St Henri was the same price as Grange when the two were first released in the 1950s. 2010 St Henri declared that this label is still deserving of greater respect than it is afforded, and 2012 confirms that this was no one-off. The mild summer, dry autumn and even development of small berries and bunches […]

read

Any reservations Penfolds Senior White Winemaker Kym Schroeter has of 2014 in Tumbarumba he certainly doesn’t hold for the Adelaide Hills, a season he ranks up with 2012 for its structure and longevity. This is a Bin A of body, concentration and grand persistence, declaring fermentation and nine months maturation in 82% new 225L barriques […]

read

“Almost perfect conditions” in Magill produced what Penfolds Senior Red Winemaker Steve Lienert as one of the best Magill Estates. Winter rain, warm Dec and Jan, pristine conditions for mid-Feb harvest. Blueberry and mulberry fruits are framed in firm oak structure (71% new French oak and 24% new American), making for a slightly astringent oak […]

read

The total production of Yattarna is just 500-1000 cases, one-tenth that of Grange. A warm, low-cropping, intense and less than outstanding year in the Adelaide Hills shifted the focus of sourcing to the Coal and Derwent Valleys of Tasmania, which account for 90% of the blend. The result is a powerful Yattarna, a vintage of […]

read

2013 is a blockbuster vintage for RWT, a dry, warm season of lower yields and heightened concentration of black fruits and liquorice, confidently met by the prominent dark chocolate and vanilla custard mood of French oak and a towering wall of firm, fine tannins. Fruit, oak and tannins ascend in unison, maintaining balance and form, […]

read

A blend of three Coonawarra vineyards, 2013 brings an altogether different personality to Bin 169 than 2008 (two blocks) and 2010 (one block). This impressive season in Coonawarra delivered a warm December and January and a cool to mild autumn, furnishing conditions for a classic Coonawarra cabernet of fragrance, vibrancy and tang. It’s built on […]

read

2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Max Schubert’s birth. There’s something more than a little nostalgic about this release, and I feel Schubert would be proud. Not just because it’s the blend he championed, or because it has such polish that defines the modern era of Penfolds, but that it harks back to the toned […]

read

An earlier release date and the earliest media preview tasting yet do little to flatter the long-ageing Penfolds red style. This year the cabernets reflected this most emphatically, and none more than 707. I hung back at the tasting, long after everyone else had retired for Billecart-Salmon and consequently for lunch, just to give these […]

read

Grange is made every year, in spite of the season, and while the price went up for the great vintage of 2008, it’s not coming down for the lesser 2011. This is the sixth Grange in as many decades to be 100% shiraz, and the focus is on warmer regions in this cool, wet season, […]

read