Penny's Hill Estate

At A Glance

Founded in 1988 by Tony and Susie Parkinson in McLaren Vale, South Australia.
Based at Ingleburne Homestead, a property built in 1855, at 281 Main Road.
Vineyard anchors include Yeenunga’s Shiraz and Grenache, planted in 1971, and 76-year-old bush-vine Grenache at Springs in Blewitt Springs.
Randall Wine Group acquired Penny’s Hill in mid-2022; Warren Randall is its executive chairman and proprietor.
Start with The Black Chook Grenache 2024 for fresh red fruit, spice, tannin and a savoury finish.

The Producer

Penny’s Hill Estate brings McLaren Vale Grenache and Shiraz to an 1855 homestead at 281 Main Road. Tony and Susie Parkinson founded the estate in 1988, and the present business sits within Randall Wine Group, which bought Penny’s Hill in mid-2022. The useful thread is not a single grand estate claim but the meeting of named vineyard ground and bottles that make Grenache’s fruit, spice and tannin tangible.

Place

McLaren Vale is Penny’s Hill’s home, while its vineyard names narrow the focus further. Yeenunga supplies Shiraz and Grenache from a planting begun in 1971; Springs, in Blewitt Springs, holds old bush-vine Grenache. That distinction puts more than a regional name on the label: Yeenunga and Springs identify the ground and vine material behind different expressions of the estate’s red grapes.

Soil And Site

Yeenunga covers 21.2 hectares, where old Shiraz and Grenache vines grow through shallow topsoils over weathered siltstone and sandstone. Springs offers a clear counterpoint: two hectares of 76-year-old bush-vine Grenache rooted in deep sandy soils. The contrast matters when Grenache is discussed by vineyard, because one site is defined by shallow stony layers and the other by deep sand, rather than by a generic McLaren Vale description.

Story

Penny’s Hill began as a vineyard in 1988. In 1996, Tony Parkinson acquired Ingleburne, the historic homestead built in 1855, and developed a tasting room and restaurant on the property. The vineyard project therefore acquired a physical home where bottles, food and visitors could meet. After the 2022 sale to Randall Wine Group, the estate retained that McLaren Vale address, its named sites and its Grenache-led bottle story.

Vineyards And Cellar

The cellar detail is clearest in The Black Chook Grenache 2024. Part of the Grenache was fermented with whole bunches and part in open vessels, then the wine spent nine months divided between stainless steel and older French oak. Whole bunches and open vessels sit behind its red-fruit and spice profile; stainless steel and older barrels keep the oak in a supporting role, leaving freshness, body, tannin and a savoury finish in view.

Wines

Penny’s Hill’s supported range outline begins with site material and becomes more focused in named Grenache bottles. Yeenunga provides Grenache alongside Shiraz from shallow soils over siltstone and sandstone, while Springs contributes bush-vine Grenache from deep sand. The 2023 Single Vineyard Grenache carries the single-vineyard idea into bottle form; it won Best Wine of Show at the 2024 McLaren Vale Wine Show.

The Black Chook Grenache 2024 takes a different role: it is a Grenache whose winemaking details and drinking character are clearly documented. Fresh red fruit and spice lead, while the palate has body and tannin rather than merely sweet fruit. Its savoury finish makes it a practical counterweight to the wine’s brightness.

In The Glass

The Black Chook Grenache 2024 opens on fresh red fruit with spice alongside it. On the palate, freshness carries the fruit into a medium-bodied shape with present tannin; the result is not heavy, but it has enough grip to stop the wine feeling loose. The whole-bunch and open-vessel work fits the spicy, lifted character, while its ageing in stainless steel and older French oak leaves a savoury finish rather than an overtly oaky one.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose The Black Chook Grenache 2024 first. It is a McLaren Vale Grenache made with partial whole-bunch fermentation and open vessels, then aged for nine months in stainless steel and older French oak. Expect fresh red fruit, spice, medium body, tannin and a dry, savoury finish. It comes first because it makes the estate’s Grenache focus concrete without requiring an assumed hierarchy between its vineyard names or cuvées.

Anecdote

At the 2024 McLaren Vale Wine Show, Alexia Roberts became the ninth woman in the event’s 51-year history to make the Best Wine of Show. Her winning wine was Penny’s Hill 2023 Single Vineyard Grenache. The result was followed by another Best Wine of Show award for the same wine at the 2024 James Halliday Grenache Challenge. The bottle’s name keeps the event tied to a particular Grenache and vineyard idea rather than to Penny’s Hill in general: it was the 2023 Single Vineyard Grenache that took the show’s top wine award.

Final Word

Penny’s Hill is easiest to approach through Grenache: old bush vines at Springs, Grenache and Shiraz at Yeenunga, and a Black Chook bottling where red fruit, spice, tannin and savoury length are all plainly in the glass.

At A Glance

The Producer

Place

Soil And Site

Story

Vineyards And Cellar

Wines

In The Glass

A Bottle To Understand It

Anecdote

Final Word

Sources

Where to go next