Penfolds

Grange La Chapelle 2021

The release of 2021 Grange La Chapelle, a blend of Penfolds Grange Shiraz and Hermitage La Chapelle, will raise worldwide interest among wine collectors and fine wine observers. Mooted as ‘sans précédent’, the wine promises to create conversations and intrigue. But it will not be the first time that wine lovers have imagined these two famous wines as a blend. At the end of comparative tastings in years past, it was sometimes irresistible to see what a table-blend of Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle (as it was known until recently) and Penfolds Grange Shiraz would look like, but the results were always transient and inexact!

When I initially heard about project ‘crochet’ last year, it brought back memories of times past and a feeling that history had come the full circle. The historical and romantic links between the Rhone Valley’s Hill of Hermitage and Australian Shiraz are profound. Many of South Australia’s oldest surviving vineyards are based on genetic vinestock material first brought into New South Wales in 1832. And Hermitage La Chapelle and Grange epitomise the modern syrah/ shiraz aesthetic.

When I tasted 2021 Grange La Chapelle for the first time late last year, I was captivated and fascinated. The wine is beautifully assembled (in South Australia) with the richness and volume of Grange offset by the aromatic complexity and purity of La Chapelle. With its blackberry pastille, raspberry fruits, roasted chestnut, brambly notes and fragrant white pepper nuances, the bouquet is beguilingly animated and everchanging reflecting a near-perfect balance of ripeness and cool-climate vibrancy. The saturated and lithe palate is refined and polished with pure blackberry, dark chocolate, touch peppery fruits, underlying roasted chestnut marzipan, nutmeg nuances and loose knit slinky tannins. It finishes chalky/ peppery with attractive dark/ red berry fruits and hints of aniseed. The blend works brilliantly well offering something different and evocative. Although it is a beautiful wine to drink now, it behoves further cellaring but there is an element of unchartered waters. Will the two components remain synchronised? In the end that’s a part of the magic of aging wine.  (Drink now – 2050+, 14% alc, 98 points)

The 2021 Grange La Chapelle or 2021 La Chapelle Grange is a 50%/50% blend of 2021 Hermitage La Chapelle, sourced from lieu-dits (vineyard plots) surrounding the Hill of Hermitage (Rhone Valley France) and 2021 Penfolds Grange Shiraz, a multi-vineyard South Australian blend based on mature to ancient 19th Century-planted vines in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley. Typically Grange is matured in 100% new American oak hogsheads, while Hermitage La Chapelle is aged in 20% new French oak barriques and amphora. Each component seems to bring out the best of its blending companion. While Grange gives volume, generosity and warmth, La Chapelle brings lift, purity and spring.  Neither component dominates resulting in a wonderful expression of syrah/ shiraz. The recommended release price for this rare cuvée is $3,500 AUD or €2,600 Euro per bottle.

Grange La Chapelle represents the essence of ambition and modernity. And historically Penfolds Grange Shiraz and Hermitage La Chapelle share fascinating connections. This essay brings the strands together. Grange La Chapelle is a wonderful expression of savoir faire, inventiveness and imagination.

The interlinking histories of La Chapelle and Grange

In early December 1831 James Busby, an ambitious colonial administrator from the colony of New South Wales, arrived in the Rhone Valley with the purpose of observing vineyard practices and collecting grape vine cuttings for aspiring colonial vignerons. A few months earlier he had disembarked at Cadiz to begin his fateful tour of Spain and France. Over the following four months he amassed upwards of nearly 600 grape vines directly from privately-owned vineyards, the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris and the Botanic Gardens at Montpellier. In addition, he collected 44 vine cuttings from the Duke of Northumberland’s grape vine nursery at Sion House, ten miles west of London. The Busby importation, which arrived at Sydney Cove in January 1832, would form the foundation of Australia’s fine wine industry and foreshadow the enterprising ambitions of the Penfolds family some 12 years later in 1844. Although Busby did not bring in the first shiraz (described as red hermitage) vines to New South Wales, nothing is really known of the 1830 importation by Alexander Riley or its exact provenance.

After arriving at Tain L’Hermitage, on the left bank of the south-flowing Rhone River, James Busby presented his letters of introduction to Mssrs Richard et Fils, a firm of negociants and bankers at Tournon (on the opposite bank) which could be accessed by a pedestrian suspension bridge, built in 1824. Mssrs Richard et Fils also possessed sizeable holdings of vineyards on the lesser slopes of the Hill of Hermitage and surrounds. In addition, it owned the largest press in France. According to one observer ‘by one charge of it the proprietors can obtain forty casks of wine of about 50 gallons each.’  This company was also engaged in supplying the bulk of its wines to negociants in Bordeaux. It was typical for the wines to be around 4-5 years old before casks were exported.

Blending the richly flavoured and densely concentrated red wines of Hermitage with Bordeaux’s grand cru château wines was a common practice during this time. In Cyrus Redding’s ‘A History and Description of Modern Wines (1833), he mentions that ‘it is styled by the French, the richest coloured in their great variety of wines’. This also translates to richly flavoured wine with substantial tannins requiring cask-aging to allow the wines to settle and develop. No wonder Hermitage was shipped in vast quantities to bolster up many of the highest quality estate clarets of the time. For instance, 1795 Ch Lafite, which comprised Hermitage in its blend, was ‘the best liked wine of any of that year.’ Nonetheless the best white and red wines from the Hill of Hermitage were also greatly prized for their individual qualities. For instance the Hermitage wines based on Marsanne and Roussanne were considered by wine merchants as ‘the finest all white wines’ with a keeping quality of over 100 years. And Hermitage, based on syrah, rivalled the best wines of Pauillac and St Julien in Bordeaux; with the added irony that many of these estates blended a large proportion of ‘the finest red wine of hermitage’ into their wines. Throughout the 19th Century the practice of ‘hermitaging’ or ‘hermitagé’ was widely admired and encouraged to improve the quality of Bordeaux Claret. Customers were happy to pay a premium for these deeply coloured, richly flavoured and tannic wines. James Busby wrote in his travelogue ‘the greatest part of the finest growth is sent to Bordeaux to mix with the first growths of Claret’.  A Tour through the Finest Vineyards of Spain and France (1833) was published in Sydney but was also syndicated into other English-speaking publications; bringing new perspectives to the culture of wine. According to James Busby’s enquiries, around 80% of wine production in Hermitage at this time was shipped to Bordeaux for this purpose. Multi-regional blending was commonplace in Europe during the 19th Century and would continue into the phylloxera crisis era of the mid-to-late 1800s. In the Australian colonies multi-vineyard sourcing and blending became standard practice as the massive export boom of red wine gathered pace in the 1880s and 1890s.

Commercial opportunities to supply bulk wine for the Bordeaux wine trade also led to the establishment of a small winemaking enterprise by local vigneron Antoine Jaboulet in 1834. Born in the village of Cornas in 1807, he was a near contemporary of James Busby, but it is unlikely the pair would have met in 1831. Spending only a few days in Tain L’Hermitage, Busby was taken by his sponsors ‘to visit one of the largest proprietors of the part of the hill of Hermitage, which produces the best wines’. On this expedition into the steep hillside vineyards it is likely James Busby walked up to the ancient ruins of La Chapelle in 1831 to enjoy the spectacular view. He wrote, ‘The hill of Hermitage is so called from an ancient hermitage, the ruins of which are still in existence near its top. It was inhabited by hermits till within the last 100 years. The hill, though of considerable height, is not of great extent; the whole front which looks to the south may contain 300 acres, but of this, though the whole is under vines, the lower part is too rich to yield those of the best quality, and a part near the top is too cold to bring its produce to perfect maturity.’

Monsieur Machon, who accompanied James Busby through his vineyards, showed him a belt of calcareous soils that transitioned across the ordinary granitic soil of the mountain. James Busby recorded Machon saying that ‘it requires the grapes from these different soils to be mixed, in order to produce the finest quality of Hermitage.’ Busby also noted that the red wines were made exclusively from Ciras (sic) also spelled Scyraz in the 1827 edition of M. Jean-Alexandre Cavoleau’s Oenologie Francaise. At the time of Busby’s published travels through France, local vignerons in the Hermitage environs believed ‘the plant was originally brought from Shiraz in Persia by one of the hermits of the mountain.’ Although this legend is proven not to be true, the romance surrounding Hermitage La Chapelle will forever be associated with the grape variety known by the French as syrah and by Australians as shiraz (or the synonym Hermitage until the early 1980s). 

The English-speaking Monsieur Machon, a significant vineyard proprietor and negociant of Irish descent, ordered ‘his vigneron’ to give James Busby 12 cuttings each of ‘Scyraz, Marsan and Roussette (sic),’ from younger vines (5-6 years old) (from the slopes of the Hill of Hermitage) in the belief that the vinestock material would survive for much longer than cuttings from older vines. It was typical of vignerons to layer vines in the vineyards and as a consequence the cuttings would have been sourced within well-established blocks. James Busby was delighted with this outcome and assured his sponsor Monsieur Richard that he would ‘give his countrymen the credit to which they were entitled’ should an account of his journey be published.

