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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2007 and 2014 (based on 26 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 88.1 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 127 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by PapaCheese on 8/25/2023 & rated 95 points: 20 years young. Rich berry colour and flavour. Clean cork, easily pulled. Delicious. (502 views) | | | Tasted by PapaCheese on 11/9/2022: Nearly 20 years old, and delicious. (868 views) | | | Tasted by Loft on 4/1/2022: Still drinking great. Plenty of life in the old girl still! (1041 views) | | | Tasted by PaulDon on 12/25/2021 & rated 91 points: Still strong and good complexity (1232 views) | | | Tasted by stevedc on 6/14/2020 & rated 92 points: Super soft, great fruit, peppery notes. Superb shiraz, is not getting any better but holding strong for its age. (2060 views) | | | Tasted by Neecies on 2/27/2020: Purple color. Saturated black currant flavors with cedar and clove spice. (1975 views) | | | Tasted by bhague on 12/26/2019 & rated 89 points: Still drinking well (1600 views) | | | Tasted by Bandreas on 2/2/2019: Dark, saturated blackish red color, just a touch of bricking at the edge.
On the nose the typical sweet smell of Shiraz, quite powerful, a one-tone-note which has a certain allure...
On the palate a bit mono-chromatic; also: the wine borders the jammy side. It is sweeter than it used to be and I think that Penfolds fell for the "allure" of early 2000's fashion: over-concentrating the fruit and placing an emphasis on ripeness and sweetness .
This was border-line for me; my wife quite enjoyed it. I think that, lamentably, with Penfolds going over to the other side, another bastion of conservative wine-making, driving for elegance rather than power, has fallen.
Such a pity.... (2076 views) | | | Tasted by empire80 on 10/13/2017 & rated 90 points: Last bottle. Sweet spicy fruit, good length, typical Penfolds longevity, great stuff, despite relatively poor vintage. (2978 views) | | | Tasted by sjw_11 on 8/22/2017: Consumed for enjoyment only over dinner, no formal notes. This was cellared by me professionally from release. Purchased from Dan Murphy in Payneham for a marvellous $16.90/bottle or thereabout. Drinking very nicely. I don't see a lot more in the future, but no rush to drink. (2399 views) | | | Tasted by empire80 on 10/1/2016 & rated 91 points: Very pleasurable mature bin 28. (3274 views) | | | Tasted by IlonaN on 4/9/2016 & rated 90 points: We opened a mini-vertical of this 2003 and also the 2010 vintages of the Bin 28. If anything, the 2003 seemed more youthful, deep and dark in color with lovely spiced blackberries and sweet smoke. Very, very good. (3925 views) | | | Tasted by Tao on 3/31/2016 & rated 89 points: Unmistakably a nice bottle of Aussie shiraz! Still very dark in colour! Caramel fruity nose! Rustic fruits on the palate! A correct bottle of wine! Just a little boring! Perhaps pair it with a big piece of grilled steak will enhance your pleasure! (3606 views) | | | Tasted by GregK59 on 1/3/2016 & rated 89 points: Coffee, developed fruit and spice nose, drying fruit with good blackcurrant and coffee flavours. Fruit is starting to fade but is has good mid palate although the finish is a little short and has a hint of alcoholic hotness. Unlikely to improve but may hold for a few more years. (2860 views) | | | Tasted by Southern Wine Buff on 12/18/2015 & rated 86 points: Decanted for approx one hour prior to drinking. Good balance and complexity, with fabulous mid-palate. Tannins are starting to fade. Strong blackcurrant overtones with obvious dusty notes and fading pepper on the finish. Should continue to drink well for next 2-3 years, but unlikely I think to improve on where it is now. Partnered with slow roast lamb. (2755 views) | | | Tasted by apm1971 on 12/12/2014: Drink now to 2013 - Penfolds 2008 (2981 views) | | | Tasted by guy12 on 5/2/2014 & rated 84 points: Still a bit tight, should have decanted first. Some nice aged notes starting to come through (3160 views) | | | Tasted by Simplicious on 2/9/2014 & rated 84 points: Dark crimson red and cola color, strong alcohol with a hint of aniseed on the nose, benefits from decanting, palate is fruit forward with a bit of chocolate and cocoa. Decent finish with some pepper. Good value, holding up well. (3443 views) | | | Tasted by notudden on 4/19/2013 & rated 91 points: Smooth, mellow taste. Great! (4900 views) | | | Tasted by mike808 on 3/31/2013 & rated 88 points: Poured and waited 10 minutes. No alchohol heat, nice fruit.
20 minutes later, a little peppery finish on the palate, with the same nice fruit to start with. Drinking very well now. Paired with veal leg roast and a shakshuka. (4682 views) | | | Tasted by John Nezlek on 1/31/2013 & rated 89 points: 90, whatever. Nice bottle. Dry without being over done. Smooth, a little "meaty". Penfolds has outstanding values in this price range. Don't see the need for holding, but it might be interesting to see what happens. (3719 views) | | | Tasted by notudden on 12/31/2012 & rated 90 points: Öppnade direkt för att dricka. Vältempererad! Fantastisk! Med ren ytterfile, jordärtskockspure och rödvinsås kom vinet väl till sin rätt. (3379 views) | | | Tasted by notudden on 12/26/2012 & rated 84 points: Smakar bra med älgstek, gräddsås och gelé. Men bör drickas i närtid! Har passerat sin zenit, men är ännu klart drickbar. (3216 views) | | | Tasted by *Vine* on 12/22/2012 flawed bottle: Corked. (2265 views) | | | Tasted by askmrwizard on 12/8/2012 & rated 87 points: Temperature seemed to change the character quickly. Opened it right out of the cellar and when too cold was overrun with spice and tannin. Afew minutes on the table and the fruit opened up and the palate smoothed out to a smooth finish. (2428 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
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About Us
Australia's winemaking history of less than two hundred years is brief by European measures though, like Europe, punctuated by periods of extreme success and difficult times. From the earliest winemaking days Penfolds has figured prominently and few would argue the importance of Penfolds’ influence on Australia’s winemaking psyche.
Without the influence of Penfolds the modern Australian wine industry would look very different indeed. Sitting comfortably outside of fad and fashion, Penfolds has taken Australian wine to the world on a grand stage and forged a reputation for quality that is without peer.
Penfolds’ reputation for making wines of provenance and cellaring potential might suggest a mantle of tradition and formality is the preferred attire of a company with so much history to defend. But to label Penfolds as simply an established and conventional winemaker, would be to confuse tradition with consideration and to overlook the innovative spirit that has driven Penfolds since its foundation, and continues to find expression in modern times.
If there is anything traditional about Penfolds, it is the practice of constantly reviewing the wines it already does well, and continuously evolving and refining styles as vineyards mature and access to ever older and more varied vineyard sites improves.
Making The Best Possible Wine
At Penfolds, the role of the winemaker is to make the best possible wine within the constraints of each vintage. Penfolds’ house style emerged from a fortified-wine producing culture and evolved as a winemaking philosophy – a way of making wine – which has had a profound effect on the entire Australian wine industry.
The concept of multi-regional and vineyard blending, a feature of the Penfolds house style, is an amplification of the ‘all-round wine’. Without the constraints of a single vineyard, winemakers could choose the best possible fruit with the outstanding characteristics of each vineyard.
While American oak has played a central role in the development of Penfolds red wines, French oak has been increasingly used in the evolution of new wines – particularly RWT and Yattarna. Maturation in oak, which follows fermentation, is also key to the Penfolds house style.
The Penfolds approach to winemaking has percolated through the entire Australian wine industry over the last 50 years. The techniques employed in research and development of Penfolds wines are remarkable and many of the discoveries and innovations have had a lasting impact on winemaking thinking.
Winemakers
In Max Schubert, Don Ditter, John Duval and Peter Gago, Penfolds has nurtured four of Australia's great winemakers. They have passed the Chief Winemaker’s baton of responsibility for crafting some of Australia's most iconic wines, down through the past six decades.
Joining Peter Gago in the Penfolds winemaking team are Senior Red Winemaker Steve Lienert, Senior White Winemaker Kym Schroeter, and Red Winemakers Andrew Baldwin, Adam Clay, Stephanie Dutton and Matt Woo - also the Penfolds Fortified Winemaker. All members of the Penfolds winemaking team ensure that Penfolds’ reputation for outstanding quality is upheld.
Vineyards
Barossa Valley
Penfolds draws fruit from a combined vineyard area of 618 hectares in the Barossa region of South Australia. The Barossa is about 70 kilometres north of Adelaide and in 1911 Penfolds established a winery at Nuriootpa, completed in time for the 1913 vintage. The Barossa region is known for its relatively low rainfall with many vineyards dry grown on single wire trellising.
Magill Estate
The historic and heritage-protected Magill Estate Vineyard was established in 1844 by Dr Christopher Rawson and Mary Penfold—just eight years after the foundation of Adelaide. It was originally known as the Grange Vineyard, named after their new homestead ‘The Grange’, a cottage which still stands intact amongst the vines.
Eden Valley
Joseph Gilbert planted the first vines in the Eden Valley in 1842 and since that time the region has become synonymous with producing elegant riesling and complex shiraz. While its name suggests a concave nature, Eden Valley is actually a wide ridge, situated east of the Barossa Valley with an altitude ranging from 440 – 550 metres.
McLaren Vale
McLaren Vale is located approximately 40km to the south of Adelaide, with the vineyards in the region located between 6 and 15 kilometres from the Gulf of St Vincent. The elevation ranges from 50 to 350 metres above sea level. Penfolds has company owned vineyards throughout the region, using the fruit as blending components for premium red wines such as Grange and Bin 389.
Coonawarra
Penfolds has had a long history with the Coonawarra region, dating back to their first vineyard purchase in 1960. It is one of the most famous red wine regions in Australia with weathered limestone terra rossa soils, relatively cool climate and overall water availability. Coonawarra has played a significant role in many of Penfolds' multi-regional wines as well as the single region wines such as Bin 128.
James Halliday Australian Wine Companion Winery Of The Year 2014: Penfolds
Penfolds is Australia’s foremost winemaker, with an unbroken line dating back to its establishment in 1844 when medical practitioner Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold and wife Mary purchased ‘the delightfully situated and truly valuable of Mackgill … Comprising 500 acres (202 hectares) of the choicest land’. Here they built the house that still stands today, and within a few years had begun the winery and cellar on the site of today’s buildings at Magill Estate.
Mary took charge of winemaking, initially producing grenache prescribed by her husband as a tonic for anaemic patients. By 1870 she, son-in-law Thomas Hyland and cellar manager/winemaker Joseph Gillard had formed Penfolds & Co. With markets in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, their wine production was over one-third of South Australia’s total.
Growth continued unabated, and in 1945 Penfolds acquired the jewel of the Magill Vineyard, at that time the largest vineyard in South Australia. It now has 2100 hectares of vineyards, the largest share of Australia’s total. Two men came together in the 1950s to lay the foundation of Penfolds today: winemaker Max Schubert, and research chemist Ray Beckwith (who died shortly after his 100th birthday in 2012); indeed, their contribution transcended Penfolds to the entire Australian wine industry.
The architecture for the Penfolds wine portfolio of the twenty-first century was established in the 1960s, half a century ago. There has been growth, both in the range of labels and their price points, but it has been cleverly – indeed sensitively – managed; demand-driven growth has been achieved without any quality compromise whatsoever.
There is no possibility that the pre-eminence of Penfolds will ever be challenged by any other Australian wine business. Equally certain is that the Penfolds brand value will continue to gain ground on the world stage of all consumable products. If proof be needed, the overall quality of the wines in this Wine Companion is the best Penfolds has ever presented to the markets of the globe.
Author: James Halliday Jul 20132003 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 28 KalimnaHere is a PDF file from the producer for the 2003 Bin 28.Penfolds Shiraz Bin 28 KalimnaPenfolds Bin 28 is a showcase for warm-climate Australian Shiraz - ripe, robust and generously flavoured. First made in 1959, Bin 28 is named after the famous Barossa Valley Kalimna vineyard purchased by Penfolds in 1945 and from which the wine was originally sourced. Today, Bin 28 is a multi-region, multivineyard blend, with the Barossa Valley always well represented, providing a substantial proportion of the fruit for this vintage.
The earliest releases of Bin 28 were single-vineyard wines, produced from grapes grown on the famous Kalimna vineyard at the northern end of the Barossa Valley. With demand increasing, it became essential to extend sourcing to regions outside the Barossa and so during the 1970s, Bin 28 became a multi-regional, warm-climate South Australian blend.
Early vinification techniques originated from the development of Grange. Today the wine is matured in older American oak hogsheads to enhance fruit complexity and natural tannin structure.
Bin 28 is inherently richer in style than Bin 128 and Koonunga Hill and despite the fact that it can be an earlier drinking style, this wine has a reputation for improving with medium-term cellaring in the right conditions.Shiraz Varietal article (Wikipedia) | Varietal character (Appellation America)Australia Wine Australia (Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation) | Australian Wines (Wikipedia)South Australia South Australian Wine Industry Association | South Australian Wines (Wikipedia) |
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