Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz 2024

100% Shiraz, maturation is for a year and a half in new French oak hogsheads (67%) and one-year-old American oak hogsheads (33%). An excellent Magill. Opaque maroon with a dark crimson rim, this is fresh and enticing with aromas of dark chocolate, raspberries, cassis, violets, animal hides, tobacco leaves, mocha, aniseed, dark plums and impressive oak integration. Seamless in structure, this is impeccably crafted and impressively balanced with great energy and focus, finishing with sleek tannins. It really is a stunning Magill and has every chance of impressing even more over the next couple of decades.

by Lisa Cardelli

The fruit here tends to be more on the prominent side, nevertheless luxurious and well-polished, with savoury and iodine elements interwoven with turned red earth, desert lilac, chewed meat, cherries coated in chocolate and billy tea. A soy- and iodine-like character, together with a bitter roasted coffee-bean-like pinch of acidity and grippy tannins, sets the scene on the palate. Savoury elements of cigar box and quality men’s cologne emerge, carried by a savoury acidity that suggests this wine would sit exceptionally well alongside protein-rich food, plenty of gravy and roasted vegetables. It has purpose and energy despite its stature, with a clear place on the table – which is always a bonus. 2026 – 2048. 97 Points

by Tom Kline

Single-vineyard Shiraz from the original Magill Estate, hand-picked and basket pressed; 18 months in French oak hogsheads (67% new) and American oak hogsheads (33% one-year-old). Sourced entirely from the Magill vineyard just eight kilometres from Adelaide’s CBD, this wine is crushed, fermented and matured on-site at the winery Penfolds has called home since 1844. First produced in 1983, it remains one of the few wines still made the original way — hand-picked, open-fermented, basket pressed — an elegant, medium-weight style that trades on site history as much as technique. Blackcurrant pastilles and blackcurrant juice dominate the opening before black pepper, pink peppercorn and black liquorice emerge to counterbalance. There’s some lavender adding a sense of perfume and lift, while meatier elements and creamy oak notes emerge with air. Cherry Ripe and sumac add further complexity. The palate has a brightness of fruit and a sense of levity overall — vibrant blackberry, lavender, pink peppercorn and cherry. It’s all wrapped up in a vein of integrated powdery tannins that carry the wine to long length. There’s vibrancy, balance, complexity and interest here. A landmark release of this wine. 95 Points

by Jeni Port

Magill Estate has seen a few iterations since its first vintage in 1983. Each year it arrives with a little more finesse and a little less reliant on time in bottle to fully achieve integration. Importantly, oak seems better controlled, less intrusive than earlier releases. And so, in 2024 we see a shiraz richly defined in ripe dark fruits, dusty cocoa, chocolate, savoury notes of black olive and generous baking spices and delivered firmly, finely in tannins. A total of 18 months in French (67% new) and American oak (33% new) is well integrated at this early stage, adding touches of woodsmoke and toast to a palate concentrated. Leaves you with an impression of elegance and of a wine that has found its place. 95 Points

Ken Gargett

Contributor at Winepilot

Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.

Wine writer and critic