James Busby’s visit to Tain L’Hermitage and surrounding vineyards lasted just four days (10th-14th December 1831), but the scyraz cuttings he collected from M. Machon would form the foundation of the Australian wine industry’s success. It is conjecture but more than possible that these young vine cuttings came from Bessards, Le Meal or Les Greffieux, the same vineyards that are inextricably associated with Hermitage Domaine de La Chapelle. But at this time the wines from these plots were substantially ‘doctoring’ Bordeaux’s first growth claret, with only some parcels exported as Hermitage for wine merchants.

When James Busby’s scyraz cuttings arrived at Sydney, New South Wales in January 1832, they were shared between Sydney’s Botanical Gardens, the Busby Family’s Kirkton Vineyard in the Hunter Valley and the Macarthur Family’s Camden Park, southwest of Sydney. This genetic material, propagated and sent to various corners of the Australian colonies, would become some of the most highly prized vinestock available and widely distributed to vignerons in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Many, if not all South Australia’s oldest surviving shiraz vineyards – as early as 1848 - comprise material related to this 1832 Busby Importation, either directly or indirectly. 

By the 1840s, shiraz was widely planted in the Australian colonies, thanks partially to the success of Sir William Macarthur’s Camden Park Nurseries and his agents in South Australia and Port Phillip (later the Colony of Victoria). At the first 1851 London Exhibition held at Hyde Park, the Macarthur family also showed its 1847 Camden Park Scyras to a panel of distinguished judges. Detailed notes were published to accompany the family’s exhibits; the method of vinification of this wine foreshadowed Max Schubert’s experimental winemaking practices that took place almost exactly 100 years later. The success of wines from the Australian colonies led to many observers believing that the continent would become ‘The France of the Southern Hemisphere.’

1847 Camden Park Scyras, Camden – New South Wales

This wine represents the aspirations of William Macarthur for his family estates and New South Wales. Its description in the 1851 Great Exhibition pamphlet was slightly erroneous having been edited by Edward Macarthur and printed in advance of the exhibition. ‘The wine was fermented in vats open at the top, but covered during fermentation with and canvas cloth, with the hulls deprived of their stalks, confined in the centre of the fermenting mass by means of a false head fitted inside of the Vat. This latter process being adopted to secure sufficient depth of colour to the wine. It was treated afterwards as the preceding varieties, but without having been fined previously to being drawn off. Two years old, March 1851.’  Source The Australian Ark (2024)

Meanwhile back in the Rhone Valley, Antoine Jaboulet was working as a cellarmaster and barrel maker from 1846 onwards. Around this time Hermitage wines and surrounding sub-regions were enjoying greater commercial success leading to better economic conditions and more capital to invest. The ancient priory chapel of St Christophe, where the Roman temple of Hercules once sat, was rebuilt in 1861, creating a landmark that would become world famous during the 20th Century as the symbol of Hermitage La Chapelle.  

Antoine Jaboulet’s twin sons Paul and Henri Jaboulet established a negociant business in 1873 before going their separate ways in 1882. The arrival of phylloxera in 1874 had led to the destruction of vineyards in the region and dwindling production saw the number of negociants decline from 15 to just nine. Taking advantage of depressed land values, Paul Jaboulet Ainé (Ainé meaning the eldest) purchased vineyard blocks (2.83 hectares total) in prime spots on the Hill of Hermitage in 1889 including Bessards, Le Meal and Rocoules for 30,000 francs. This would begin a gradual acquisition of vineyards over the next generations as the region recovered from the impact of phylloxera.

Meanwhile, draconian quarantine regulations were introduced by Australia’s colonial governments from 1875. South Australia’s enlightened laws successfully prevented phylloxera from entering its jurisdiction and this has prevailed until the present day. The widespread survival of 19th and early 20th century-planted shiraz vineyards (most of which are planted on their own roots) is a legacy of a previous generation’s foresight and a gift to contemporary South Australian vignerons. In addition, strict quarantine regulations have also led to the development of ‘isolationist’ shiraz selections and newer vineyards based on existing pre-phylloxera vinestock material. Not until the 1970s was it possible for new germplasm (also heavily restricted) to be imported into South Australia.

By the 1880s the Penfold family was also in transition with the second generation taking over the business. Thomas Penfold Hyland and winemaker Joseph Gillard oversaw a golden period of expansion with the development of markets in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand. A boom in exports of Australian red table wine to the United Kingdom and its dominions, combined with effective advertising and marketing resulted in Penfolds becoming a national and international wine brand. This success and the wine industry’s good fortune led to further plantings of shiraz vineyards around South Australia, many of which survive today. When viticulture expert Francois de Castella published a survey of South Australia vineyards between 1941 and 1942, he noted that the connection between shiraz and ‘its supposed Persian origin, is entirely mythical’. According to The Australian Ark (2024), Shiraz is simply a corruption of Scyraz.

La Chapelle de St Christophe.

The purchase of the priory chapel of St Christophe on the Hill of Hermitage by Paul Jaboulet Ainé in 1919 secured the family business with an iconic symbol that would build the company’s reputation throughout the 20th Century and beyond with its flagship wine Hermitage La Chapelle. St Christophe is the patron saint of travellers.

According to Christian legend St Christophe was tall and strong as an ox. He conveyed pilgrims and wanderers across a fast-moving river. On one occasion he stumbled while carrying a young child who seemed to be gaining alarming weight as they crossed the water. The boy told him that he was carrying the burden of the world on his back. Safely arriving on the other riverbank, the child disappeared and a tree grew where St Christophe planted his staff. St Christopher is a symbol of safe guidance through uncharted waters. And after the war, La Chapelle itself, looking over the vineyards of Hermitage and the Rhone River, must have been a symbol of deliverance and hope.

After the First World War (1914-1918), the Australian Government’s 1924 Export Bounty Act and preferential trade agreements with England, encouraged wineries to produce fortified wines. This would lead to a wholesale period of decline in table wine production, although Penfolds continued to produce a small range of Royal Reserve Private Bin wines for local markets throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

Around 1935, Louis Jaboulet became the custodian of Paul Jaboulet Ainé and further developed and promoted his family’s wines. It was during the late 1940s and 1950s that Hermitage La Chapelle emerged as a recognisable wine brand; following the creation of the Hermitage AOC in 1937 and increasing bottlings for the wine trade.

The post Second World War (1939-1945) modernisation of wine allowed the next generations to build more confidence in estate bottlings of Northern Rhone wines. Improvements in viticulture and winemaking technology enabled winemakers to produce wines of natural purity and definition. Among the regions’ great ambassadors were Louis Jaboulet and his sons Gerard and Jacques who championed Hermitage wines throughout the post war period. It was Louis Jaboulet that put Hermitage La Chapelle on the map with his spectacular 1961 vintage; regarded as one of the greatest wines of the 20th Century. Over the following years Gerard Jaboulet would show it to many influential wine critics and merchants while travelling extensively around the world. In doing so he created a legend.

A mood for the times

The American critic Robert Parker declared the 1961 Hermitage La Chapelle as ‘one of the three or four greatest wines I have ever tasted.’ Much like Max Schubert’s experimental Penfolds Grange Hermitage of the 1950s, the early La Chapelle vintages had been varied, but a distinctive and reliable character and style had emerged by the early 1960s. 

Winemakers Louis Jaboulet (b1912-2012) and Max Schubert (b1915 -1994) were also exact contemporaries, yet approached their winemaking destinies in different ways. Neither to our knowledge ever met, but their successors carried their visions forward into an international market where early achievements and newer vintages were often shown together or compared. After the wines emerged into the international fine wine vanguard during the 1960s, Hermitage La Chapelle and Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz became symbols of originality and modernity.  

Hermitage La Chapelle is a blend of parcels from prized vineyard plots (lieu-dits) on the Hill of Hermitage. Le Meal is the predominant lieu-dit but others include Roucoules, Les Greffieux, Varogne and Bessards. The winemaking techniques employed by Louis Jaboulet were traditional but not without some comparison to Max Schubert’s methods at that time.  For instance, vinifications took place in open-fermenters and both used their imagination to make the best wine possible using multi-terroir or multi-vineyard sourcing. But ultimately there was a huge difference in outlook highlighting the inverse and obverse of French and Australian culture, scale of operations and winemaking ambitions. Nonetheless 1955 Penfolds Grange Hermitage and 1961 Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle were landmark wines of their time and heralded in new expectations and comparisons with the great growths of Bordeaux. 

