1969 « A very wet growing season followed by a mild, wet vintage. 

1970 «« A dry, mild growing season and vintage.

1971 ««««« A great South Australian vintage; ideal, generally warm conditions throughout the growing season and vintage.

1972 ««« A dry growing season followed by a m ld vintage.

1973 «« A dry growing season followed by a cool vintage.

1974 « Difficult wet vintage and growing season. Downy mildew outbreak just before vintage created new challenges.

1975 «««« Good winter rains were followed by a warm summer with a few hot spells. Cooler weather and intermittent rainfall prior to a dry harvest resulted in a high-quality crop.

1976 ««««« A remarkable year. Perfect growing conditions during spring were followed by a warm/hot summer. Top-up rains in February and a warm dry vintage resulted in wines of immense power and richness.

1977 ««« A very dry growing season with hot spells during summer. Milder weather in March was followed by a cool, dry but late vintage.

1978 «««« A warm, dry season followed by a mild to warm vintage.

1979 ««« An unusually wet and hot, almost sub-tropical, growing season followed by a mild, wet vintage. Nonetheless, a decent vintage.

1980 ««« An ideal growing season with good winter rains and mild conditions over spring, a warm to hot summer and a cool, dry vintage.

1981 ««« A warm to hot drought-affected growing season followed by ideal vintage conditions. A very big tannic vintage. 

1982 ««« A mild growing season followed by a hot vintage.

1983 «««« Dry northerly winds over a tinder-dry landscape led to the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires. These were followed by February rains and March flooding.

1984 «« A cool summer followed by a cool, dry, late vintage.

1985 ««« A cool to mild growing season and vintage, although intermittent rains delayed picking.

1986 ««««« A warm, dry growing season with perfect ripening conditions. A great Penfolds vintage.

1987 «« A cool, even growing season with crop levels moderated by October 1986 hailstorms. The coolest summer since the 1890s.

1988 ««« A warm, high-quality unhurried vintage with  below-average rainfall.

1989 ««« An odd growing season. Generally, quite cool to start with but a burst of very hot weather in February that shrivelled grapes. Heavy rains then set in making it a difficult vintage.

1990 ««««« A dry and even growing season produced shiraz of incredible opulence.

1991 ««««« A warm, dry growing season punctuated by hot weather in late summer produced an early vintage. A brilliant follow up to 1990.

1992 ««« A cool growing season followed by a late vintage, with intermittent rains.

1993 «« A very wet growing season was followed by warm, drier conditions resulting in a very late, mixed quality vintage fruit. An long summer in Coonawarra delivered fully ripened fruit.

1994 «««« A dry, mild, even-ripening vintage in the Barossa; intermittent rains but mild conditions in McLaren Vale and a warm dry autumn in Coonawarra delivered a very high quality vintage.

1995 ««« ««««

A period of drought and September frosts reduced potential yields. Warm dry conditions prevailed until late March/early April when a cooler weather pattern marked by drizzle set in.

1996 ««««« «««

A good soak in autumn and winter (the wettest July at Magill in 10 years) was followed by a generally dry and even growing season. A hot summer was followed by a damp March. A cool vintage.

1997 ««« ««««

Generally dry cool conditions prevailed during October and November. A hot burst of weather arrived during summer but cooler temperatures and a week of rain in February slowed down ripening. A warm dry period followed over vintage.

1998 ««««« ««««

A mild early growing season was followed by very hot, dry weather with virtually all dam water reserves exhausted. An exceptional vintage.

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