The launch of a new vintage of Penfolds Grange is always an occasion. But this year had an added sense of anticipation, since the wine being released was the 75th anniversary bottling.
‘We’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting for the 2022 Grange for some time,’ admitted chief winemaker, Peter Gago at the first global tasting of the 2026 Penfolds Collection, held in London.
‘It comes off 2018 and the terrific 2021 of last year, so there’s a little bit of pressure… But it’s risen to the occasion,’ he added, with typical understatement.
The 2022 vintage
Peter Gago with a Grange flight at the Paris launch of the 2026 Penfolds Collection
(Image credit: Penfolds)
Grange has always been a multi-vineyard, multi-district blend, aged in US oak.
For the 2022 vintage fruit was sourced from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra.
The growing season across South Australia was defined by a cool and measured year, with winter rainfall above average, which supported steady early vine growth.
Unsettled temperatures, wind and hail in spring affected yields for Barossa Shiraz but this was also a year that benefitted from an extended ripening period, producing small berries with a firm tannin structure.
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The resulting 2022 Grange is both full-bodied and full of life; immediately approachable even at this young age (full tasting note and score below).
‘The 2022 Grange assuredly authenticates its flagship role and 75th anniversary credentials. No pressure. Both timely and lucky to avail such a stellar vintage in such a symbolic year,’ noted Gago.
‘I always like the cooler years,’ he added, drawing comparisons with the 1998 vintage. ‘The 2002 is my favourite after 2018, and that was one of the coldest years in the Barossa.’
Commenting on the immediate approachability of the 2022 Grange, he said: ‘I think a lot of people will drink it very early, but it’s going to look great in 50 years.’
2026 Penfolds Collection highlights
New vintages in the 2026 Penfolds Collection
(Image credit: Penfolds)
Aside from Grange, standout reds from this year’s collection are the St Henri 2023, Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2024, Magill Estate Shiraz 2024 and ‘Baby Grange’ Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon 2024.
Top white Yattarna Bin 144 Chardonnay 2024 also impressed. ‘The 2024 Yattarna is defined by purity and composure… A quietly assured release promising remarkable endurance,’ said Kym Schroeter, Penfolds’ white winemaker.
The collection once again includes wines from France, the US and China; testament to both Gago’s global vision for Penfolds and the extensive vineyard holdings of parent company Treasury Wine Estates.
They include Châteaux Cambon La Pelouse, Lanessan, Gironville, Bolaire and Belle-Vue in Bordeaux.
‘No longer a novelty, no fancy wordsmithing – all of these wines are unmistakably Penfolds, sourced from different hemispheres,’ says Gago.
Finally for collectors and investors, the newly updated ninth edition of Rewards of Patience by Andrew Caillard MW has also been published alongside the 2026 collection.
First published in 1995, it’s regarded as the definitive reference guide to Penfolds wines, with the new edition containing updated tasting notes on every vintage of every wine in the Penfolds portfolio, with contributions from some of the world’s leading wine critics.
When and where to buy
(Image credit: Penfolds)
Wines in the 2026 Penfolds Collection were released globally on Thursday 6 August.
The five new release icon wines – Grange, St Henri, Yattarna, Bin 707 and RWT – will also be available via La Place de Bordeaux to customers in the UK and Europe from 8 September.
The following Australian wines from the collection will be available to customers in Australia and other select markets worldwide, but won’t be available in the UK or Europe: Bin 51 Eden Valley Riesling, Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, Magill Estate Shiraz, Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz, Bin 21 Grenache and Bin 23 Pinot Noir.
Wines from the US and China will also be available to customers in Australia and other select markets worldwide, but won’t be available in the UK or Europe: Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon and CWT 521 Cabernet Sauvignon Marselan.
Grange La Chapelle 2022 is already available in Europe and the UK. It is a special release, so not part of the 2026 Collection.
The Penfolds Champagnes are also not part of the new collection.
The Grange legacy
The first experimental bottling of ‘Grange Hermitage’ was made in 1951
(Image credit: Penfolds)
The pinnacle of Penfolds’ multi-vineyard, multi-district blending philosophy, Grange is officially listed as a heritage icon of South Australia and is a sought-after bottle for collectors around the world.
First made as an experimental Shiraz bottling in 1951, it boasts an unbroken line of vintages since then.
From the start Grange was always intended to be an icon that epitomised fine Australian Shiraz.
Its creator Max Schubert (1915-1994), first chief winemaker at Penfolds, had travelled to Bordeaux and Germany in 1950, returning with a resolve to create an Australian red capable of ageing for decades; a wine that could rival Europe’s greatest bottles.
Aiming for consistency and commercial appeal, Schubert sought out fruit of exceptional ripeness – regardless of which vineyard region it was planted in.
This approach led to the multi-regional blend philosophy that Penfolds still embraces today. Ageing in new American oak added the finishing touch to the wine’s revolutionary style.
At the time, Schubert’s bosses and colleagues at Penfolds disapproved of his new wine. They were particularly critical of the high volatile acidity that has since become a hallmark of Grange.
Ordered to stop production, Schubert made subsequent vintages in secret, but an in-house tasting in 1960 proved the wine’s worth. In 1962, the 1955 vintage won honours at the Royal Sydney Wine Show and the same vintage was declared a Decanter Wine Legend decades later in 2017.
2026 Penfolds Collection: tasting notes and scores
NOTE: All white wines were double-decanted before tasting. Red wines were served as you’d open them at home and were not decanted. Tasting notes are written by Julie Sheppard, tasting in London and David Sly, tasting in Adelaide, South Australia.
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