1961 Hermitage La Chapelle, Domaine Paul Jaboulet Ainé, Tain L’Hermitage

‘This is unquestionably one of the greatest wines made in the twentieth century. In the two dozen tastings where I have had the 1961 La Chapelle, I rated it 100 points twenty times. The opaque purple/garnet colour is accompanied by spectacular aromatics representing the essence of old vine Syrah (smoked meat, pepper, hoisin sauce, and soy). As the wine sits in the glass, notions of pepper, new saddle leather, grilled meat, and awesome levels of blackberry, plum, and black currant liqueur-like notes emerge. Extremely unctuous, with compelling concentration and purity, this full-bodied, seamless, mouthfilling 1961 is truly immortal. It still possesses a freshness and vigour that defy its nearly forty years of age. It should continue to drink well for two more decades. Prodigious stuff! 100 points Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (129), June 2000

The development of Penfolds Grange Hermitage during the 1950s also began new outlooks and winemaking methods; and these would form foundations for the modern Australian wine industry. But it was not without drama. In 1957 Penfolds management directed Max Schubert to halt production of Grange, beginning a period of uncertainty. But luck prevailed. This extraordinary long-lived red wine, based on the rolling vineyard landscapes of South Australia, is considered by leading historians as Australia’s defining post-war red wine. In addition, the story of Grange captured Australia’s resourceful way of life and the country’s ambitions for a more impactful place on the world stage. Max Schubert wrote:

“The basic method adopted opened up a whole new concept of quality dry red production, in that fermentation was strictly controlled over a much more lengthy period than hitherto, maximum extraction was obtained by daily handling and maceration of juice and grape solids. When this had been achieved the partially fermented wine was separated from the skins and the fermentation was then completed in the (five untreated) new hogsheads where the wine remained until the time of bottling some 18 months later. The objective was to produce a big, full-bodied wine containing maximum extraction of all the components in the grape material used.” 

One of the great strengths of the Penfolds Grange style, which established a strong following in the 1960s, is that it has never relied on the performance of a single vineyard. In the context of South Australia’s landscapes of Adelaide environs, Clare Valley, Barossa, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra etc, this has allowed winemakers to select the best parcels of fruit from the vintage. Max Schubert recognised that Grange should be based on a riper spectrum of fruit. He knew – intuitively - that fruit power, concentration and ripe tannins were key components of optimum fruit quality. He was well ahead of his time. His experimental work in the 1950s confirmed his view that Cabernet was unreliable. Schubert observed; ‘the imbalance of the fruit invariably manifested itself on the palate with a noticeable break in the middle and a thinnish astringent finish.’  

Penfolds Grange Hermitage was revolutionary for its time and was released into the market as a ‘claret style wine’ (ie full-bodied and firm in structure with 20-years aging capacity at least!) 1955 Penfolds Grange Hermitage – which brought Grange back into favour around 1962, is emblematic of this post war era.

1955 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Hermitage, South Australia
 

The 1955 Grange, with only nine months of oak maturation, was the most decorated of all Grange vintages. It was listed by the American wine consumer advocate Wine Spectator as one of the greatest wines of the 20th century. Leading wine judge Len Evans, in his last published book, How to Taste Wine, wrote:  ‘Great Granges were often quite volatile and the 1955 caused a show incident. I was on a panel of three, two of whom, including me, gave the wine a gold [medal]. We recognized the acetic acid but also gloried in the flavour, depth, and balance of the wine. The other judge gave it 13, a very low score, and would not budge. The chairman, the late great George Fairbrother, a man of infinite patience and great charm, took one sniff of it and said to the dissenter, “Well, if you won’t budge, I’m afraid I’ll have to overrule you and give it a Chairman’s gold”.’ The 1955 Penfolds Grange Hermitage was a favourite of Max Schubert’s, partly because it won a gold medal in the open claret class at the 1962 Sydney Wine Show. It was around this time that Grange came out of the cold. It was also released as Bin 13, 14, 53, 54, and 148A. The 1955 Grange won 51 gold medals and 12 trophies before it was retired from the show circuit. (The Australian Ark 2024)

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s both Hermitage La Chapelle and Grange Hermitage represented the best of the syrah/shiraz experience, both achieving ‘First Growth’ status in their respective countries. La Chapelle’s beautiful aromatic complexity, understated puissance and superb-aging capacity foiled perfectly against the pure ripe dark fruited, chocolaty textured and age-worthy Grange. As the decades progressed, and their stars shone more brightly, these contrasting styles were often presented at tastings throughout the world to celebrate the versatility and beauty of high-fidelity shiraz. Gerard Jaboulet and chief winemaker John Duval would on occasions jointly show some of the great vintages of La Chapelle and Grange. It is a coincidence that these wines both share many classic vintage years. 1961, 1978, 1983 and 1990 are considered great La Chapelle vintages of the Jaboulet era – and these are also memorable years for Grange. 

The new millenium ushered in a new zeitgeist and perspectives. In 2002 Penfolds appointed its longstanding oenologist Peter Gago as its chief winemaker. This would begin a new era for Grange where sustainable viticulture, precision sourcing and winemaking technologies would further refine and improve style. It was also a time when Penfolds became known as a luxury brand on the international stage. Bin 95 Grange Shiraz, the hallmark of prestige Australian winemaking, was widely acknowledged by the wine market around the world as the ultimate expression of South Australian Shiraz. And in 2006, the inspiring Caroline Frey, better known for her role in restoring the reputation of Fifth-Growth Chateau La Lagune in Bordeaux, was also appointed winemaker at Paul Jaboulet Ainé after its acquisition by her family’s Swiss-based holding company Compagnie Financière Frey. Prior to this, there had been a slump in fortunes following the untimely death of Gerard Jaboulet, aged 55, in 1997.  Robert Parker some years later commented:

‘One needs no further evidence of the extraordinary turn around in the quality of the Jaboulet wines than what proprietress Caroline Frey has accomplished in 2009 as well as 2010. As I indicated last year, this is one of the great qualitative turn arounds in the wine world.’

The growing demand for fine wine across the world accelerated during the 2010s. The Jaboulet brand’s good fortunes returned and La Chapelle’s star quality was reignited with a succession of classical vintages. This enabled wine critics to bridge two golden periods, as if no gap ever happened. This is a remarkable achievement that has rarely been matched. In 2019 Hong Kong-based Linden Wilkie, an influential fine wine expert, wrote

‘to appreciate Hermitage writ large, you need to get to know Jaboulet’s ‘La Chapelle’, an amalgam of multiple lieux-dits, blended to represent Hermitage in full symphonic glory – ‘Bessards’ for its minerality, strength and structure, ‘Méal’ for its sumptuous creaminess and palate-filling fruit, the heart of the La Chapelle blend. ‘Roucoules’, ‘Les Greffieux’ and ‘Varogne’ complete the picture.’

Caroline Frey’s imaginative custodianship and her family’s substantial investment in restoring their vineyards, resulted in a brilliant decade of vintages and a return to form. Many observers would argue that the La Chapelle quality and style have improved beyond its previous highwater marks reflecting more precision in viticulture and flair in winemaking. A change in oak-maturation (from Burgundian pièces to Bordeaux barriques) initially created a small controversy, because of the appearance of noticeable new oak characters in the young wines. But through the prism of hindsight, many observers have accepted this change as a positive evolution.

In July 2024 the doyen of English winewriters Jancis Robinson OBE observed ‘These new wines from the Frey era are certainly more defiantly modern than those produced by the Jaboulets (who were no great fans of new oak), but they do carry the signature of this very unusual hillside.’ In addition, ambitions to create a fully sustainable vineyard domain, through organic and biodynamic farming, have added lustre to Caroline Frey’s custodianship of Hermitage Domained de La Chapelle. 

Lately the Frey Family have also taken the bold move to uncouple Hermitage La Chapelle from the Paul Jaboulet Ainé brand in order to give the wine an identity of its own. The newly-branded Hermitage La Chapelle, Domaine de La Chapelle also signalled the Frey Family’s long-term ambitions and commitment to the finest lieu-dits in the Hermitage appellation (This also includes the small plots of rousanne and marsanne that make up the white wine previously marketed under the Hermitage Chevalier de Sterimberg label).  

Grange La Chapelle - Travelling Companions

Hermitage Domaine de La Chapelle, Hermitage AOC, Rhone Valley – France

The organic and biodynamically farmed Domaine Hermitage La Chapelle is a tapestry of lieu-dits lying within the best parts of the ‘Hill of Hermitage’ sometimes adjoining but not always contiguous. They include Le Meal, Roucoules, Les Greffieux, Varogne and Bessards . The surface area covers roughly 65 acres in total and it comprises a mixture of mostly well- draining granitic soils with outcrops of micro-schist, alluvial sands, chalk and pebbles. The Syrah vines, typically grafted on American rootstocks, are aged mostly between 40-100 years old. This contributes to the natural richness of colour, density and vigour of the wines. Caroline Frey’s purpose in winemaking is leading to a house style that both resonates the terroirs of the Hermitage appellation and an age worthy signature method of winemaking. 

Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz, South Australia

The Grange style and winemaking techniques have not altered since the first experimental vintages of the 1950s. Grange is memorable for its aromatic complexity, intensely rich fruit, ripe tannins of shiraz and the complementary nuances of new, fine-grained American oak. Sustainably-farmed Shiraz blocks, anchored in ancient soils, comprise vines aged primarily between 30 and 130 years. A small element of cabernet sauvignon, sometimes from the Kalimna Vineyard’s 1888-planted Block 42, can be included in Grange to add aromatic complexity, freshness and vigour. Partial barrel fermentation and 20 months oak maturation then weave the elements together. Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz is renowned by collectors for its unique Australian identity, consistency of character and proven aging potential.

