Magill Estate offers the chance to celebrate summer

Penfolds Magill Estate - one of Australia's most beautiful wine destinations - is offering a range of new experiences at cellar door.

From a wine lounge on the terrace, to extended opening hours and twilight tours, Summer Series is bringing Magill Estate to life over summer.

The experiences are available between December 1 and December 24 and then from January 4 to February 26, 2023.

The Summer Series also sees Magill Estate's opening hours extended each Thursday and Friday evening.

The offerings include curated tasting flights, wines by the glass and food by Magill Estate Kitchen, as well as a twilight ‘Ultimate Penfolds Experience’.

Guests can explore the vineyard and discover the underground cellars on a private journey through the heart of the original winery. The tour concludes with a tasting of wines including the flagship Grange.

Thursdays and Fridays, 5pm to 6:30pm, $150 per person. 

For details and bookings see www.penfolds.com/en-au/events/summer-series.html 

Grange has a 70th birthday party with serious style

Magill Estate, where the 2020 Penfolds Grange sits maturing in barrels, was the venue for a memorable 70th birthday party for Australia's most iconic red wine. 

The first Penfolds Grange Hermitage, created by Max Schubert, was made in 1951. 

Chief winemaker Peter Gago and his team celebrated the milestone in style with a few friends last night. 

It was, as you'd expect, a memorable occasion with guests given Salon Le Mesnil 1996 Blanc de Blancs to start and tastes of no fewer than six previous vintages of Grange (1965, 1976, 1986, 1990, 2004, 2010), served alongside some magnificent food. 

Here's a few images I took (apologies if any are out of focus).

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Why I'm sworn to silence about the new Penfolds wines

Chief winemaker Peter Gago and the Penfolds winemaking team today unveiled the new 2017 Penfolds Grange, along with the rest of the 2021 Australia Collection. 

A small group of lucky media (minus the Victorians) was shown all the new releases - along with two brand new wines - at the superb new Kingsford Homestead facility on the edge of the Barossa Valley. 

We sniffed and sipped, made notes and interrogated Gago. But I can't reveal a word about any of the new releases. 

With more tastings to be held globally, there is a media embargo imposed until July 22 - and the wines will not be released until August 5. 

So what can I tell you? 

The team let slip that there might be some news on pricing that will please consumers. 

All the wines will be released in Australia with a screw cap option. Except Grange, which remains under cork. 

I can also say that one of the cheapest wines in the range is absolutely stunning. But I can't say any more. 

Just stay tuned.