[2][3] Christopher and Mary Penfold arrived in Australia from Angmering, West Sussex, UK, at the respective ages of 33 and 24,[4][1] in June 1844.

[4] Following their arrival, they were supported by family members in the attainment of the 500 acres (200 ha) Magill (originally "Mackgill") Estate at the foot of the Mount Lofty Ranges.

As part of the cultivation of the land surrounding the cottage that the couple built (named "The Grange"), French grape vine cuttings that had been brought from England were planted.

As the demand for Christopher's medical services increased, Mary was required to devote more time to the operation of the winery, and her tasks included the cultivation of the vines and grape blending.

According to one historical account, by the time of Christopher's death the business had "grown to over 60 acres with several different grape varieties including grenache, verdelho, mataro (mourvedre), frontignac and pedro ximenez", and the estate was "producing both sweet and dry red and white table wines with a growing market in the eastern Australian colonies of Victoria and New South Wales.

the Penfolds' son-in-law, Thomas Francis Hyland, was unaware of Mary's fundamental role at the winery, and he urged his mother-in-law to sell the business as preparation for her retirement.

Mary retired in 1884, aged 68; at that time the winery owned about a third of all of South Australia's wine stores, and had presented at a colonial exhibition in London.

[citation needed] In 1903, Penfolds was the largest winery in the Adelaide region, with a production total of 450,000 litres (120,000 US gal) of wine.

This new direction led to experiments by Penfolds' chief winemaker, Max Schubert, who backed by the chair of the board visited Europe following the end of World War II to learn about sherry production;[6] however, it was the time spent by Schubert in Bordeaux that eventually led to the production of Penfolds' and Australia's most famous wine, "Grange Hermitage", later renamed "Grange".

[8] In 1976, control of Penfolds was acquired by Tooth and Co., a brewer based in New South Wales, which in 1982 became part of the Adelaide Steamship Company Group.

[8] In 1977, Penfolds began what was to be an almost twenty-year association with Sydney-based rugby league team, the St George Dragons as the club's primary sponsor.