Although contrasting in shape and style, both Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz and Hermitage Domaine de la Chapelle share a family-likeness in stature, definition and modernity. They are also renowned for their different but expressively beautiful characters and long-aging potential.  Often compared to the great First Growth Wines of the world, both wines represent the essence and colours of syrah/ shiraz through the kaleidoscope of northern and southern hemisphere terroirs and landscapes. While Grange is the defining modern Australian Shiraz, Hermitage La Chapelle, Domaine de La Chapelle is the classic reference French Syrah. 

Grange La Chapelle was imagined because of the fascinating connections and shared journeys. What would the two wines look like if they were blended precisely together. Would one dominate the other? Or would they fold into each other in perfect symmetry? Or not? And could the wine bring something different and extra to the word of wine? Ultimately Grange La Chapelle explores the prismatic quality of two great wine traditions. Inspired by shared stories, history and culture, it brings together the ultimate expression of syrah and shiraz.

As winemaker Caroline Frey says ‘By uniting two iconic wines, this collaboration achieves something truly groundbreaking. As a vine grower, as a winemaker, it’s so magical, I would have never even dared to imagine it. No one in the world has ever blended two such legendary terroirs. It'slike Picasso and Dalí painting on the same canvas – an idea so extraordinary it almost feels too incredible to be real.’

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2024 Penfolds Release

180th Anniversary Release
 (1844-2024)

‘A classic and stylish Penfold’s release.’

Penfolds Australian Collection - 2024

2022 Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz – 99 points

2021 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz – 98+ points

2020 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz – 98 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz - 98 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz - 96 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz - 96 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 180 Cabernet Sauvignon – 96 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon – 95 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 144 Yattarna Chardonnay - 95 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 138 Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro - 95 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz, Coonawarra - 95 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay – 94+ points

2024 Penfolds Bin 51 Riesling – 94+ points

2022 Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz - 94 points

2022 Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay - 93 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon - 93 points

2023 Penfolds Bin 23 Pinot Noir - 92 points

2023 Penfolds Bin 21 Grenache – 91 points

Penfolds France Collection - 2024

2014 Champagne Thienot x Penfolds Blanc de Blancs – 95 points

2014 Champagne Thienot x Penfolds Blanc de Noirs – 94 points

2022 Penfolds II Cabernet Sauvignon – 94 points

2022 FWT 585 Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot Merlot -  93 points

Penfolds Californian Collection – 2024

2021 Penfolds Howell Mountain, Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc – 97 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon – 96 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz – 95 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon - 95 points

Penfolds China Collection – 2024

2022 Penfolds CWT Cabernet Sauvignon Marselan – 94 points

Overview - Penfold’s Collection 2024 Release

The much-anticipated 2024 Penfolds Release follows just a few weeks after the visit of the Chinese Premier Li Qiang to Penfolds Magill Estate in Adelaide and the announcement of a return to normal wine trade with China. The 212% Chinese Tariffs on Australian wine, which had been foisted on the wine industry in 2020, dramatically curtailed trade, highlighted an over dependency on the China market and underscored the industry’s vulnerability to outside forces and government policy. Although exports have recommenced, wine trade with China will never be quite the same. Nonetheless some Australian wine brands will bounce back to a meaningful level, despite signals of a patchy and sluggish wine market. Despite the tariffs and consequent trading difficulties, Penfolds has not lost its cachet in China. It is one of few widely known Australian wine brands and one of the relatively few marques that offer currency in secondary markets, both legitimate and illegal.

The story of Penfolds, the quality and singularity of the wines, the personalities, the luxury positioning and track record as a collectible are all factors that contribute to the brand’s resilience and attraction. Throughout the dismal years of Covid and official ghosting, Penfolds took the time to regroup and recalibrate. The development of its beyond borders Country of Origin wines highlighted an enlightened and engaging pathway into insular markets. The Californian project is twenty years old and the wines resonate that commitment and effort. The China and France red wine projects have some way to go but the wines are very good and standards are being set. The Thienot Penfolds Champagne collaboration is an obvious exception and has yielded some really expressive and impressive wines already. By emphasising Grand Cru Vineyard origins, this nascent co-branding, highlights an ambition to occupy the Champagne category’s high ground. Meanwhile Penfolds has worked thoroughly to build its deluxe reputation in Australia and traditional markets, while also working to establish new relationships with a younger and curious generation.

As is typical, in most years there is a media fanfare and wide customer interest surrounding the Penfolds Collection. But this year the stakes seem higher than normal. The stabilising rapprochement with China represents an opportunity to regain market position in that market, while engagement with La Place de Bordeaux offers a chance to infiltrate markets that have been previously on the sidelines. The luxury positioning of the Penfolds brand is also achieving greater traction and this is to the benefit of the Australian wine industry at large.

The launch of the 2024 Penfolds Collection is a positive reminder that the Australian Wine Industry is making very high-quality wine that can be matched with the great houses of Europe and beyond. While the Penfolds brand has made significant steps to become an international wine producer, its values are steeped in Australian winemaking methods and a house style developed over several generations. The 2024 Penfolds Collection comprises 28 wines and this is likely to increase in the years ahead. Ultimately this is a classic and stylish Penfold’s release highlighting the best of both world’s – house style and vineyard provenance.

2024 Penfolds Australian Collection Release

Hinged on the outstanding 2022 South Australian red wine vintage and peppered with a classic 2021 St Henri Shiraz and ultra-polished 2020 Grange Bin 95 Shiraz, the 2024 Penfolds Collection release highlights precision resourcing, a cohesive winemaking team and the timeless nature of the Penfolds House Style (developed by Max Schubert during the 1950s and improved upon over the decades by his successors).

The Grange-like but French-oak matured 2022 Penfolds Bin 798 RWT Shiraz (99) and the brilliant 2021 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz (98+) are my top wines from this release. They are both wonderful expressions of South Australian shiraz and should develop superbly with further bottle age.

The classical and beautiful 2020 Grange (98), with its abundant dark berry fruits, massive concentration, oak maturation characters and well-integrated chocolaty tannins. possesses the detail and hallmarks of a First Growth Australian red. It has all the cadence and balance for long term aging. In years to come, it may be seen as one of the great vintages.

2021 St Henri Shiraz (98+) is a wonderful vintage; arguably one of the best. The superb ethereal juxtaposition of fruit and tannin bring an extra complexity and interest. This could well be compared to the glorious 2010 vintage in terms of its cellaring potential.

The impactful and beautifully balanced 2021 Bin 180 Cabernet Sauvignon (96), bottled to celebrate Penfolds’ 180th Anniversary this year, highlights top-notch Coonawarra provenance and intuitive winemaking.

The 2022 Penfolds Bin Series red wines are generally warm, generous and saturated and show typicity, refinement and balance.

2022 Bin 798 Shiraz (99) is a brilliant wine with cascades of dark berry fruits and perfectly integrated new French oak. The fruit and tannins are neatly aligned giving the wine a continuous and unbroken line. It has a Grange-like stature that suggests a long life ahead. It is one of the standout wines of the release and the 2022 Barossa vintage. Its sibling wine 2022 Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz (96) also highlights the region’s provenance and the results of a successful growing season.

2022 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz (98) lives up to its reputation as the second wine to Grange. The wine is superbly refined, generous and chocolaty and will cellar for years to come. In may respects it is the quintessential Penfolds wine offering drinkers the best of craftsmanship, multi-regional sourcing and style. 2022 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon (97) is excellent and will not disappoint those who are drawn to its classical structure and potential to further develop. Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon (93), which lies in its shadow, is a much grippier beast with very good flow and torque.

The single vineyard 2022 Magill Estate Shiraz (94), inaugurated to save the last few hectares of the original Grange Vineyards, is characterful, well-concentrated and sturdy. It’s one of the better vintages in recent times and should develop well with further cellaring

2022 Bin 28 Shiraz (96) impressively exemplifies the genius of the Penfolds House Style. It is a delicious wine with a superb core of fruit sweetness and chocolaty textures. Its sister-wine Bin 128 Shiraz (95), based on Coonawarra fruit, also resonates well in a more traditional claret style. There is no other region in the world where shiraz shows similar characteristics to cabernet sauvignon. 2022 Bin 138 Grenache Shiraz Mataro (95), is a lovely wine with superb buoyancy of fruit. The Grenache dominance promotes viscosity and generosity on the mid-palate while shiraz and mataro bring richness and vigour. Best to drink early too. 

The 2022 Bin 23 Pinot Noir (91) and 2023 Grenache (92) come with a Penfolds generosity and reliability, but are essentially early drinking wines to slurp rather than ponder. But they do highlight excellent vineyard sourcing and empathetic winemaking.

While the Penfolds Australian red collection is a standout release, the Australian white wines are exemplary rather than brilliant. The 2024 Bin 51 Riesling (94+) is lean and minerally and will develop in the bottle, but its relatively low alcohol (11%) accentuates the al dente textures and crispiness of structure. 2022 Bin 144 Yattarna (95) is also highly refined and textural but track record shows that its trajectory is upwards. The palate will develop and expand with a few years and it will be worth the wait. 2022 Reserve Series Chardonnay (93) is probably this year’s dark horse wine. Its clean as a whistle and has plenty of energy, but it seems unevolved. It might have been knocked around at bottling just five weeks earlier, so it may prove to be much better now. 2022 Bin 311 Chardonnay (94+) is probably the best value Penfolds white with very good fruit definition and a compelling highfalutin waxy complexity.

Penfolds Country of Origin Wines

Penfolds Country of Origin wines continue to grow and reshape the Penfolds Collection Annual release.

The Californian collection is particularly strong this year highlighting an extended Penfolds winemaking presence in that State and similarities in wine culture. The outstanding 2021 Howell Mountain Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (97) is one of the stars of the release. 2021 Penfolds Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon (96) and 2021 Penfolds Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon (95) are also excellent wines.

The France Collection is a work in progress but shows astonishing promise. As one would expect the Thiénot-Penfolds collaboration is successfully producing classical Champagne styles. The Bordeaux wines are fascinating to taste. Although they are very good, the best is yet to come. Already there is a full time Penfolds winemaker in the Medoc and more investment is underway.  2014 Champagne Thiénot x Penfolds Blanc de Blancs (96) and 2022 Penfolds II (94) are the highlights.

Lastly the lovely 2022 CWT Cabernet Sauvignon Marsellan (94) reemphasises the fidelity of the Penfolds style of winemaking and multi-regional vineyard sourcing.

Tasting Notes

In order of tasting - 3rd July 2024
Penfolds Kalimna Homestead – Barossa Valley – South Australia

2014 Champagne Thiénot x Penfolds Blanc de Blancs – Avize Grand Cru, Champagne - France

Medium pale colour. Intense apricot, marzipan nougat, tonic water aromas. Creamy and textural with fresh apricot, lemon curd, marzipan, nougat flavours, fine slinky bittersweet textures and fresh persistent acidity and bubbles. Finishes minerally and long. Superb complexity, linear freshness and flow. Zero dosage, Drink now – keep for a while 12.3% alc 96 points

2014 Champagne Thiénot x Penfolds Blanc de Noirs – AŸ Grand Cru, Champagne - France

Medium pale colour. White peach, strawberry, fruit salad, marzipan aromas. Supple and well concentrated with dense stone fruits, strawberry, marzipan, hint toasty flavours, fine al-dente textures and fresh long indelible touch hard acidity. Chewy and minerally at the finish. Zero dosage. 11.8 % alc 94 points

2024 Penfolds Bin 51 Riesling, Eden Valley – South Australia

Pale almost watery colour. Lovely intense and lifted lime zest, lemon curd, mandarin, orange blossom aromas. Classical lime pastille, lemon curd, touch camomile, hint ginger flavours, fine loose knit chalky textures and fresh long pure quartz acidity. Finishes al-dente and minerally.  Beautifully balanced and flavourful wine with lovely fruit definition and purity. Should develop well with bottle age. Drink now - 2030 11% alc 94+ points

2023 Penfolds 311 Chardonnay, south-eastern Australia

Pale colour. Lovely apricot, peach touch waxy aromas with hints of lime. Well-rounded and creamy style with ample white and yellow fruits, fine supple textures, some waxy, hint roasted almond notes and well balanced fresh long acidity. Flavourful, slinky and bitter-sweet at the finish with tonic water notes. An outstanding wine for this price point. Drink now – keep for a while. 13% alc 94+ points

2023 Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills South Australia

Pale colour. Fresh grapefruit, lemon curd, touch honeycomb aromas with hints of tonic water and flint. Pure grapefruit, lemon pastille flavours, fine lacy textures, some mid-palate richness and long mineral acidity. Al dente, slinky finish with bitter lime notes. Expressive and taut with understated power. Should evolve with a touch of bottle age. Echoes rather than resonates. Drink 2025 – 2030. 12.5% alc 93 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 144 Yattarna Chardonnay, south-eastern Australia

Pale colour. Pure grapefruit, white peach aromas with flint, marzipan notes. Beautifully concentrated grapefruit, white peach, apricot flavours, fine supple bittersweet textures and fresh pure quartz acidity. Very pure and textural yet has power and superb mineral length. Should develop very well. Tumbarumba - New South Wales, Tasmania, Adelaide Hills - South Australia. Drink now – but best after 2026 – 2038 12.5% alc 95 points

2021 Penfolds FWT 585 Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot Merlot - Vin de France

Deep crimson. Intense black cherry, cedarwood, herb garden aromas with chinotto notes. Fresh, well concentrated and juicy black cherry, black berry pastille fruits, underlying cedarwood notes and fine loose knit grippy notes. Finishes grippy/ chewy and crisp with seductive dark berry fruits.  Should build complexity and balance with some bottle age. Bordeaux region vineyards. 78% cabernet sauvignon, 14% petit Verdot, 8% merlot. FWT = French Wine Trial. 2025 – 2034 13.5% alc 93 points

2022 Penfolds II Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux Coonawarra Blend - France & Australia

Deep crimson. Lovely intense blackcurrant, dark chocolate, marzipan, vanilla aromas with touch of cola/ chinotto/herbs. Inky deep wine with dense blackcurrant, black cherry, praline flavours, fine chocolaty/ grippy/ touch leafy tannins and well-balanced marzipan, vanilla, roasted chestnut notes. A claret firm chewy finish with persistent fresh acidity. Penfolds x Dourthe collaboration. 64% Bordeaux 32% Coonawarra. Drink 2026 – 2034 13.5% alc 94 points

2022 Penfolds CWT Cabernet Sauvignon Marselan, Shangri-La (Yunnan Province) & Ningxia – People’s Republic of China

Medium deep crimson. Fresh dark plum, herb-garden aromas with bay leaf, garrigue notes. Well concentrated and supple with ample dark plum, dark cherry, vanilla flavours, fine loose knit gravelly tannins and a touch of wet bitumen/ geosmine. Finishes cedar firm and minerally with stewed plum notes. 77% cabernet sauvignon 23% marsellan. CWT = China Wine Trial. Drink now - 2030 14.5% alc 94 points

2021 Penfolds Howell Mountain, Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc, Napa Valley

Deep crimson. Beautiful blackcurrant pastille, wax polish graphite aromas with vanilla, roasted chestnut notes. Classically structured wine with superb blackcurrant pastille, dark plum fruits, cedar/ al-dente tannins, superb mid palate volume and underlying marzipan roasted chestnut notes, chocolatey firm at the finish. Lovely volume, richness and torque. Drinking really well now but should age for the long term. A standout wine. 78% cabernet sauvignon 22% cabernet franc. Drink now – 2040 14.5% alc 97 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz, Napa Valley & Paso Robles - California

Deep crimson. Intense inky dark cherry, cassis, blackberry aromas with dark chocolate herb garden notes. Generous dark cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, dark chocolate flavours, fine dense gravelly tannins and well-balanced marzipan, vanilla oak notes. Chocolaty firm at the finish with bittersweet cedar/ chinotto notes. Elemental wine that should fold into shape with a few years of bottle age. But very good volume, density and fruit sweetness. 85% cabernet sauvignon, 15% shiraz. Drink 2026 – 2040 14.5% alc 95 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley - California

Deep crimson. Attractive dark cherry, cassis, cedar aromas with marzipan hint sage notes. Beautifully concentrated and balanced wine with ample dark cherry, blackcurrant flavours, fine chocolaty/ al dente tannins and underlying roasted chestnut vanilla notes. Leafy sapid finish with hint aniseed notes. Cabernet for cabernet lovers! Drink 2026 – 2042 14.5% alc 96 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley California - South Australia blend

Deep crimson. Intense elderberry, cassis, black cherry inky aromas with underlying vanilla roasted almond notes. Dense and compact with abundant dark cherry, blackcurrant pastille fruits, fine chewy firm textures and well-balanced vanilla, marzipan oak notes, Some cedar/ grip at the finish. Lovely complexity, density and drive. Should last a few decades at least. 91% cabernet sauvignon 9% cabernet franc Drink 2026 – 2045 14.5% alc 95 points

2023 Penfolds Bin 23 Pinot Noir, Tasmania

Medium crimson. Lovely pure red cherry, strawberry, hint blue fruit aromas with herb garden, cola notes. Generously concentrated pure red cherry, strawberry fruits with negroni/ Campari like complexity, fine lacy textures, lovely mid palate viscosity and well-balanced acidity. Uncomplicated but well balanced and delicious early drinking style. Drink now – keep for a while 13.5% alc 92 points

2023 Penfolds Bin 21 Grenache, Barossa Valley McLaren Vale blend – South Australia

Medium crimson. Perfumed musky plum, red cherry aromas with hints of roasted walnuts and spice. Generous, sweet fruited and sturdy in structure with ample musky plum, red cherry fruits, fine slinky textures, attractive mid palate volume and fresh long acidity. A kick of aniseed at the finish. Vibrant and youthful. Best to drink soon. 14.5% alc 91 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 138 Grenache Shiraz Mataro, Barossa Valley – South Australia

