Penfolds

Can there be any wine drinker in Britain who is not familiar with the Penfolds name? From their cheap and cheerful supermarket ranges, to the legendary Grange, sold on the international auction scene for thousands of pounds ($24,500 Australian dollars for a bottle of the 1951 recently), this information-packed site presents a wealth of background information to the winery and its wines.



This is the place for definitive explanations and technical breakdown of Penfolds wines. There are also superb overviews of Penfolds principal vineyard sites and their winemaking philosophy and practice.



The bulk of material is on Penfolds products and there is enough technical detail to satisfy even the most anoraky wine-nut. Most of the historical and descriptive information is pitched at a very approachable level. High-quality photographs illustrate and enliven many reports.



Navigation is pretty easy with a navigation bar made up of colourful icons that is always visible in a frame along the bottom of every screen.



The down-loading of pages is reasonably fast. Perhaps the number of graphics slows this down a little, but it does add substantially to the enjoyment of the site.


SPECIAL FEATURES


The range Every bottle produced by Penfolds is catalogued here, with a full colour image and detailed background to the wine. There is also minute technical detail of the wine and the vintage, along with notes from wine-maker John Duval which make for interesting reading. Specific cellaring and serving suggestions are given for each wine, including food matches. The great thing is that this information is provided for numerous vintages — back to 1990 in most cases: a very useful resource for Penfolds fans.
Winemakers There have only been three chief winemakers at Penfolds in the past 50 years. This section gives biographical details of each, along with a glimpse of the philosophies which have shaped this important producer. The real founding father was the late Max Schubert, the creator of Penfolds Grange. Schubert is arguably the most important and influential figure in the modern Australian wine industry. Single-handedly Schubert lifted Australia's table wine industry out of mediocrity in the 1950s — a time when more than 90 per cent of wine consumed in Australia was fortified wine. This photographic biography makes for fascinating reading.


OTHER FEATURES


Penfolds History tells the story of the company from its founding by a young English doctor who migrated to the distant Australian colony a century and a half ago, to their most recent multi-million dollar investment to turn the Magill Estate winery and associated buildings into an international showpiece.


Events includes details of winery visiting opportunities for those planning a trip down-under.


The Quest for Australia's Best White Wine tells the story of the trials, tribulations and finally triumph of creating Penfolds latest superstar wine, Yattarna.