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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.1 pts. and median of 88 pts. in 22 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by ValtotheC on 9/7/2022 & rated 100 points: Lovely (989 views) | | | Tasted by Willi Vinotti on 12/29/2020 & rated 81 points: Super over extracted, no balance, sheer tannins and soapy oak notes. Ageing will not help, rather stay away. (1948 views) | | | Tasted by ferrington1969 on 4/16/2020 & rated 87 points: Limited bouquet but full, and initially smooth on the tongue but gives way to a sharpness - not for me (2494 views) | | | Tasted by Precious Red on 9/15/2019 & rated 82 points: Don’t drink yet (3167 views) | | | Tasted by Avid Wino on 12/26/2018 & rated 89 points: Guzzled a glass with roast dinner on a stinking hot summer’s hot day so didn’t form much more impression than that it is shiraz dominant with red, blue, black fruits. Chocolate. Bit of structure. Enjoyed drinking and would like to have a better look at this. (4044 views) | | | Tasted by BrendanMcS on 9/28/2018 & rated 91 points: Dark red in color. Nice cherry nose. A good spice to it. Red cheer. Black pepper. A little tobacco. Dark flavors. Chocolate. A sweetness to it as well. Shiraz is very prominent up front. Finished like a Cabernet. Very enjoyable. (3697 views) | | | Tasted by Dad300 on 8/24/2018 & rated 90 points: Beautiful red color. Legs are decent. Balanced acidity and tannins. Smooth drinking but still pretty young. This is ready to lay down for a few more years. Probably 3 years but up to 10 personally. Think this is a hidden gem. Fruit is good.medium body. Hint of dryness. Finish is relatively quick but long enough. Just we hst I'm looking for from a midrange penfolds (2745 views) | | | Tasted by swarup on 8/18/2018 & rated 89 points: Nice nose of primarily black fruit and pepper. Palette had black stone fruit and berries with a touch of olive brine. (1999 views) | | | Tasted by emanuelgraca on 4/26/2018 & rated 89 points: Appearance: clear, deep garnet colour, some legs
Nose: clean, medium aromas of black fruits (blueberry, black cherries) and red fruits (plum), developing
Palate: dry, medium acidity, medium (-) tannins, medium alcohol, medium body, medium flavour intensity of black and red fruits (plum, black cherries, blueberries), spices (pepper), some wet leaves, medium (.) finish
Conclusions: Good quality, can drink now but has potential for a couple more years of ageeing
Other notes: Flavors are well integrated (1451 views) | | | Tasted by kcdub on 3/31/2018 & rated 88 points: This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. It possesses a deep purple color and is uniform to the rim. It has pleasant aromas of blackberries and black cherries. I taste blackberries, blueberries and dark cherries and I can pick out hints of vanilla and spices as well. Medium acidity and soft tannins. In my opinion, the finish is brief. (1490 views) | | | Tasted by isaacjamesbaker on 5/27/2017 & rated 87 points: Deep purple color. Aromas of blackberries and tart blueberry with some spiced coffee, pepper, and vanilla and cedar notes that are blended in well. Plump and juicy on the palate with some light/medium tannins and some moderate acidity, which helps keep it going. Black cherries and blueberry fruit is bold but stays vibrant, and the fruit is matched with notes of cracked pepper and espresso. Delicious but also nicely structured. 70/30 Shiraz/Cabernet aged 12 months in French and American oak. (3001 views) | | | Tasted by fm1488 on 5/23/2017 & rated 98 points: Pen folds rarely disappoints for me. I like the cab Shiraz blend. Dark fruits, spice leather, tobacco. Very nicely balanced and great finish. Really good value at the price point.
7/8/8/8/7 - 38/98 (3136 views) |
| Penfolds Producer website
Producer Cellar Door - Barossa (Google Maps)
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 2013Shiraz BlendViognierAustralia 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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