The revolutionary work of Max Schubert and his winemaking team during the 1950s and 1960s established Penfolds as a dominant force in Australia’s post-war fine wine aspirations. While the competitive ambitions behind St Henri and Grange lie at the centre of Penfolds mythology, the work surrounding winemaking and product development were also linked to the expansion of vineyards beyond the Adelaide environs and the increasing demand for table wine around Australia. Chief winemaker Max Schubert was initially doubtful of Coonawarra as a source of suitable fruit. But a change in outlook – orchestrated by Jeffrey Penfold-Hyland and vigneron Bill Redman – was followed by the acquisition of prime terra rossa vineyard in 1960. It also kickstarted a new round of experimental winemaking and blending trials with some examples being shown at wine shows to generate feedback.
1962 Penfolds Bin 60A Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, Kalimna Shiraz – never commercially released – is the most famous of the era winning a swag of show medals and being deemed as one of the greatest wines of the 20th Century. Its fabled reputation, along with the success of other experimental wines and releases during the 1960s, captured the imagination of the consumer and led to a rush in new vineyard development on the cigar-shaped strip of weathered limestone soil. During the 1970s and 1980s, Coonawarra enjoyed a boom for its medium bodied claret styles, based primarily on cabernet sauvignon. Multiple success in wine shows and media forums led to British wine critic Hugh Johnson proclaiming the region as the Médoc of the Southern Hemisphere.
The revolutionary work of Max Schubert and his winemaking team during the 1950s and 1960s established Penfolds as a dominant force in Australia’s post-war fine wine aspirations.
Yet behind the scenes a few decades earlier, Max Schubert had been grappling with how to successfully employ its newly acquired Coonawarra vineyards. During the early 1960s, plantings in the region was heavily skewed to shiraz, although some rare blocks or rows of cabernet sauvignon were still in production. The Redman family possessed a five-acre plot of cabernet vines but the yields were impossibly low at less that ½ ton/ acre. During the early 1960s, the grapes from the newly acquired Sharam block were initially vinified at Redman before being sent up to Penfolds by rail in hogsheads. With ambitions to make a high-quality claret style since returning from his historic visit to Bordeaux in 1950, Max Schubert ultimately fell back to using fully ripe warm climate shiraz as his base grape resource for Grange, even though he made experimental Grange Cabernet in 1952 and 1953.
Max Schubert’s work in blending Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon with Shiraz reaped dividends with wine show plaudits for the superb 1962 Bin 60A and its ‘off blend 1962 Bin 60 (a Kalimna Shiraz Coonawarra Cabernet). It is largely forgotten nowadays, but the cabernet sauvignon components for both wines would have been sourced and vinified at Redman’s before their transfer to Penfolds at Magill. According to ex Penfolds senior winemaker John Bird the freshly harvested Shiraz grapes from the Kalimna Vineyard, however were delivered to Magill directly by truck and vinified to Max Schubert’s methods in open-fermenters.
During blending trials, it was typical to use shiraz ‘drainings’ from Nuriootpa to bolster up the wine. This highly concentrated ‘beautiful stuff’ was used sparingly during blending to achieve optimum richness and texture. But it helped to achieve a consistency in style. In addition, exposure to air through racking and returns etc during winemaking and maturation made the red wines at Penfolds extremely robust and age worthy. During the 1960s Max Schubert found that the fruit profiles of cool-climate Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon and warm climate Barossa Shiraz – combined with the knowledge gained from the development of Grange – would lead to an all-round and balanced wine. It also led to significant new plantings of cabernet sauvignon in Coonawarra. Although 1964 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon was based on the 1888-planted Block 42 vineyard in the Barossa Valley, sourcing soon switched to Coonawarra and later other parts of Southeast South Australia.
While the development of Grange and experimental winemaking of the 1950s and 1960s was something of a starting point, the pursuit of ‘something meaningful and different’ has been an underlying theme for many years. Current Penfolds Chief Winemaker Peter Gago AC and his team have maintained this tradition with the release of several special bottlings with historic connections to the early days of Penfolds winemaking, yet steeped in modern day practices.
The Penfolds Superblend 802A and Superblend 802B series (2022 and 2018 vintage releases) are an homage to the aspirations, discoveries and triumphs associated with experimental winemaking, the Grange and Bin 707 story and the development of a distinct Penfolds House Style. Asides from Coonawarra and the Barossa, other regional parcels contribute to the blends including McLaren Vale, Padthaway and Robe. Regional provenance and oak maturation also highlight the strict unprejudiced classification and selection processes within the Penfolds universe.
The 2022 Penfolds Superblend 802A and 2022 Superblend 802B wines are presented in the same way as Grange – highlighting their positioning at the upper end of the Penfolds hierarchy. But when stripped bare of their luxury packaging and artful presentation, the wines are a testament to rigorous selection and detailed winemaking. While some may baulk at the high-end prices, I am mindful that these wines would comfortably sit alongside some of the great claret styles of the world; some of which are much pricier and less impressive. On the other hand the Penfolds Superblends need to build a reputation that resonates their heritage and positioning. The 2022 Penfolds Superblends are very much collector’s pieces and will ultimately circulate in rarified forums. But Australian wine overall benefits greatly from the reflected glory of special bottlings of this calibre.
What follows is less a review than a record: the structure, the place, and the intentions that sit behind the glass, set down so they can be returned to later.
2022 Penfolds Superblend 802A Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, South Australia
Deep crimson. Intense pure blackcurrant, mulberry, praline aromas with lifted roasted almond, malt notes. Inky deep and generous with ample cassis dark chocolate flavours, pronounced vanilla marzipan malty nuances, fine grainy/cedary tannins, lovely mid palate volume/ richness and underlying mineral acidity. Finishes claret firm and a touch oaky with persistent dark berry fruits. Expressive, sturdy and powerful but the elements are yet to completely fold. Very much possessing the harmonic structure of Grange while showing a slight leafy cabernet edge; which lengthens the palate at the finish. 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Shiraz Barossa Valley (34%), McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, Robe, Clare Valley. 22 months’ batch maturation in new American oak hogsheads followed by blending before bottling. Keep for a while. Drink 2028 – 2045 96 points
But Australian wine overall benefits greatly from the reflected glory of special bottlings of this calibre.
2022 Penfolds Superblend 802B Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, South Australia
Deep crimson. Fresh cassis, blackberry, chinotto, touch graphite aromas with attractive mocha, roasted chestnut, hint sage/ mint notes. Richly concentrated, plush and velvety with generous pure ripe blackcurrant, blackberry, dark chocolate flavours, well-integrated/ underlying vanilla roasted chestnut notes and smooth grainy/ satin textures. Builds up gravelly firm at the finish with hints of bush garrigue. Very well balanced and classic in structure with lovely volume, gentle vigour and flow. This will unfold and develop for many years. 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Shiraz Barossa Valley (48%), Coonawarra, Padthaway, McLaren Vale. Blending of components prior to 19 months’ maturation in 54% new and 46% one-year-old French oak. Best to keep for a while. Drink 2030 – 2048 97 points
