Kalimna Vineyard Rehabilitation

Penfolds’ Kalimna Vineyard, heart and soul of many of the famous brands on which its name has been created, such as several of the Special Bin reds see next issue, Bin 707, St Henri, Bin 389 and Bin 28 and not to mention Grange itself, is subject to a comprehensive rehabilitation programme.

Around one in five old shiraz vines at Kalimna have died from natural defects associated with vine ageing. Determined to protect these old vines and improve the quality of their fruit, Southcorp’s Central Region Vineyards Manager, Martin Pfeiffer, says the company ‘wants to see them grow to be 100 years old’.

Pfeiffer says that over the last decade it has become clear that old vines can become over-stressed, which can impact negatively on their health and wine quality. ‘Yet all that is needed to solve the problem is small amounts of supplementary water at the right time’, he says.

Each of the dead or dying shiraz vines will be removed and replaced with a young vine, each of which will be hand-harvested to ensure their fruit remains separate from the older vines. Penfolds are also retrellising sections of the old vineyard where original trellises are in disrepair.

Many will be unaware that in 1903 the Kalimna Vineyard was the largest in South Australia, with 130 ha under vine. Managed from 1898 to 1918 by William Salter, whose family founded the Saltram winery at Angaston, its reputation was built on the quality of its dry red wine made at Saltram, much of which was sold to Britain. Penfolds acquired the vineyard in 1945.

Today 137 ha of the Kalimna property’s 291 ha are planted to vines, of which around 30 are shiraz vines at least 50 years of age. 30 are younger shiraz, 30 is cabernet sauvignon, while the remainder is divided between mourvedre, sangiovese and petit verdot. 60 ha are relatively recent plantings now approaching maturity.

New Bottling Facilities for Nuriootpa and Karadoc

Southcorp is investing $35 million to upgrade bottling at Nuriootpa Barossa Valley and Karadoc Mildura by an additional 86. New and upgraded bottling lines and expanded warehousing will not only increase capacity, but help Southcorp package wines into six-bottle packs more efficiently for premium wine buyers.

Windfall for Coldstream Hills

Southcorp has wasted little time in determining Coldstream Hills’ fate under its ownership by announcing a $700,000 expansion to double processing facilities in time for the 1997 vintage.

Record Prices at Penfolds Auction

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.

Southcorp in World Wine

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