Penfolds

Winery in South Australia

Penfolds is an Australian wine producer that was founded in Adelaide in 1844 by Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia, and his wife Mary Penfold. It is one of Australia's oldest wineries, and is currently part of Treasury Wine Estates. The chief winemaker since 2002 has been Peter Gago.

Initially, the Penfolds produced fortified wines in the style of sherry and port for Christopher's patients. As demand for the wines increased, the winery was expanded and was officially established in 1844. In addition to sherry and port, the Penfolds discovered that clarets and rieslings were both easy to produce and popular. As the demand for Christopher's medical services increased, Mary was required to devote more time to the operation of the winery, and her tasks included the cultivation of the vines and grape blending. The Penfold family retained a controlling interest until 1976.

In 1903, Penfolds was the largest winery in the Adelaide region, with a production total of of wine. Between 1904 and 1912, more vineyards in McLaren Vale and New South Wales were purchased. During the 1940s and 1950s, the company changed its focus and commenced the production of table wines to accommodate changing tastes. This new direction led to experiments by Penfolds' chief winemaker, Max Schubert, who backed by the chair of the board visited Europe following the end of World War II to learn about sherry production;

In 1976, control of Penfolds was acquired by Tooth and Co., a brewer based in New South Wales, which in 1982 became part of the Adelaide Steamship Company Group. In 1990, SA Brewing purchased Adelaide Steamship's wineries. Subsequently, SA Brewing was divided into three separate entities: the brewing assets retained the S. A. Brewing name, the wine assets were named Southcorp Wines, and the 'white goods' and other manufacturing interests became Southcorp, an Australian conglomerate. It was also in 1976 that Schubert stood down from the position of Penfolds Chief Winemaker, a role that was passed onto Don Ditter. Since then, Penfolds operates two wineries: Magill Estate, at the base of Adelaide's eastern foothills, and Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley. In June 2012 Penfolds released a limited edition run of the "2004 Block 42" wine that was only sold in glass ampoules. The wine was labelled by the Huffington Post publication as "the most expensive wine directly sold from a winery in the world", as the winery sought US$168,000 for each of the ampoules. The glass ampoules were designed and hand blown by Australian glass artist Nick Mount.

First used in 1923, the Penfolds logo is one of Australia's most recognised trademarks. Eight Penfolds wines were named by the Langtons auction house in its 2012 list of the top 20 most desired brands.

In 2013 Penfolds was awarded "New World Winery of the Year" by American wine industry publication, Wine Enthusiast Magazine. In 2016, Penfolds was named the Most Admired Wine Brand by Drinks International. Penfolds Grange was classified as a First Growth in Liv ev's 2017 recreation of the Bordeaux 1855 classification. The only Australian winery to receive a perfect score from both Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate for the same vintage (Grange 2008).

In 2012, Penfolds listed as a partner of the (RED) campaign, together with Nike, Girl, American Express and Converse. The campaign's mission is to prevent the transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child by 2015. The campaign's byline is "Fighting For An AIDS Free Generation".

His father John Penfold was vicar at Steyning, UK after having paid a deposit for of land in Magill to the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission before departure. Wattle Park Kindergarten, at Wattle Park, was formerly named Christopher Rawson Penfold Kindergarten.

Wife of Christopher Penfold. Became fundamental in the development of the winery after the demands upon Christopher's medical practice increased. Assumed responsibility of the winery following Christopher's death.

Son in law who married the Penfolds' daughter Georgina. Continued to run the wine business with Georgina after Mary's retirement.

Granddaughter who was sent to live with her grandmother Mary Penfold. Assumed responsibility of the business with her siblings after it was passed on to them by Georgina and Thomas.