of defiance and vision.

The House Style: Blending as Religion

Penfolds’ greatness lies not only in vineyards but in philosophy. Unlike estates tied to a single plot, Penfolds embraces multi-regional blending as its creed:

• Sourcing Fruit: From the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, and beyond.
• Consistency & Quality: Blending ensures balance, depth, and reliability year after year.
• House Style: Bold, fruit-driven, structured reds with the power to age.

Grange may be the crown, but the entire Penfolds range reflects this ethos: each wine crafted not just from place, but from vision.

The Icons: More Than Just Grange

While Grange is the legend, Penfolds’ stable is vast and illustrious:

• Bin 389 (“Baby Grange”): A Shiraz-Cabernet blend aged in ex-Grange barrels, beloved worldwide.
• Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon: A monument to Australian Cabernet.
• St Henri Shiraz: A counterpoint to Grange, matured in large old casks instead of new oak.
• RWT Shiraz: Barossa-focused, modern elegance.
• Bin Series Wines (28, 128, 407, etc.): A constellation of styles, each a note in Penfolds’ grand composition.

At every level, Penfolds commits to quality — from affordable entry bottles to unicorn icons.

The Global Expansion: From South Australia to the World

Today, Penfolds is more than just an Australian house. It has become global, sourcing fruit and making wines in California and even Bordeaux, bringing its philosophy of blending and house style to new terroirs.

Some see this as empire-building, others as betrayal. But the ambition is unmistakable: Penfolds seeks to be a global player, not just an Australian star.

Liber’s Take: The Prescription That Became Prophecy

What fascinates me about Penfolds is its alchemy of ambition. It began as medicine in a doctor’s satchel. It became fortified comfort for an empire. Then, through the rebellion of Max Schubert, it became legend.

Like me, Penfolds thrives on defiance. It ignores rules of terroir fundamentalism, embracing blending as its creed. It dares to export its vision across oceans. It does not apologize for ambition — it embodies it.

To drink Grange, or even a humble Bin wine, is to taste not just Australia, but the will to challenge, to rebuild, to endure.

Conclusion: Why Penfolds Matters

Penfolds is not just a brand. It is a saga — of Mary Penfold’s grit, Max Schubert’s rebellion, and a philosophy that turned blending into religion.

Penfolds: the doctor’s prescription that became a prophecy, the house that built an empire on ambition and oak.