The Buyer | Celebrating 75 years of Grange with Penfolds 2026 Collection

With apologies to Michael Jackson but “I’m a writer, not a taster.” But given the chance to be one of the first three people “in the world” to taste the new global release of the 2026 Penfolds collection it was an opportunity too good to refuse.

Not that I knew, mind you, I would be one of only three people to be invited to taste the new iconic Granges and Penfolds’ Bins, when I arrived one sunny June morning at the private residence of the Australian High Commissioner in London, to do so. Where else is Australia’s most famous wine export going to host its global launch of the Penfolds Collection 2026?

If I had known it would only by myself, the Aussie winemaking phenomenon that is Peter Gago, Matthew Jukes, arguably the UK and if not the world’s leading Australian wine critic, and Decanter’s highly experienced and respected Julie Sheppard, I might have passed the invite on to a more sophisticated taster than yours truly.

Particularly as this is a tasting that feels more like sitting an exam than informally going through a selection of wines with the winemaker. It’s the most formal informal way of doing things. Gago prefers to let the wines do (most) of the talking for him. Which for a born raconteur takes some doing.

It’s one of the rare times doing a professional wine tasting when you - well at least I did - want the winemaker to talk…a lot.

Gago, though, prefers to add gentle notes and comments to complement what is in the glass, which is very much in keeping with how these wines are made. Subtle and sublime.

This was also not my first Penfolds Collection rodeo - as it were. It’s just in the past there has been a very long table full of professional tasters to hide behind - and you can always ask your neighbour the stupid questions like “what makes a Bin a Bin?”

Penfolds’ stripes

That said I have earned my Penfolds stripes. One of the first wines I used to drink on a regular basis back in my misspent youth was Penfolds Rawson’s Retreat. Totally unaware it was simply the first rung on a ladder that you could climb all the way up to the giddy heights of Grange and co.

It’s probably why whenever I meet Gago on the international trade show circuit I am more interested in talking to him about how the business is run and why the brand is behaving in the way it is, rather than spend all our time together tasting the wines he makes. He does not need me to tell him he is doing a good job as a winemaker.

Perhaps he likes the fact I am happy to challenge him on why Penfolds is doing what it is doing and not just sit back and glorify in his wines.

Which is probably why I ended up at the Australian High Commissioner’s house…

The Penfolds Collection highlights

The first thing to say is the Penfolds Collection is now very much living up to its name as it now includes all the prestigious Australian wines on which the solid foundations of the global Penfolds brand are built, but it also includes the wines it now makes around the world. Including its collaborations in California, France and China.

The California Collection of wines includes the release of four wines from the 2023 vintage: Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon; Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon; Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz; and the single-vineyard Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

It also includes from France the FWT (‘French Winemaking Trial’) 585 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Petit Verdot and from China the CWT (‘Chinese Winemaking Trial’) 521.

Gago says of Penfolds’ growing international portfolio: “No longer a novelty, no fancy wordsmithing - all of these wines are unmistakably Penfolds, sourced from a different hemisphere. Their drinking windows are still ‘evolving’. Trials impatiently wait to become Bins. Word is spreading. Ditto, credibility.”

In terms of the overall Collection Gago says “things evolve year by year” and the “book of wines” gets bigger every year. Particularly now it has such an international reach.

If he had to summarise where the overall Collection of wines are now, Gago says: “They are much more refined across the board. The quality of oak and the oak selection is such an important part of that.”

In fact, he admits, there is now “an obsession with oak” with the business and what impact and influence it can have on the tannin and structure of the wine and the extraction of fruit.

He says a lot of the changes to the wines might only be “tweaks of 1%,” but they all make a difference. That’s how the wines evolve, he stresses.

“But they all have that Penfolds stamp and are of the Penfolds house style,” he adds.

Matthew Jukes’ first reaction on the day was to say: “You can see into the wines earlier and with a bit more clarity than before.” Before adding: “In the past you would have to wait quite a long time to see what was going to happen.”

Gago is also quick to highlight and celebrate the team of winemakers that are ultimately responsible for working the wines and putting the blends together.

