Australia's most expensive bottle of wine up for auction

Bidding is now open on what is expected to become Australia's most expensive bottle of wine if and when it sells at the online Langton’s Rewards of Patience auction this month.

Rare as it is for being a 1951 Penfolds Grange (first vintage of Grange), the bottle is made even rarer having been signed and re-corked by hand by Chief Winemaker and creator of Penfolds Grange Max Schubert. Expectations are that it will sell for $120,000, breaking the last year's record of $103,000

The Grange Hermitage Bin 1 Shiraz 1951 is signed by Max Schubert, was hand re-corked in August 1988 at Penfolds Magill Estate winery by him, then wax dipped and finished with a Penfolds stamp. 

“This bottle is one of a kind in the world, and I’ve never seen anything like it in my more than 20 years in fine wine. We expect it to go under the hammer for around $120,000, if it sells,” said Langton’s Head of Auctions, Tamara Grischy. 

“The provenance of this bottle is exceptional; it has been stored since purchase inside the Sydney-based collector’s luxurious temperature controlled cellar,” she said. 

The previous world record for the highest price ever paid for a bottle of Australian wine is held by a Melbourne buyer who purchased a Penfolds Grange Hermitage Bin 1 Shiraz 1951 for $103,000 in the Langton’s Rewards of Patience auction in July 2020.

It is estimated that there are around 35 bottles of the first vintage of Penfolds Grange in existence. This includes approximately 15 bottles that are part of complete sets of Penfolds Grange, which include all vintages of Penfolds Grange from 1951 to present day.

“A Penfolds Grange set is a wine collector’s ultimate dream, and that is why the Penfolds Grange from the 1950s, and the 1951 vintage in particular, are so coveted,” Ms Grischy said.

The Penfolds Grange Hermitage Bin 1 Shiraz 1951 is the first vintage ever made of Australia’s most famous wine. Max Schubert only made three or four barrels of it, and he gave away most bottles to his friends.

Re-corking is the process of taking an older wine whose cork has deteriorated over time, removing that cork, assessing that the wine is still in good condition and then topping the bottle up and re-corking the bottle with a new cork to ensure that the wine lasts long in the future. Since 1991, the re-corking process is done in Penfolds Clinics. 

There are more than 3300 bottles of Penfolds being auctioned in the Langton’s Rewards of Patience, with a total value of more than $2 million and prices starting from $20. Other highlights include several Penfolds Grange bottles from the 1950s, including Grange Hermitage Bin 4 Shiraz 1952 (half bottle), Grange Hermitage Bin 9 Shiraz 1953, Grange Hermitage Bin 12 Shiraz 1954 and Grange Hermitage Bin 14 Shiraz 1955.

“The story of Penfolds is as Australian as it gets - it’s the story of an underdog and dogged determination. Max Schubert kept making Grange in secret after he had been told to stop making it by his supervisors. He was a rebel and had a vision, and the wine world can forever be grateful for his refusal to do what he was told,” said Langton’s General Manager, Jeremy Parham. 

Bids in the Langton’s Rewards of Patience auction closes on Sunday, 18 July 18 at 7.00pm.