Magill Estate Shiraz is Penfolds’ only single-vineyard wine. It is of great symbolic importance because it is the only wine grown and made on the remaining 5 hectares of the original Penfolds property at Magill, in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs. First made in 1983, Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz is an elegant, medium-weight style with velvety texture and fine tannins, matured in both new French and American oak. It is a sleek, contemporary wine, yet crafted in the oldfashioned way in the over 120-year-old winery: hand-picked, vinified in open fermenters and then basket pressed. Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz has been packaged in laser-etched bottles since the 1997 vintage.

Magill Estate Vineyard, Adelaide

Uncharacteristic cool weather and spring rains retarded vine development. This was exacerbated by high temperatures in January followed by rains in February and early March. The season finished warm and dry, however, enabling a trouble-free final ripening, with 1999 fruit showing excellent varietal character and a highly approachable nature.

Grape variety Shiraz (Syrah)

Maturation 14 months in new French (80%) and new American (20%) oak.