A team that now includes: Steph Dutton, senior winemaker; Kym Shroeter, white winemaker; Andrew Baldwin, red winemaker; winemakers, Andrew Hales, Shavaughn Wells, Shauna Bastow, Tom Shanahan, Henry Slattery; and James Godfrey, global fortified and spirit winemaker.

A team that is embedded in the multi-region and multi-varietal blending way that Penfolds works which means they are working together to blend the wines rather than be dictated by one particular style or palate.

All of which is in keeping with creating wines that fit into the Penfolds DNA that Gago says is about “selecting and blending quality grapes irrespective of block, vineyard, region, state or country – we always go where the fruit grows best and where it best suits style”.

75th Grange anniversary

The 2026 Collection marks the 75th anniversary of Grange - of which Gago has played a part in 37 vintages, 24 as chief winemaker.

This year sees the release of 2022 Grange a wine that Gago says “completely captures the Grange proposition” and has been made on the back of a “stellar” 2022 harvest and “turbocharged” by including 85% Barossa Valley Shiraz and complemented by fruit from McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. The overall blend is 97% Shiraz and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon.

What you might call a “lily pond” wine as it just sits nestled on the tongue quietly developing as you sip. Like a boxing glove made out of cotton wool - at least that is what I put down as my tasting note.

Gago is understandably excited about where this wine can go and although it is still very “youthful” it already feels as though it is close to the 1998 Grange.

He says: “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.”

“A lot of people will drink this now, but it will be even greater in 30, 40 or 50 years,” he adds.

“But then no vintage is the same,” he stresses, with the cooler years in particular standing out for their “elegance” - like the 2022 Grange. “Things evolve year by year.”

The key for a classic Grange wine, though, adds Gago, is a wine that has fully absorbed the oak from the barrel. “If it has not done that , it is not Grange.”

From the 2004 harvest come Bin 707, Bin 169 and RWT which Gago says collectively illustrate the diversity of styles, varieties and vineyards to be found across its wines.

Strong Collection

Of the Penfolds white wines there are again strong vintages across the board including 2026 Bin 51 Eden Valley Riesling, 2025 Bin 311 Chardonnay, 2025 Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay and 2024 Yattarna - which Gago says probably needs 10 years to come fully to the fore.

Of which Gago’s advice is to “select according to budget and occasion”.

He is happy to stress that its Chardonannys, in particular, are “not made to drink early or late”. “It’s about the style and quality and if they take a bit longer then they take a bit longer,” he adds.

With so many wines in the Collection Gago is hard pushed to pick out any particular favourites but admits he has already bought an allocation of 2024 Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon which he dubs “baby Grange” and is made using some of the barrels that held the previous vintage of Grange.

A wine first made in 1960 by Max Schubert that arguably put Penfolds on the global fine wine map. The 2024 vintage is a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Shiraz.

He also has his eye on 2024 Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz that comes from ancient, red clay and sandy loam soils from this specific sub-region of the Barossa Valley and aged in a mix of French and American oak barrels. A wine built to “age gracefully over the next 20 years,” says Gago.

Penfolds is also introducing an updated bottle design for its 750ml wines from the 2024 vintage.

It features “a modernised embossed ‘P’ monogram and refreshed “Penfolds Est. 1844” typography. Penfolds Collection gift boxes will also move over to the updated designs featuring the ‘P’ monogram. The updated bottle will be introduced as part of the Collection 2026 release and will be phased in over a three-year period.

Alongside the 2026 Penfolds Collection comes the ninth edition of Rewards of Patience - the definitive reference guide to Penfolds wines. First published in 1995, the book includes updated tasting notes, including those submitted by some of the world’s leading wine critics, of every vintage of every wine in the Penfolds portfolio.

The final word on the 2026 goes to Gago: “Nothing stands still, yet through thick and thin, and across the years, these Collection wines stand tall. A plethora of styles, each retaining their own Penfolds ID, their role, their place. Convincingly.”

Proving once again that Gago is as good with words as he is with grapes and vines.

Release dates:

The wines in Penfolds top tier range from the new Collection will be available to trade customers through negociants within the La Place de Bordeaux network from September 8. These wines include: