The annual Penfolds new release trade tasting is always a much anticipated event, especially by those who ply their trade attempting to describe the nuance of a given growing season and winemaking prowess presented in an aqueous solution.
This year's event was a special one as Penfolds celebrates 180 years of winemaking excellence. An impressive series of wines were presented spanning Penfolds endeavours in four countries – Australia, USA, France and China.
Special too, as the event was held in a tasting pod at the historic Kalimna Homestead on Belvedere Road in the northern Barossa Valley. The spot overlooks the gentle rolling vines of the Kalimna vineyard, planted circa 1890 by D and J Fowler, before being purchased by Penfolds in 1945. A shiraz from the vineyard, the Bin 28, first appeared with the 1959 vintage.
It was fitting, staring out over these northern Barossa vineyards that had played an important role in the Penfolds story to consider how successful they have been as an ambassador for Australian wine.
The Penfolds Collection 2024 tasting was held at the Kalimna Homestead in the Barossa Valley.The Penfolds icon wines are revered in all global wine markets for their masterful multi-regional blending and strong bloodline of cellaring performance, the rarest of wines such as the 1951 Grange fetching stratospheric prices on the secondary market.
In recent years, Penfolds has made winemaking forays into other countries with impressive results: Champagne Thiénot x Penfolds, the Vin de France offering of the Penfolds French Winemaking Trial; the collaboration with Dourthe Bordeaux, a blend of cabernet sauvignon from Bordeaux and Coonawarra; and a very promising Chinese wine, a blend of cabernet sauvignon and marselan from the Shangri-La and Ningxia wine regions.
For me, the US wines were the pick of the bunch with the Howell Mountain Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc leading the charge and strong showings from the Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz (Napa Valley/Paso Robles) and the excellent Bin 149, a blend of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc from Napa Valley and South Australia.
It was a very strong showing indeed for Penfolds Australian releases with excellent quality across the whole range. The white wines under watchful eye of winemaker Kym Schroeter were looking very smart and, as is to be expected, the Grange, 707, RWT, Bin 169 and Magill Estate shone brightly in the lineup.
For value, the 2022 Bin 389 was looking in fantastic form, the newly released St Henri, from the outstanding 2021 vintage, was probably the best young wine under that label that I have seen and the Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz just seems to go from strength to strength.
Penfolds have a stellar track record when it comes to their Special Bin wines, and to mark the 180th milestone there is the release of the Bin 180 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz from the superb 2021 vintage.
It’s a beautiful wine. Cabernet sauvignon from Block 10 and shiraz from Block 5, all consistent sources of raw materials for Grange, Bin 707 and Bin 169 and with its graceful lines, tight structural architecture and latent power, I have no doubt that it will age beautifully for decades to come.
An impressive lineup of new releases for such a momentous anniversary and I loved the quip from chief winemaker Peter Gago in this year's tasting booklet. “Two decades into the new millennium. Penfolds 180th anniversary year. Following the stellar Grange vintages of 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2016 ... No pressure.”
