Vineyards

Kalimna

In 1945 Penfolds purchased the highly significant Kalimna Vineyard, originally planted to vines by George Swan Fowler about 1888. Previously the land was used as a source of firewood by D and J Fowler Ltd, the family fruit preserving company. George Fowler named the vineyard Kalimna, which means 'pleasant view' in the local Aboriginal language.The vineyard lies on gently undulating slopes with elevations as high as 340m. Located at the northern end of the Barossa Valley, about 4km north of Nuriootpa, the Kalimna Vineyard represents an important chapter of Australia's wine heritage.

In 1903 the Kalimna Vineyard covered 132 hectares (317 acres). Some of the unproductive land was sold off during the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s, at the height of Australia's red wine boom, all the white varieties were removed.Today the 290 hectare property (700 acres) comprises 153 hectares (378 acres) under vine, mostly planted to Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Many of the vines are over 50 years of age, illustrating the extraordinary provenance of this vineyard.A classic First Growth vineyard in Bordeaux, for instance, would be lucky to claim an average age of over 40 years.

The Kalimna Vineyard is planted on rich brown soils and alluvial sands. The soil profiles, however, vary widely across the vineyard from deep and sandy soils on the ridges to sandy loams on the slopes and heavy, red-brown clay soils on the flats. The vines are planted in blocks. Trellising systems vary according to when each block was established or redeveloped.Varieties are carefully matched to soil profiles to achieve optimum performance.Yields are generally between 1 and 4 tonnes per hectare (0.4-1.6 tons/acre). This is low to extremely low by wine growing standards.

Block 42, planted around 1888, stands out as a very special piece of viticultural dirt. These vines, producing remarkably vibrant, beautifully balanced fruit, are thought to be the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon in the world. Over the last sixty years Block 42 (also known as the Golf Course block) has played an important role in the development of the Penfolds reds. It contributed to the red table wine trials of the late 1940s and early 1950s Grange experiments, in particular the rare 1948 Kalimna Cabernet and 1953 Penfolds Grange Cabernet.

Although the vineyard provides unusually high quality fruit in most vintages, limited yields meant that Block 42 could not be relied upon as a core source of fruit for Max Schubert's Grange experiments.The development and continued success of Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, however, is in some part due to the contribution of Block 42. To highlight the exceptional provenance of this vineyard within a vineyard, Penfolds released a Special Bin 1996 Block 42, a wine with impressive concentration, balance and finesse.

The Kalimna Vineyard provides core fruit for Grange, RWT, St. Henri and Bin 28. It also provides an essential element to many of Penfolds Special Bin wines, illustrated by the renowned Penfolds Bin 60A, often cited by critics as one of the finest Australian wines ever made.

While it is romantic to think of old vines as the determinant of quality, the Kalimna Vineyard's age is only one of several contributing factors to its unique status. The focus of vineyard management is to achieve well-balanced fruit.This goes beyond the shape and age of the vine. Penfolds' viticulturalists are constantly seeking ways of improving vine performance through vine selection and replanting, refinement of trellising system and shoot positioning, optimising soil moistures as well as reducing pest and disease pressure.

Koonunga Hill

Named after a nearby landmark, the Koonunga Hill Vineyard is located on the drier northern edge of the Barossa Valley. Originally 32 hectares (79 acres) of grazing land, it was planted with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon in 1973. The vineyard inspired the name, Penfolds Koonunga Hill, which was originally released as an entry point to the Penfolds portfolio of wines.This low yielding vineyard on flat, well drained soils has become a consistent producer of Grange and Bin 707 quality fruit. Aged over 30 years, the vines are in their prime and also produce core premium fruit for Penfolds St. Henri, Bin 389 and Bin 28.

The vineyard is trellised to allow mechanical pruning and harvesting. In keeping with modern 'precision' viticulture techniques, 'capacitance probes' are situated throughout the vineyard to measure soil moistures. If a particular block of vines is stressed, controlled drip irrigation can be delivered to the exact location to relieve the stressed vines, while leaving the remainder of the vineyard dry. In 1996 an adjacent property of equal size was purchased and planted to Shiraz.These relatively young vines are now quickly reaching an ultra-premium level of maturity and potential quality, illustrating how optimised vineyard management plays a vital role in delivering high quality fruit at vintage time.

Waltons

The worldwide interest in Barossa Valley wine has intensified over the past decade, creating a scarcity of valuable premium grapes in the valley. Independent growers provide Penfolds with a vital element of supply, but Penfolds recognises that it must also improve and develop its own vineyards. The 317 hectare (783 acre) Waltons property, located on classic Barossa Valley heartland soils, is an important recent development. Over 130 hectares (321 acres) have already been planted, mostly to Shiraz, Cabernet and Mataro.This is a contemporary vineyard - planned, planted and managed with extreme precision.

The entire vineyard has been mapped and monitored to optimise vine performance and fruit quality. One of the main issues is the use of water, a scarce resource. Although many vineyards are dry grown in the Barossa, the use of supplementary irrigation is an important insurance against drought and vine stress. Technology has allowed better water management in recent years. The capacitance probes placed throughout the vineyard are able to monitor soil moistures, which vary according to the depth and structure of the soil. If needed, water can be directed to the areas of the vineyard which need replenishing without wasting this valuable resource.

Penfolds has great hopes for this vineyard. The oldest Shiraz vines, planted in 1999, are already producing impressively concentrated and flavoursome Shiraz with some of the best parcels strong contenders for inclusion in Bin 28. Such an achievement bodes well for future supply of super-premium quality fruit for the very best Penfolds wines.

Stonewell

Established in the 1970s, the Stonewell Road Vineyard was purchased in the mid 1990s and is now producing quintessential Barossa Valley Shiraz with some of the crop also being used for Penfolds RWT and Penfolds St. Henri.

As well as being an enormously significant source of Penfolds fruit, the Barossa Valley is home to many of the company's key growers - independent vineyard owners whose longstanding relationship with Penfolds is pivotal to the consistency of quality grapes delivered to the winery each vintage.