Penny’s Hill Yeenunga Single Vineyard McLaren Vale Grenache 2023 won a Best in Show medal at the 21st Decanter World Wine Awards.
Not bad for a debut release!
The $100 wine is part of a new collection of wines sourced from Penny’s Hill vineyards.
The awards are recognised as the world’s largest and most influential wine competition with 18,143 wines judged from 57 countries.
The 50 Best in Show medals represent just 0.28 percent of wines tasted.
Australia won eight of them – second only to France with twelve.
The 51-year-old bushvine Yeenunga Grenache is planted in a horseshoe contour at an elevation of 170 metres and the site offers panoramic views of McLaren Vale and Gulf St Vincent.
The fruit was sourced from rows 15, 16 and 17 of the vineyard and only 1,223 bottles were made.
“Due to the cooler 2023 conditions, and increased disease pressure later in the season, I carefully selected these rows based on fruit quality and flavour,” says Penny’s Hill chief winemaker and general manager, Alexia Roberts.
“The bunches in these particular rows were more open and the fruit was in pristine condition.
“This was an opportunity for me to produce an icon wine to add to the Penny’s Hill collection, so quality was of prime importance.
“The Yeenunga vineyard is a renowned vineyard in McLaren Vale, so we knew we had something special from the start.”
Randall Wine Group bought Penny’s Hill in 2022; later that year, they bought the Yeenunga vineyard.
“2023 was our debut vintage,” Alexia says.
“I was super excited to gain access to such an iconic single vineyard site in McLaren Vale.”
Alexia says the Yeenunga vineyard is one of the best single vineyard sites in McLaren Vale known for “the absolute purity of fruit”.
“We’re thrilled with the timing of this recognition as Penny’s Hill enters a new chapter,” she says, “adding new wines to the collection and featuring contemporary packaging highlighting the iconic Penny’s Hill red spot.”
Warren Randall says, “I have admired the consistent excellence of the Penny’s Hill range of wines for over 30 years, but every now and again Penny’s Hill and McLaren Vale stun the world of wine.”
Penny’s Hill Edwards Road Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 was awarded a gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards.
The estate is located on the historic Ingleburne homestead property dating back to 1855.
Randall says Penny’s Hill is destined to be a global tourist attraction with a $4 million development of the ‘tourism village’ launching in 2025.
The Randall Wine Group also owns Seppeltsfield and Gemtree.