Discover the Penfolds Californian range. This is an endeavour more than twenty years in the making, when Penfolds winemakers first imported heritage vine cuttings from esteemed South Australian vineyards and planted them in California soil.
Over twenty years ago, we started exploring the bountiful soils of California, with an ambition to create a range of wines unbound by country, vine or time. Today, our current winemaking team pick up where previous generations left off, to unveil four new Californian wines that extol an otherworldiness.
Our California journey started decades ago in the Camatta Hills vineyard, Paso Robles. In the 1980’s, we initiated an ambitious viticultural program in Australia called ‘Heritage Selections’. From our most prized vineyards, winemakers sought to identify single vineyards, blocks and vines that produced the best quality fruit. Cuttings from these exceptional Heritage Selections were then propagated and eventually sent across the world to California. During 1998 - 1999, a selection of Magill Estate and Kalimna vines were planted at Block 30 of the newly purchased Camatta Hills Estate in Pasa Robles.
Over the years, Penfolds winemakers have worked on the ground in California, from the recently retired Senior Winemaker Steve Lienert (39-year tenure at Penfolds), who participated in California harvests two decades ago, to current Chief Winemaker Peter Gago, Senior Winemaker Steph Dutton and Winemaker Andrew Baldwin. Experimental Penfolds Camatta Hills vintages occurred in 2006 and 2007, however these bottles were never commercially released. Today, a total of 90.8 acres of the vineyard is planted equally with Kalimna and Magill Estate vines.
Over the last three years, we have sourced grapes from the best of our Californian vineyards to complement our House Style and deliver exceptional and distinctive quality wine. Our winemakers spent time meticulously selecting fruit from Californian vineyards, including Napa Valley AVAs: Oakville, Diamond Mountain District, Howell Mountain and Rutherford. Grapes were also sourced from Camatta Hills, from the original vine cuttings. Our inaugural California Collection wines are made in the Napa Valley, wine Penfolds winemakers on the ground, in the cellars and in vineyards.
There is Californian sun above and soil beneath, but everything in between is Penfolds.
Peter Gago, Chief Winemaker
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