Led by a record $17,600 for a 750 ml bottle of 1951 Grange, Langton’s Fine Wine Auctions’ exclusive sale for back vintages of Penfolds wines sold 422 lots at its first Adelaide sale for $385,000. Highlights included a set of 32 vintages of Grange from 1952 to 1983 displayed in three oak cases for $46,200 and a set of Grange magnums, whose prices far outweigh those of single bottles, from 1979 to 1991 for $15,400. Some of the experimental wines from what some refer to as the ‘White Grange’ project, including the Reserve Bin Chardonnays and Semillons from 1992, 1994 and 1995 fetched $45-65 per bottle. I have great respect for the 1994 Reserve Bin Chardonnay, which I have marked at 18.7. Prices for some of the cheaper Penfolds red brands such as Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz, Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz and Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz are beginning to firm, especially for the classic vintages of 1986, 1990 and 1991. Bin 60A, one of the greatest of all Australian red wines, made in 1962 from Coonawarra Cabernet and Barossa Valley Shiraz, sold for $550 per bottle, while 1986 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon has broken through the $100 barrier.