Medium deep crimson. Beautiful inky musky plum, blackberry aromas with hints of bush garrigue. Generous and velvety textured with superb pure dark berry fruits, fine loose knit chocolaty textures, some roasted hazelnut/ walnut/ aniseed notes. Finishes long and sweet with a graphite plume. Best as a medium-term wine but really delicious to drink now. Drink now – 2029 14.5% alc 95 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz, Coonawarra – South Australia

Deep crimson. Attractive pure cassis, blackberry pastille violet aromas with underlying spice, vanilla notes. Velvety textured and concentrated wine with superb blackcurrant, blackberry, dark cherry fruits, fine grained tannins and well-balanced mocha, vanilla notes. A cedar firm finish with mineral notes. A lovely Bin 128 vintage 14.5% alc 95 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz, South Australia

Deep crimson. Intense dark cherry, blackberry aromas with dark chocolate/ espresso notes. Richly flavoured wine with superb dark cherry, blackberry fruits, fine chocolaty tannins, wonderful mid-palate richness and well-balanced mocha notes. Finishes bittersweet with chinotto dark berry fruits.  A beautifully balanced wine showing all the hallmarks of the Penfolds house style. McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, Wrattonbully. Drink now – 2040 14.5% alc 96 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz, Barossa Valley – South Australia

Deep crimson. Fresh blackberry dark chocolate marzipan aromas with geosmine/ graphite notes. Dense velvety wine with dark blackberry, dark chocolate, vanilla, marzipan favours and plentiful fine chocolaty / al dente tannins. Some liquorice at the finish. A beautifully concentrated wine with superb density and torque. Still needs time to integrate but a stylish vintage. Drink 2026 – 2036 14.5% alc 96 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia

Deep crimson. Intense cassis, dark mocha, mint bush garrigue aromas. Generously flavoured but sinewy wine with ample dark berry capsicum chinotto minty flavours, fine chewy/ leafy firm tannins, attractive mid-palate density and underlying savoury notes. Bittersweet at the finish. A vigorous, animated and sinewy cabernet with plenty of richness and flavour. Coonawarra, Padthaway, Wrattonbully, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley. Drink now – 2030 14.5% alc 93 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, South Australia

Deep crimson. Attractive blackberry dark chocolate, mocha aromas with touches of dried roses and star aniseed. A beautifully balanced wine with deep set blackberry dark cherry fruits, lovely fine chocolaty textures, superb mid-plate volume and underlying mocha/ espresso notes. Concentrated, vigorous and flowing with superb fruit complexity, density and mineral length. Plenty of Baby Grange fat. A magnificent Bin 389 with a long cellaring career ahead. McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, Wrattonbully. 51% cabernet sauvignon 49% shiraz. Drink now – 2045 14.5% 98 points

2021 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz, South Australia

Deep crimson, Intense dark cherry, blackberry, chinotto aromas with roasted walnut espresso notes. Fresh and voluminous with ample dark cherry, blackberry, cassis flavours, fine loose-knit chocolaty textures and underlying roasted walnut espresso notes. Finishes long and sweet with an inky plume. Seamless and expressive wine with the fruit melting beautifully into the structure. A very impressive St Henri that will stand the test of time. One of the standout wines of the 2024 release. Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale Drink now – 2045 14.5% alc 98+ points

2022 Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide – South Australia

Deep crimson. Intense blackberry liquorice aromas with spice mocha notes. Fresh juicy blackberry, black cherry fruits, bittersweet tannins and noticeable marzipan vanilla toasty oak notes. All the elements are in balance but yet to fold and integrate. Finishes long and sweet. Keep for a while.  2026 – 2040 14.5% 94 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 169 Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra – South Australia

Deep crimson. Intense blackcurrant, dark chocolate aromas with cedar, bush garrigue/ hint menthol, chinotto notes.  Classical in structure with inky deep dark cherry, cassis, blackcurrant fruits, fine grainy/ graphite textures and well-balanced marzipan mocha oak notes. Builds up leafy/ grippy firm at the finish with ample pure dark berry fruits and demi-glace nuances. A classic Coonawarra Claret style. Drink Now – 2040 14.5% alc 95 points

2022 Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz, Barossa Valley - South Australia

Deep crimson. Lovely dark cherry, blackberry, hint ginger aromas with underlying marzipan notes. Beautifully balanced wine with ample dark cherry, blackberry fruits, slinky, loose-knit chocolaty/fine-grained textures and superbly integrated marzipan toasty, vanilla oak. Finishes claret firm with malty/ espresso notes. The tannins are exquisitely lithe and supple and the fruit is perfectly offset by new French oak.  A standout and lasting vintage showing superb vineyard provenance and hallmark Penfolds styling.  Drink now – 2050 14.5% alc 99 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia

Deep crimson. Intense cassis, mocha aromas with hint leafy herb garden notes. Inky deep and expressive wine with ample blackcurrant pastille, blackberry fruits, fine slinky firm cedar tannins, wonderful mid-palate density and well-integrated mocha/ dark chocolate notes. Finishes classically fine-grained, touch muscular, with aniseed notes. A top-notch Bin 707 with superb density, vigour and cellaring potential. Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, McLaren Vale. Drink 2028 – 2050 14.5% alc 97 points

2020 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz, South Australia

Deep crimson. Fresh and complex with classical blackberry, dark chocolate, panforte aromas with hints of ginger and underlying mocha/ roasted chestnut/ hint bourbon notes. Generously concentrated and inky deep with ample blackberry dark chocolate/ praline flavours, fine chocolaty tannins and ample roasted chestnut, marzipan notes. Finishes chocolaty firm, crisp and minerally with a hint of aniseed. A classic Grange with the structure and balance to last for the long haul. McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley provenance. 97% Shiraz 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink 2028 – 2050 14.5% alc 98 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 180 Cabernet Shiraz , Coonawarra - South Australia

Deep crimson. Beautiful pure blackcurrant, dark plum, dark cherry capsicum aromas with praline/ mocha notes and hints of bush garrigue. Fresh, generous and concentrated dark berry, capsicum, praline, espresso, cedar flavours, fine slinky firm/ graphite tannins and well-integrated mineral acidity.  A grainy plume with seductive sweet fruit, hint flinty notes at the finish. Lovely richness and flow. Coonawarra, Penfolds Block 10 & Block 5. 57% cabernet sauvignon 43% shiraz. 180th Anniversary wine (1844-2024). Drink now – 2035 14.5% alc 96 points

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Penfolds Collection Release 2023

“A great follow-on release highlighting the timeless quality and singularity of the Penfolds House Style.”

The 2023 Penfolds Collection Release highlights an exceptional range of high-quality wines and the brand’s inexorable foray across international borders. The Australian range remains as solid as ever with some beautiful wines reflective of well managed vineyards, benign growing seasons and precision winemaking. By and large the 2021 growing season was warm and dry with some intermittent wet periods. The overall result suggests an above average year for both white and reds with wines showing excellent definition, density and structures. 2021 Penfolds Yattarna is the flag bearing wine of the collection and leads an impressive line-up of vintages. 2021 Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz is arguably one of the finest ever released of this series. Sandwiched between these two are other impressive 2021s including Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz, Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz and Penfolds Bin 169 Cabernet Sauvignon (the latter being released on La Place de Bordeaux in September). 2019 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange, from a small but high quality vintage, is also a brilliant wine and adds to the tradition of the great follow-on vintages 1952/1953, 1961/1962, 1990/1991 and 1998/1999. The art of multi-vineyard sourcing and blending is powerfully demonstrated in this 2023 Penfolds Collection Release. Many of the wines, with their classical structures, ample richness and volume, are destined for great cellaring careers.

2019 Penfolds Bin 98 Quantum Cabernet Sauvignon epitomises the strength of the Penfolds winemaking philosophy and transfer of memory and craftsmanship. Its release is counter-intuitive to the sustainable debate, being a cross-pacific cuvée, but the expressive quality and superb balance offer a brilliant wine experience. It is the ultimate Alter Ego wine – very different to Grange and Bin 707, by virtue of sourcing, yet very much referenced into the uber fidelity of the Penfolds winemaking tradition. Although the 2020 growing season in the Napa Valley was hot and dry, with wildfires threatening vineyards, the overall result of the vintage is impressive. The saturated fruit, integrated oak, volume, freshness and torque give the wines remarkable presence and character. Reflective of similar conditions to Australia and many years of winemaking experience the 2020 Penfolds Californian wines are both familiar and different. Assuming these wines are primarily made for the US market, a tough nut to crack, they bring a compelling Australian accent to the already much-admired regional forces of the Napa Valley and Paso Robles. The 2020 Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz, a blend from both regions, is singularly impressive and expresses this point brilliantly.

