Penfolds Collection: three more more affordable red wines
It’s not all about Grange: Penfolds has more affordable wines that also have a story to tell.
If you were to buy a single bottle of each of the 17 wines in the 2020 Penfolds Collection released on July 23, your credit card would receive a $3385 hit. In the days when frequent flyer points were useful in reducing holiday costs, many charged everything to their cards. Since the skies emptied overnight, loyalty programs aren’t what they used to be.
But, and it’s a big but, Grange is an aphrodisiac for a multitude of fine wine consumers who read everything written about the new vintage of Grange and I’m not going to spoil their party. Chief winemaker (and marketer) Peter Gago points to the track record of the ’86, ’96 and now ’16, and suggests all three are of the “classic” genre. As my tasting note implies, I agree.
But it’s not all about Grange; Penfolds has more affordable red wines that have a story to tell. The 2018 Magill Estate Shiraz (96 points, $150) is from the small remnant of the vineyard planted by Dr Christopher Penfold in 1844, now completely surrounded by houses. Oak plays second fiddle to gently spiced red and black cherry fruit. The RWT Bin 798 Barossa Shiraz (2018: 97 points, $200) debuted in ’00 with the release of the ’97 vintage. Someone had pointed out that Penfolds, a paragon of shiraz and of the Barossa Valley, didn’t make a single Barossa shiraz. The winemakers rectified this, using 18 months maturation in 100% French oak (66% new). It’s flashy and opulent, its depth of black fruits nonchalantly dealing with the thrust of oak and tannins. Like Grange, give it 10 years’ rest.
The 2018 Bin 150 Marananga Barossa Valley Shiraz (95 points, $100) is the youngest member of the family, born in ’08 in the Marananga district in the heart of the valley floor. It has one foot in the past, one in the present, American and French barrels sharing 50% new oak. It’s densely packed with ripe berry fruits, earth and licorice.
2016 Penfolds Grange Bin 95
18 months in new American oak. The detail is superb, light and shade allowing blackberry and plum fruit pride of place, and also flashes of spice and licorice. It’s as mouthwatering with the last taste as the first, its 7.3g/l of acidity leaving the mouth fresh. 14.5% alc, cork 99 points, drink to 2066, $950
2018 Penfolds Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
A purist’s cabernet, turning its face on the mastery of the regional blending, the birthmark of the Penfolds red wine style. Vive la difference. Tannin is the heartbeat here, cassis and olive tapenade wrapped around the tannin, not vice versa. 14.5% alc, cork 97 points, drink to 2043, $360
2018 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz
The 60th anniversary of Bin 389. It is a six-region 57/43% blend, matured in American hogsheads (38% new). A perennial favourite of mine, with great colour and a supple mouthfeel that gives the wine a touch of elegance, underlined by the fluid, flawless balance and length. 14.5% alc, screwcap 96 points, drink to 2040, $100
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