Full set of Grange breaks world record at Adelaide auction

People in Adelaide love their Penfolds - a mystery ‘family man’ has bought a complete Penfolds Grange set for a world record price of $294,320.

Similarly, back in August an Adelaide couple bought a rare Penfolds Grange set for a previous world record cost of $260,300.

With the bid only starting at $200,000, the anonymous Adelaide man outbid four others at du Plessis Auctions at Mile End – over the phone - to eagerly take home the set from Sunday’s auction.

The rare set comprises 63 bottles, one bottle from every year since the first Grange vintage in 1951 to the most recent vintage of 2013, released this year.

Auctioneer Marc du Plessis assures consumers that the historical set goes to the Penfolds clinic in South Australia before the auction to ensure the wines are of perfect quality. The standard assessment includes a removal of the cork, a small taste test, a top up with the current vintages and eventually a re-corking and resealing of each bottle.

"The legend of Australia’s most revered wine is one of invention, passion, risk and determination." Source: Instagram @penfolds.

Du Plessis added that the set contains several bottles from rare bins, which pushed up its value as well as a bottle from 1986 signed by winemaker Max Schubert.

“There is always a lot of interest in something like this because they simply don’t come up that often — there are not a lot of full sets around,” du Plessis told The Advertiser. “The buyer certainly now is a serious wine collector.”

When asked ‘who would buy a $300,000 set of wines and not drink them?’ du Plessis responded: “basically it would be for pure investment.

“If you look in the late 90’s, complete sets were just under $100,000. So when it comes to investment wise, they’re a pretty good, stable investment.

“And people like a tangible investment. A tangible asset which they can look at feel, hold and appreciate, not just letting someone else handle their investment,” du Plessis told Sunrise.

Indeed it is a valuable investment, with a single bottle of the 1951 reportedly selling for $65,000 in 2016, and over $50,000 in 2004. 

The very first Penfolds Grange was created by Max Schubert in 1951 at Magill Estate. Source: Instagram @penfolds.