‘The basic method adopted opened up a whole new concept of quality dry red production, in that fermentation was strictly controlled over a much more lengthy period than hitherto, maximum extraction was obtained by daily handling and maceration of juice and grape solids. When this had been achieved the partially fermented wine was separated from the skins and the fermentation was then completed in the (five untreated) new hogsheads where the wine remained until the time of bottling some 18 months later. The objective was to produce a big, full-bodied wine containing maximum extraction of all the components in the grape material used.’ Penfolds Chief Winemaker Max Schubert on 1952 Grange After Max Schubert returned to Adelaide, Penfold’s assistant general manager, Jeffrey Penfold Hyland, offered his commiserations and suggested that the project be continued in secret: with a distance of 1400 kilometres between Sydney and Adelaide, the senior management at Head Office would be none the wiser. With the help of his winemaking team, all experimental Grange was stashed out of sight in the underground cellars at Magill, and the Grange experiment continued, and the tradition of secrecy expected of every Penfolds employee was taken to a new level. From 1957 to 1959, the hidden Granges were made without the knowledge of the Penfolds Board; Max Schubert continued to source fruit and conduct his experiments in relative secrecy. But there were compromises made, because buying new oak would have attracted notice from the bean counters in Sydney. to make a great wine that Australians would be proud of were now officially shelved. The experimental Grange vintages, already bottled and binned, would be sold off to clubs as house wine, and any remaining stock would be blended into oblivion.
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The Vintage Journal – Verticals
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