A Melbourne buyer has just purchased a 1951 Penfolds Bin 1 Grange for over $103,000, the highest price ever paid for a single bottle of Australian wine, beating the previous record of $81,000.
The record comes just two days after 246 bottles of Domaine de la Romanée Conti (DRC) – widely considered the world’s greatest wine – from James Halliday’s cellar were sold, making it the largest successful sale of this ethereal wine from Burgundy in one parcel.
“The demand for fine wine is stronger than ever judging by these two flagship auctions, as fine wine collectors look to enhance their cellar collections,” said Langton’s general manager Jeremy Parham.
In total, 1092 bottles of Penfolds were sold during the Langton’s Penfolds: Rewards of Patience Auction.
“The early 1950s Penfolds Grange wines are very rare, so collectors will snap these up when they can in order to complete their sets of every vintage of these incredible wines,” said Langton’s Head of Auctions Tamara Grischy.
“The 1951 Penfolds Grange truly represents the beginning of modern Australian wine.”
In December, a set of Penfolds Grange from 1951 to 2015 was sold for over $372,000 by Langton’s.
Overall, the demand for fine wine has increased since pandemic restrictions took place in late March, with an almost 50 percent increase in the number of online bidders and a sharp increase in the number of customers purchasing fine wines from Langton’s website.
“With many of us still unable to visit our favourite restaurants or travel to cellar doors, new and existing clients have instead immersed themselves in the world of fine wine from the comfort of their homes,” Parham said.
“I think we love Penfolds because it’s such an Australian story, it’s the underdog story defined. Max Schubert was Penfolds’ first chief winemaker, who started making Grange as an experiment. At the time, Australian winemakers were mainly making fortified wines.
“He believed in his conviction, and he kept making Grange, although he was actually told to stop making it by his supervisors. He was a rebel, and the wine world can forever be grateful for his refusal to do what he was told.”
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