Penfolds Sets New Auction Record For Australian Wine

A bottle of Penfolds Grange 1951 has just sold for AU$103,555 (£57,576) at auction, setting a new record for the most expensive bottle of Australian wine ever sold. One of less than 20 bottles of the 1951 still in circulation, the extremely rare bottle sold to an unknown buyer from Melbourne at Langton’s 24th Penfolds’ Rewards of Patience auction.

The auction, which closed on the 2nd of July, included some 1092 Penfolds bottles in total. The record-setting wine beat the previous record of $81,555 which was set at the same auction held in December 2019 by another bottle of Grange 1951.

According to Langton’s Head of Auctions Tamara Grischy, this bottle ranks amongst Penfolds’ most sought-after. ‘The early 1950s Grange wines are very rare. Collectors will snap these up to complete their sets of every vintage.’ With such a strong track record there is little doubt that this extremely rare vintage will continue to perform very well at auction on the scarce occasions when bottles do come to the market.

Investors and collectors looking to acquire younger vintages of Grange are eagerly anticipating the winery’s upcoming August 6th release of the Penfolds Collection 2020. “There’s lots to look forward to across this year’s release – both reds and whites,” Penfolds’ chief winemaker Peter Gago told Decanter.

Much of the excitement focuses on the release of Grange 2016 as well as Penfolds’ Bin 389 Cabernet-Shiraz which is frequently nicknamed “Baby Grange” and has been made by the iconic Australian winery for 60 consecutive vintages. “It will consolidate why this style is still one the world’s most cellared wines,” commented Peter Gago on the enduring popularity of Bin 389 and this year’s hotly-anticipated release.

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