The 2023 Penfolds Collection also incorporates the latest releases from the Penfolds South Australia/ Dourthe Bordeaux partnership. The possibilities that surround this project are only limited by imagination. Penfolds Dourthe II is conceptually interesting and is a window into this partnership’s ambitions. Of particular interest is the 2020 Penfolds FWT 585 Cabernet Merlot Petit Verdot; the FWT meaning French Wine Trial. The complexities of bringing this wine to commercial reality should not be underestimated. Penfolds wines powerfully express premiumisation and brand identity. It has much greater currency than many Grand Cru Chateau producers in Bordeaux. The wine, however, is not based on the terrain of classified properties in the Medoc and beyond. The fruit sourcing is somewhat different and avoids that connection and reflective glory of history. It stands on its own two feet. But as the name suggests, the wine is still a work in progress as the winemakers’ grapple with what the wine should be and how Australian values and French savoir faire integrate for the long term. Even so, the 2020 Penfolds FWT is very much a fine claret style and will no doubt benefit from a few more years cellaring.

Penfold's investment in France is fascinating but not yet in post-experimental mode. The partnership with Champagne Thienot is yielding some great results and reflects Peter Gago’s long term enthusiasm and engagement with Champagne together with the high standard of Champagne Thienot’s winemaking team. The next release of these wines will come a little later. Hot on the heels of this 2023 Penfolds release will be the unveiling of the brand’s new wines from China.

For the first time in its history the sun no longer sets on Penfold’s reflecting an Empire of Achievement that spans four countries, two hemispheres and four continents.

Penfolds Australian Release

Reds

2019 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz, South Australia - 98+ points
2021 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia - 97 points
2021 Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz, Barossa Valley South Australia - 98 points
2021 Penfolds Bin 169 Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra South Australia - 97 points
2021 Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide Environs South Australia - 95 points
2020 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz, South Australia - 96 points
2021 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, South Australia - 97 points
2021 Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia - 93 points
2021 Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz, Barossa Valley South Australia - 96 points
2021 Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz, South Australia - 97 points
2021 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz, Coonawarra South Australia - 93 points
2021 Penfolds Bin 138 Grenache Shiraz Mataro, Barossa Valley South Australia - 94 points
2022 Penfolds Bin 21 Grenache, Barossa Valley South Australia - 92 points
2022 Penfolds Bin 23 Pinot Noir, Tasmania - 92 points

Whites

2021 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay, South East Australia - 100 points
2022 Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills South Australia - 95 points
2022 Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay, Tasmania and South East Australia - 93 points
2023 Penfolds Bin 51 Riesling, Eden Valley South Australia – 94 points

Penfolds Californian Release

2019 Penfolds Quantum Bin 98 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley/South Australia USA / Australia - 98 points
2020 Penfolds Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley California USA - 94+ points
2020 Penfolds Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley California USA - 96 points
2020 Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz, California USA - 97 points
2020 Penfolds Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley California USA - 94 points

Penfolds French Release

MV Penfolds x Dourthe II Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, South Australia France - 95 points
2020 Penfolds FWT 585 Cabernet Merlot Petit Verdot, Bordeaux France - 93 points

Penfolds Australian Release

Reds

2019 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz, South Australia

Deep crimson. Lifted fresh dark chocolate, mocha dark cherry blackberry, paneforte, mocha aromas with liquorice aniseed notes. Superbly balanced wine with plentiful dark chocolate, blackberry fruits, fine graphite firm tannins, lovely mid plate richness and well-balanced mocha, espresso oak notes. Finishes chocolaty firm and long. Elemental, expressive and expansive with lovely fruit complexity, oak integration, density and torque. A brilliant follow up to the 2018 vintage. 97% Shiraz 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19 months maturation in 100% new American Hogsheads, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Clare Valley. Drink 2028 – 2060 14.5% alc 98+ points

2021 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia

Deep crimson. Lovely blackcurrant, mocha, grilled nut aromas with espresso, hint liquorice notes. Generous pure cassis, dark plum, praline, hint demi-glace flavours, fine grainy. graphite firm tannins, very good mid palate density, well-integrated mocha, roasted almond notes and underlying mineral freshness. Finishes chocolaty firm with some tobacco leaf notes. Grange in Cabernet clothing which should age brilliantly well. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully, 16 months maturation in 100% new American oak hogsheads Drink 2026 – 2050 14.5% alc 97 points

2021 Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz, Barossa Valley South Australia

Deep crimson. Lovely blackberry, dark chocolate, praline aromas with mocha, marzipan, vanilla notes. Beautifully concentrated wine with ample blackberry, dark chocolate, roasted chestnut, marzipan flavours, dense chocolaty tannins, superb mid palate volume and fresh long integrated acidity. Finishes chocolaty with plentiful seductive sweet dark berry fruits and bitter sweet notes. Lovely richness, volume and vinosity. Should develop into a classic Penfoldsian Barossa Shiraz. 100% Shiraz, Barossa Valley, 14 months maturation in 20% one-year-old seasoned oak and 80% new French oak hogsheads. Drink 2026 – 2045 14.5% alc 98 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 169 Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra South Australia

Deep crimson. Intense blackcurrant, cedar, hint capsicum, sage aromas with dark chocolate notes. Inky deep, fresh and sinuous with ample cassis, dark cherry pastille fruits, fine lacy grainy tannins and well-balanced cedar/ marzipan notes. A plume of fine tannins at the finish. A classical Coonawarra claret style with lovely volume, complexity and torque. Should last the distance. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, 16 months maturation in 49% one-year-old seasoned and 51% new French oak hogsheads. Drink 2026 – 2045 14.5% alc 97 points

2021 Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide Environs South Australia

Deep crimson. Expressive pure blackberry, dark chocolate, sesame, vanilla aromas with herb garden/ chinotto notes. Very well-balanced blackberry, mulberry, dark cherry fruits, fine grainy firm textures, superb mid palate density and well-integrated sesame, vanilla, hint ginger oak notes. Finishes claret firm with seductive sweet fruits. A fine vintage for Magill Estate. 100% Shiraz, 19 months maturation in 90% new French oak and 10% new American oak hogsheads. Drink 2025 – 2040 14.5% alc 95 points

2020 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz, South Australia

Deep crimson. Fragrant inky, blackberry, graphite aromas with hints of roasted walnut and spice. Complex and evolved with blackberry, dark chocolate, tobacco leaf, chinotto flavours, fine loose knit lacy chalky firm tannins, and underlying graphite, walnut notes. Finishes claret firm and tight. A refined style with lovely complexity and mineral length. Should develop very well. 100% Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, 12 months maturation in large seasoned oak vats. Drink 2025 – 2040 14.5% 96 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, South Australia

Deep crimson. Classical Bin 389 with intense blackberry, dark chocolate, mocha aromas and roasted almond, roasted chestnut, hint sesame nuances. Generous, smooth and velvety with ample blackberry, dark chocolate, roasted chestnut/ roasted walnut, grilled nut flavours, fine looseknit chocolaty tannins, beautifully integrated oak complexity and sinuous long fresh minerally saline acidity. Finishes velvety firm with a fine tannin plume. A superb vintage which will develop and improve further with bottle age. A keeper. 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully, Padthaway, 12 months maturation in seasoned and new 37% American oak hogsheads. Drink 2025 – 2045 14.5% 97 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia

Deep crimson. Lifted cassis, plum, praline, bush garrigue aromas. Generous and supple textured with plentiful choco-berry mint flavours, fine grainy al dente chewy tannins, attractive inky density and underlying savoury notes. Finishes firm, tight and minerally with leafy notes. Elegant, well defined and impactful regional-all-sorts wine. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Barossa Valley, Adelaide. 12 months maturation 67% one-year-old seasoned, 25% new American and 12% new French oak hogsheads. Drink now – 2032 93 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz, Barossa Valley South Australia

Deep crimson. Blackberry, dark chocolate, roasted almond, marzipan aromas with cedar wood notes. Beautifully concentrated wine with complex dark chocolate, blackberry, espresso flavours, fine grainy/ graphite tannins and well-integrated mocha, marzipan oak notes. Finishes cedar firm and minerally. Still oak dominant but well matched to the fruit density. Should develop very well. 100% Shiraz, 18 months maturation in 42% oak puncheons, 29% new French and 29% new American oak hogsheads. Drink 2025 – 2035+ 14.5% alc 96 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz, South Australia

Medium deep crimson. Classical blackberry, dark chocolate, mocha aromas with roasted walnut, hint spice/ aniseed notes. Richly concentrated and velvety textured wine with ample blackberry, praline flavours, fine dense chocolaty firm tannins and underlying roasted walnut savoury notes. Finishes claret firm with aniseed notes and persistent seductive sweet fruits. Exemplifies the art of blending. Delicious and timeless Australian style. One of the best ever Bin 28 vintages. 100% Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, Wrattonbully, Clare Valley. 12 months maturation in 7% new and 93% seasoned American oak hogsheads. Drink now – 2035 14.5% alc 97 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz, Coonawarra South Australia

Medium deep crimson. Attractive cassis, blackberry sage aromas with roasted walnut notes. Fresh and complex with ample blackcurrant, blackberry, hint minty flavours, fine soft grainy tannins and underlying chocolaty roasted walnut notes. Finishes long and sweet. Some aniseed notes at the finish. 100% Shiraz, 12 months in 57% seasoned, 22% one-year-old and 21% new French oak hogsheads. Drink now – 2034 14.5% alc 93 points

