Penfolds Magill Estate has been able to toast success as an urban vineyard for 172 years, writes Sulyn Chong
IT’S a cloudy and chilly morning in the centre of Adelaide’s commercial and business district. My phone, cold to the touch, is showing the temperature — a mere 12 degrees Celsius with a chance of rain. It is early spring yet feels more like late winter and I’m glad for the hot cup of coffee that I hold in my hand. Happily, I clamber into the bus and into the warmth. Locating a seat, I prepare for the journey ahead, anticipating a relaxing ride and enjoying the view of rolling hills as we make our way to the famed Penfolds Magill Estate Vineyard. But within 30 minutes, a time that’s not even enough to allow me to unfreeze my digits, the bus comes to a stop and the call to step out is heard.
As the bus rolls away, a serene view of budding grapevines stops me in my tracks. Planted in neat short rows on the slopping Adelaide Hills, it’s the kind of sight that you’ll never get in Malaysia. The sliver of sun ray peeking out from behind the clouds seems to cast a spotlight on the scene. Cottages and single story bungalows dot the perimeters lending the landscape a homely feel. Imagine opening your windows to this beautiful sight every day or sitting in your backyard with a pot of hot tea while you breathe in the fragrant fruity air.
In the middle of the grapevines and blending beautifully into the vineyard is a little white stone cottage called The Grange. It’s this very cottage that Dr Christopher Rawson and Mary Penfold, two English migrants who arrived in Adelaide in 1844, eight years after it was founded as South Australia’s capital, established the Penfolds medical surgery and winery. So 172 years on, this sprawling 12 acres of land is home to the Shiraz grape that make up the award-winning Grange collection, which has brought Penfolds worldwide recognition for its signature style, consistency and longevity.
WINE KEEPERS
It seems that although Dr Rawson has been recorded as the founder of Penfolds, it was actually his entrepreneurial wife Mary who predominantly managed the vineyard, made the wine and established the wine business. Historically, she was one of Australia’s first and most successful business women, and could be said to be the first “winemaker” under the Penfolds house, despite not being officially recognised as so.
The Register, originally the South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, wrote that: “Mrs Penfold makes but four varieties of wine, namely, sweet and dry red, and sweet and dry white. The work is done under Mrs Penfold’s personal direction, not in conformity to any fixed or definite rule but according to her judgement and taste.”
It was also during her tenure as the head of Penfolds that the brand really grew. Its wines were exported overseas to countries such as New Zealand and even India. By the time Mary retired in 1884, the company was responsible for a third of the state’s wine production.
However, in 1951, with Max Schubert at the helm, then a young and inquisitive winemaker who started off as a messenger boy at Penfolds, the extraordinary Penfolds Grange was developed and later began the commercialisation of dry red table wines. His legacy continues to live on to this day under three subsequent custodians through the years. The present custodian is Peter Gago, Penfolds’ fourth chief winemaker, and a man whose knowledge of winemaking is unsurmountable and whose cheekiness and quick wit are simply delightful.
“As we’ve often said in Penfolds, the number one objective of what we do is to put the wine first and that’s what we do,” Gago declares with steadfast determination. He proudly confides that Penfolds’ success is due to the incredible kinship of each employee in the company. “Touchy feely as it may sound, here at Penfolds, we want all workers working in the estate to feel as if they own Penfolds. We want them to feel as if they’re part owners of the brand. Imagine how powerful it’ll be if everyone felt that way,” he says.
MODERN ERA
Sitting in his cosy little cellar-like office, Gago divulges his desires of the perfect grape harvest: “In a perfect world, we would like the 12 style every year (referring to the Grange 2012 released in October as the 62nd consecutive vintage that leads The Penfolds Collection 2016).” It’s stylistically akin to the 1963 Grange with a contemporary “2012” personality. “So when you have a year like 12 which enables us to do that, we jump at it. But, we don’t get that perfection,” he opines.
“That’s why, at the end of the day, it’s all about balance. We’re trying to give the wine poise and a bit of sheen. It’ll have the ability to age long term, but without the aggression,” he explains while dispelling the myth that “wines, which are accessible to youths probably won’t go the distance”. “It’s what we aim for. Not pigments but the finesse,” he whispers like it’s a well-kept secret.
This Newcastle-born winemaker joined the company back in 1989. “My passion (for wine) came on insidiously. It was a gradual immersion rather than an epiphany. It wasn’t a magic wand and it wasn’t one wine, it was 2,000 — cumulatively,” Gago confides, before continuing: “It started off as an interest and it sort of grew into a collection. The collection grew into a hobby and the hobby grew into a course on basic scientific winemaking.” Feigning surprise, he exclaims: “Then I looked around one day and I was finishing off a degree (a Bachelor of Applied Science in oenology)!”
Cheekily, he adds: “I can make it sound romantic by saying I had this bottle of 78 La Tache and it changed my life forever! But that didn’t happen. I’m a bit of a pragmatist that way. But if anyone wants to give me a 78 La Tache, I’d drink it.”
His journey in Penfolds started with his craftsmanship of sparkling wines, before graduating to reds where he entered the role of Penfolds Red Wine Oneologist. It was only in 2002 that he succeeded John Duval as Penfolds Chief Winemaker. Throughout the 2000s, Penfolds won a multitude of awards and in 2005, Gago earned the coveted title of “Winemaker of the Year” from the US Wine Enthusiast magazine.
BOTTLE FOR EVERYONE
“It’s the journey, not the destination,” Gago asserts of the beauty of having a bottle of wine. “Why do we work?” he questions before adding: “It’s an unnatural pursuit but we work so we can enjoy other things. We work hard so that we can reward ourselves with a nice meal or a nice bottle of wine. Not saying you have to go to the bank manager to buy the world’s most expensive — like the Grange. But why not a Bin 389 or a Bin 407? These are wines where you can go on a journey with the bottle.”
That’s essentially what Penfolds is: a winery that makes beautiful bottles of wine suitable for everyone. “Wine used to be an elitist thing, but it shouldn’t be,” says Gago. “It should be inclusive. Now we’ve got so many tools. Keep it moving, keep it different. And part of what we have to do in this world is to change with time. You’ve to adapt, you’ve to evolve — you can’t just stand still.”
What then is the necessary attributes of a Penfolds winemaker? “A lot of luck and a lot of money to bribe people!” Gago replies, chuckling, before swiftly adding: “Tenacity, resilience, good work ethics, and on top of that, you need a good palate, the whole experiential thing and learning. But above all else, you need to communicate.”
Before we end our conversation, Gago jokingly admits that he’d be glad to concoct a wine that acts as a truth serum for a certain politician in America. Now that might be an interesting one!