One of Australia’s most anticipated annual wine events is Penfolds’ unveiling of “The Collection,” which are the new vintage releases of the luxury brands within the extensive and ever-growing Penfolds portfolio.

Back in Black

Led by the brand’s outspoken chief winemaker, Peter Gago, this year’s post-Covid around-the-world roadshow of The Collection tastings was more spectacular than ever, focused on launching two new wines from Bordeaux. I happened to be in Bordeaux while Gago and the Penfolds marketing team hosted a three-day media presentation of their Bordeaux project for journalists flown in from around the world. I skipped all the fanfare and fun, instead getting straight to a one-hour private tasting with Gago.

For the first of their two upcoming releases out of Bordeaux, Penfolds has partnered with the large negociant/producer Dourthe. The wine, Penfolds II Cabernet Shiraz Merlot, is a true hybrid of the two countries, blending wines from Bordeaux and South Australia. The Dourthe/Bordeaux portion of the wine is 59% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Merlot, made at Dourthe’s facilities in Bordeaux. This is blended with 29% Australian/Penfolds Shiraz, mainly sourced from the Barossa and Coonawarra, and made at Penfolds Nuriootpa Winery. Both countries’ components were blended and bottled in South Australia.

Penfolds has also produced a Bordeaux wine that is all their own for the first time. This is the 2019 FWT 585, the “FWT” standing for French Winemaking Trial, akin to their famous RWT/Red Winemaking Trial label, with a nod towards their experimentation and constant development ethos. The wine combines fruit from Bordeaux with winemaking techniques from Australia, such as aging a small proportion (14%) in new American oak barriques. The fruit for this new label is sourced from the Haut-Médoc, specifically from Château Cambon La Pelouse (where the wine was made), Belle-Vue, and Gironville—all owned by parent-company Treasury Wine Estates. Their winemaker on the ground for this project is Emma Wood. This is a delicious first effort with enough bright, fruit-forward styling to set it apart, but with a US SRP $80 price tag, there is better value among the Bordeaux 2019s to be had at this quality level.

And the second release of the “hemispherical mirror image of Bin 407” is the 2019 Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon from various Treasury Wine Estates sources in Napa Valley, continuing to deliver a solid Napa Cab experience with subtle Aussie markers such as turned-up vibrancy and freshness.

Labeled as a “Wine of the World,” the 2019 Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon is mainly from Napa Valley with the addition of 10.9% South Australian A1 grade Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of the Napa fruit for this label comes from selections from Treasury Wine Estates’ vineyards, such as Beringer, Sterling Vineyards, and Stags’ Leap Winery. The wine was matured for 17 months in 80% French oak and 20% American oak, all new. The significant change this year, apart from the slightly riper vintage in Napa compared to the 2018, is the use of more French oak than American oak. This resulted in a subtler, more elegantly crafted, and ultimately better wine—nicely done!

Readers should note that the ultra-luxury priced Australian/Napa blend, Quantum 2019, will not be released until next year.

It was exciting to get back to tasting the Australian new releases this year, having had a break from reviewing this country’s wines for the last few years. True to form, it wouldn’t be a Penfolds Australia portfolio tasting without something new to reveal. Following in the footsteps of Penfolds G3, which was a multi-vintage blend of Grange 2008, 2012, and 2014, and G4 (a 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2016 blend), I was invited to taste a new Chardonnay with the working title, “Penfolds V.” This is a blend of five Yattarna vintages: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2021. Credit where it’s due, the wine is an enticing take on the usually very tight-knit, austere-in-youth Yattarna expression, delivering a mélange of satisfying maturity with compelling sprightliness. Among the usual suspects, 2020 Yattarna, 2019 St Henri, and 2020 RWT all gave a respectable showing this year, but the show-stealer was the much-anticipated 2018 Grange.

True to form, it wouldn’t be a Penfolds Australia portfolio tasting without something new to reveal.

"Everything was in balance in 2018."

- Peter Gago

“Everything was in balance in 2018,” Gago told me as we tasted the 2018 Grange. “We had a very long Indian summer. You could dial up the harvest when you wanted. In 2020 we had the fires, but not in 2018. In 2018, we had a bevy of riches at the Grade A fruit level. We’re looking for muscularity for Grange, and this 2018 has a lot of muscle. As you know, we were able to make two new super blends this year (referring to the 2018 802.A and 802.B wines, released last year). And you know when we bring these super blends out, we’ve had a great year.”