2021 Penfolds Bin 138 Grenache Shiraz Mataro, Barossa Valley South Australia

Medium crimson. Fragrant musky plum, blackberry, chinotto, cola aromas. Inky textured and smooth with lovely musky plum, blackberry pastille fruits, some cola notes, fine lacy textures and attractive mid palate viscosity. Finishes silky and long with a fine lacy plume. A lovely fruit driven early drinking style. 50% Grenache, 44% Shiraz, 6% Mataro, 12 months maturation in 88% seasoned, 10% new French and 2% new American oak hogsheads. Drink now – Keep for a while 14.5% alc 94 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 21 Grenache, Barossa Valley South Australia

Medium crimson. Fresh camomile, musky plum, cola aromas with some savoury notes. Well concentrated pure musky plum, chinotto flavours, fine slinky textures, attractive mid palate viscosity and fresh long acidity. Finishes with aniseed notes. Classical and expressive early drinking style. 100% Grenache, matured in a combination 5% one-year-old and 6% new French oak and other parcels primarily seasoned oak. Drink now – keep for a while 14.5% alc 92 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 23 Pinot Noir, Tasmania

Medium crimson. Fresh pure strawberry, raspberry aromas with hint vanilla, roasted walnut notes. Supple and round on the palate with ripe strawberry, raspberry, red cherry fruits, fine lacy textures, very good mid palate viscosity and fresh long crunchy acidity. An appealing early drinking style. 100% Pinot Noir. Maturation in a combination of primarily seasoned and 35% new French oak barriques. Drink now – keep for a while 13.5% alc 92 points

Whites

2021 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay, South East Australia

Pale colour. Classic grapefruit, white peach, roasted almond aromas with attractive flinty notes. Beautifully concentrated chardonnay with superb pure grapefruit, lime, stone fruit flavours, fine lacy textures, impressive mid-palate generosity, underlying marzipan, vanilla notes and fresh flinty complexity. Finishes minerally and long. Electrifying wine with wonderful volume, fruit definition, weight, complexity and energy. Highlights a marvellous vintage and years of improving the style. 100% Chardonnay, Tasmania, Tumbarumba, New South Wales and Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Nine months maturation in 30% seasoned and 70% new French oak barriques. Drink now – 2036 13% alc 100 points

2022 Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills South Australia

Pale colour. Vibrant grapefruit, lemon curd aromas with light marzipan, flinty notes. Richly concentrated grapefruit, nectarine, lemon fruits, fine chalky, touch al dente textures, attractive mid-palate creaminess and fresh long cutting acidity. Finish crisp and tight. Should develop in the bottle very well. Very precise but keep for a year before drinking. 100% Chardonnay. Eight months in 25% seasoned and 75% new French oak barriques. Drink 2024 – 2032 12.5% alc 95 points

2022 Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay, Tasmania and South East Australia

Pale colour. Fragrant camomile, grapefruit, tonic water, flinty, hint verbena aromas. Supple and creamy textured with fresh grapefruit, bitter lemon flavours, fine lacy textures and indelible long acidity. Very fresh and minerally with al dente notes at the finish. 100% Chardonnay, Tasmania, Tumbarumba, Adelaide Hills, eight months maturation in seasoned and 34% new French oak barriques. Drink now – 2028 12.5% alc 93 points

2023 Penfolds Bin 51 Riesling, Eden Valley, South Australia

Pale colour. Lime, grapefruit, camomile aromas with flinty, hint talc notes. Pure fruited wine with lemon, grapefruit camomile, tonic water flavours, fine al dente textures and fresh long mineral acidity. Lovely mouthwatering finish. A high quality Eden Valley Riesling with lovely fragrance, volume, moderately low alcohol and torque. Should develop very well. Drink now – 2030 11% alc 94 points

Penfolds Californian Release

2019 Penfolds Quantum Bin 98 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley/South Australia USA / Australia

Deep crimson. Lifted pure cassis, black cherry, mulberry, hint black olive aromas with espresso, mocha notes. Voluminous, chocolaty and vigorous with ample blackcurrant, black cherry mulberry fruits, dense fine/ al dente/ bittersweet tannins, superb mid-palate richness/ viscosity and beautifully balanced mocha, espresso notes. Finishes chalky firm and minerally with plush and seductive choco-berry fruits. Timeless, complex and perfectly balanced wine. An superb alter-ego Penfoldsian wine. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 16 months maturation in 80% new American oak and 20% new French oak barriques. Drink 2026 – 2045 14.5% alc 98 points

2020 Penfolds Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley California USA

Medium deep crimson. Intense blackcurrant, mocha, espresso aromas with cedar, roasted chestnut notes. Richly concentrated wine with blackcurrant, praline, mocha, touch panforte, chinotto flavours, dense chocolaty/ dusty tannins and well-balanced cedar/ sandalwood notes, Finishes chocolaty with fresh long acidity. Elemental wine needing time to develop to allow oak, fruit and tannins to fold into each other. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16 months maturation in 80% new French and 20% new American oak barriques. Drink 2025 – 2045 14.5% 94+ points

2020 Penfolds Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley California USA

Medium deep crimson. Pure cassis, mulberry, cola aromas with vanilla, cinnamon notes. Round and supple with inky blackcurrant, musky dark plum chinotto flavours, fine bittersweet lacy tannins, underlying cedar oak notes and fresh long saline/ mineral acidity. Finishes firm and tight. Beautifully focused wine with understated power, complexity and torque. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. 16 months maturation in seasoned and 40% new French oak barriques. Drink 2026 – 2040 14.5% alc 96 points

2020 Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz, California USA

Deep crimson. Very Penfolds in style with intense dark chocolate, blackberry, cassis aromas and some roasted walnut, roasted chestnut notes. Inky, supple and densely concentrated with dark chocolate, blackberry, cassis, mocha flavours, fine looseknit chocolaty tannins and beautifully balanced new oak notes. Finishes chocolatey, minerally with seductive dark berry, praline notes. Effortless, seamless and sinuous. 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Shiraz, sourced from Napa Valley and Paso Robles.16 months in 40% new and seasoned American oak barriques Delicious wine. Drink now – 2040 14.5% alc 97 points

2020 Penfolds Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley California USA

Deep colour. Lovely complex dark plum, hint panforte, mocha aromas with hint marzipan/ vanilla/ smoky notes. Generous, expressive and ripe with musky plum, prune, praline, chinotto flavours, dense chocolaty tannins, very good mid palate concentration/ buoyancy and well-balanced mocha/ marzipan oak notes. Finishes chocolaty and long. Sweet fruited, plush, almost decadent wine to suit the American taste. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. 16 months maturation on 100% new French oak barriques. Drink now – 2040 14.5% alc 94 points

Penfolds French Release

Penfolds x Dourthe II Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, South Australia France (mixed vintage)

Medium crimson. Pure blackcurrant, praline, mocha aromas with hints of marzipan and spice. Generous and inky deep with ample cassis, dark plum, dark chocolate flavours, fine grainy, touch al dente/ chewy tannins and underlying cedar, spice notes. Builds up claret firm at the finish with a tannin plume. Compact and dense with lovely volume, richness and vigour. Should unravel with a few years of bottle age. Maturation in new and seasoned oak barriques and hogsheads. A cross hemisphere blend bottled in South Australia from the 2021 South Australian and 2020 Bordeaux vintages. Bottled in Australia. Keep for a while – 2040 14% alc 95 points

2020 Penfolds FWT 585 Cabernet Merlot Petit Verdot, Bordeaux France

Medium deep crimson. Fresh and evolving dark plum, black cherry, roasted chestnut, sesame aromas with cedar and spice notes. Well concentrated dark plum, cedar wood flavours, fine chocolatey touch grippy textures, attractive mid palate density and fresh well integrated acidity. Finishes cedary firm. Vigorous and elemental needing some time to mesh. But a very good synergy of Penfolds style versus the regional fine-grained nature of Medoc claret. 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot, 12 months maturation in 61% one-year-old, 20% new French and 19% new American oak barriques. Matured at Ch Cambon Pelouse. Drink now – 2040 13.5% alc 93 points

• 2025
  • 11 Feb 2025 Penfolds
  • 11 Feb 2025 Seppeltsfield
• 2024
  • 22 Dec 2024 Tahbilk and the Purbrick Family: A 100-year Story of Winemaking
  • 23 Sept 2024 2024 Terre à Terre & DAOSA
  • 26 Aug 2024 2024 Giant Steps
  • 18 July 2024 Giaconda
  • 16 July 2024 Bekkers
  • 8 May 2024 Wynns
  • 1 Apr 2024 Cullen
  • 14 Mar 2024 2023 Vintage - Château Séraphine and Clos Cantenac
  • 10 Mar 2024 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir
• 2023
  • 29 Nov 2023 Mitchelton Celebrating 50 Years
  • 6 Oct 2023 Henschke
  • 15 June 2023 Handpicked