Rare bottle of Penfolds Grange wine sells for record price at auction in Australia

A rare bottle of 1951 Penfolds Grange wine sold for $57,763 at an online auction on December 16, setting a new record price for the vintage, Australian media outlets  reported on Monday.

The Penfolds Grange variety is considered the most collectable Australian wine, with the initial 1951 vintage particularly coveted.

With less than 20 bottles in existence, auctioneers said the new record price was not unexpected.

The auction also featured a full set of Grange, from 1951 to 2013, which sold for close to $250,000.

Grange wines owe their status to creator Max Schubert who has toured Europe in 1950, returned to Australia with the aim of implementing techniques he observed in Bordeaux.

Initially Shubert gave the bottles away as gifts to his friends and family, however, it wasn't until the wine aged that its true potential was realized.

The 1955 vintage was submitted to competitions beginning in 1962, going on to win more than 50 gold medals, setting a standard which a number of subsequent year's output would emulate.