First-ever Grange expected to break its own record at auction

The Penfolds Rewards of Patience Auction will feature a bottle of the very first vintage of Penfolds’ flagship wine: the Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1951. Image courtesy Langtons

The largest dedicated auction of Penfolds has returned for 2025, launching on the Langtons website on Tuesday, June 17th at 9pm and set to close on Sunday June 29th at 9pm.

The Penfolds Rewards of Patience Auction will be open to bids on the largest collection of rare, collector wines from the Australian winery including special, early vintages from the 1950s and large-format bottles.

Notably, the auction will feature a bottle of the very first vintage of Penfolds’ flagship wine the Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1951, released as Bin 1, which is expected to fetch more than its current price record (and that of the country’s most expensive wine) of over $150,000 (including buyer’s premium). The auction will also feature one of the world’s few full Bin Grange Sets from 1951 to 2018, which was last seen up for bidding at the 2022 Penfolds Rewards of Patience Auction going for a record-price of $430,000.

The Penfolds Rewards of Patience auction has been hosted by Langtons since 1996, with the auction’s name a nod to the book Penfolds: The Rewards of Patience by Master of Wine Andrew Caillard.

The last Penfolds Rewards of Patience Auction was held in 2024 to celebrate the 180th anniversary of the winery and saw over 2,000 bottles sold including a Bin 4 Grange Hermitage for an impressive $35,400, g3 Shiraz for $10,300 and Bin 65 Grange Shiraz for $6,478.

*Michael Anderson, head of auctions and wine consignment at Langtons. Photo: Rift Photography*

“As the auction market begins to warm to an interest rate cut, it’s the wines of Penfolds, the most represented wine in the Langtons Classification, that savvy wine enthusiasts and investors are reaching for,” said Michael Anderson, head of auctions and wine consignment at Langtons.

“This may be one the last chances to bid on a complete set of Penfolds Grange. These unicorn pieces become rarer each year as bottles fail, wines are consumed and verticals are split.”

Other highlights in the Penfolds Rewards of Patience Auction include a g-series set of the g3, g4 and g5 bottles and early vintages of the renowned Penfolds Grange from 1955 and 1961.

Headlining wines from the Penfolds Rewards of Patience Auction are as follows: