Hold the Penfolds

Penfolds ... one of Australia's iconic wine brands.

Winestein uncorked

Penfolds is Australia’s most famous wine brand, whose name is instantly recognisable to most because of its Grange, regarded as our most iconic wine and best shiraz.

But the brand is much much more than that. The Penfolds style has and hopefully always will be based on producing popular wines at every price level that are regarded for their quality and reliability.

It's why it's always been my favourite label. No matter what price point you buy at, fruit from each Penfolds wine has been carefully sourced from the many vineyards around Australia where it has planted vines.

There are no shortcuts in the winemaking process, overseen by chief winemaker Peter Gago who's been with Penfolds for 21 years, and no compromises.

Even in a tough vintage such as 2007, these new-release wines display remarkable structure, balance and ripeness across the board.

I tried them with Jaxon and Bookie, two of my good friends and even better wine connoisseurs. Below are our notes on six of Penfolds' more popular releases.

PENFOLDS - NEW RELEASE TASTING

2005 reserve bin aged release riesling (Eden Valley), 11.5%, $40. Overall score = 91.5
Immediately bottled after fermentation for five years before release.

Winestein – Classic Eden Valley riesling, fresh and ripe, with nice tannin structure. Cellaring would enhance it greatly, but it's robust in youth. 92
Bookie – Good minerality, nice and citrusy, bit lacking in fruits and short but will develop nicely over the years. 90
Jaxon – Tasted a lot younger than a 2005, probably want to put it away for a bit longer. Nice, fresh and youthful. 92

2009 bin 311 chardonnay (Tumbarumba), 13%, $40. Overall score = 93
Matured in two and three-year old French oak barrels for nine months. Fruit from Tumbarumba, a cool climate, high altitude district in the western foothills of the Snowy Mountains

Winestein – Lovely minerality, sweet peachy citrus flavours on the nose which carry through to the palate. A classy and delightful wine. 93
Bookie – Rich, heaps of burnt toast. 91
Jaxon – Epic stonefruit flavours of peach and apricot at the back of the palate, perfect wood on the nose, a beautiful wine. 95

2009 bin 23 pinot noir, (Adelaide Hills), 14%, $40. Overall score = 91
Matured in new (36%) and seasoned French oak barrels for nine months. A bold new addition to the Bin family.

Winestein – Extremely dark in colour for a pinot. Robust and ballsy with toasty and pine overtones on the nose, and raw forest-floor flavours on the palate. 93
Bookie – Lovely black cherry flavours on the palate but surprisingly none of those classic pinot flavours. 88
Jaxon – Nice and fruity on the nose and a little high in alcohol on the mouth, which points to a bright future. 91

2008 bin 138 shiraz mourvedre grenache (Barossa), 14.5%, $30. Overall score = 89
These three grapes were planted extensively in the Barossa by early settlers. A southern Rhone style, this vintage was first released in 1992 due to international demand for the style.

Winestein – Sumptuous, intense, a little heavy on the alcohol but will age extremely well. 90
Bookie – I don't mind it. A nice light food wine. Jammy, tarty, a bit of spice, nothing over the top. Would go well with a bit of pizza or pasta with red sauce. 90
Jaxon – A tad bitter for me, I can’t really get anything out of this. Would have preferred more Grenache. 88

2007 bin 407 cabernet sauvignon (South Australia), 14%, $55. Overall score = 91
This spent 13 months in French and American, a third in new oak. Significant parcels from Coonawarra, Langhorne Creek and Mclaren Vale.

Winestein – Inky, violety, silky smooth down the throat but unfortunately finishes somewhat thin. Lovely earthy eucalyptus woody smells up front, with tannins a little overdone – Geoff Huegill style. Fruit is hiding, and not surprising after a luckless/poor vintage. But it is still gold – just give it some time. 89
Bookie – Definitely the best wine of the day. It's got more character, texture. More leathery, tobacco-ey. 91
Jaxon – Spicy but pleasant, will improve with time but tough to follow up the '06. 92

2007 bin 28 kalimna shiraz (South Australia), 14.5%, $34. Overall score = 90
Matured for 12 months in seasoned American oak, with 16% in large oak-formats. Fruit sourced from Langhorne creek, upper Adelaide, Barossa, Mclaren Vale and Limestone Coast. First made in 1959.

Winestein – Really heavy with thick tannins, subtle hints of berry fruits on the back palate. Obviously a big wine in the making, that requires some time to develop. 90
Bookie – Just tastes very tight and young. Not too bad just needs to evolve. 90
Jaxon – Got everything there on the nose, just lacks something on the palate, with chalky tannins. 90

What do you think of Penfolds and have you tried any of their new releases?

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