Penfolds was established in 1844 by a young English doctor, Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold. He built a cottage in Magill, on the outskirts of Adelaide with his wife Mary, and it was around this site that vine cuttings from the South of France were planted. Peter Gago joined Penfolds in 1989, and in 2002, he became Chief Winemaker. He leads an incredibly talented and experienced winemaking team who follow the traditions established by Penfolds previous owners.

Penfolds house style wines embrace the idea of multi-regional blending, optimum fruit quality, the use of fine-grained American and French oak and most often, barrel fermentation and maturation. Penfolds has played a big part in the evolution of winemaking in Australia - and across the world. Their biggest viticultural regions include Adelaide, the Barossa Valley, the Clare Valley, Coonawarra, Limestone Coast, and McLaren Vale. In total, grapes are sourced from more than 220 vineyards across Australia and only the best are chosen.

Champagne is a wine region to the north-east of Paris where wine has been grown since the Romans first planted in the 5th century and the region is most well known for the sparkling wine that goes by the regions name.

Champagne is made from 3 grapes. The two red grapes Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and the white grape Chardonnay. All three are commonly blended though a ‘blanc de blanc’ meaning ‘white from white’ indicates that only Chardonnay was used. Conversely a ‘blanc de noir’ or ‘white from black’ indicates that the two red grapes were used.
A common misconception is that Champagne was invented by Dom Pérignon. Although this is not the case, he made considerable contributions to the quality and production methods used in the region. The very first bottles of Champagne were created by accident, and coined ‘the devil’s wine’ for all the popping corks. Sparkling wine in Australia was referred to as Champagne but this practise has long been disallowed.

Methode Champenoise is the traditional method by which Champagne is produced and if you see Millisime on a bottle, it represents the fact that the wine comes from a particular vintage rather than being blended, which is the more common practice.

Icons such as Dom Pérignon and Kristal are world reknowned, but we find as much pleasure in the smaller Champagne houses such as Gosset and Jacquinot. Magnums are perfect for the festive occasions and half bottles are also available.