Is there a bigger day in Australian wine? The critics have tasted the new Penfolds wines, including the 2016 Grange, and they are ready to tell the world. Here is our take on Penfolds Collection 2020 from the range of contributors here at Winepilot.com including Jeni Port, Tony Love, Ken Gargett, Erin Larkin, James Atkinson and Melissa Moore.
The Critics View – Unedited and Uncut
If you enjoy our videos, view our whole range on the Penfolds Collection 2020 right here. But if you are short of time, Tony Love was one of only four wine scribes to make it to Adelaide for the usual Penfolds tasting with the whole range of wines, including Bin 707 and the new G4. You can find his rundown on the complete Penfolds collection here.
Penfolds Grange 2016
A brilliant Grange and exceptional vintage, the 2016 Penfolds Grange scored well across the board. Our points ranged between 98 and 100 points so it is fair to say we liked it – get all our scores here.
Penfolds G4
This is a new luxury icon from Penfolds with four vintages of Grange blended to make a super cuvée. Ken Gargett scored it 100 points with Tony Love also a big fan.
“Then there is this year’s Penfolds podium wine – the G4 special multi vintage Grange featuring a secret percentage blend of four vintages – 2002, ’04, ’08 and “refreshed” with the 2016 if refreshed could ever be the right word in the Grange dictionary. No doubt the new release, ‘16 will be the major partner. Amazingly given the age of the components, the fruit driven aspects of the shiraz here are really exciting. “It’s counter-intuitive,” says PG. “The fruit feels liberated.” It is very surprising. You can question its curiosity value. Its show-ponyship. Its rarity. But I find this wine really approachable and delicious above all of the intellectual properties it may possess. I hope those bidding for it on the global market – there are only 2500 bottles at $3500 available around the globe – well, I bloody well hope they open it and drink it and not simply brag about it and show off their wealth and status via this wine. Because it’s bloody delicious. I haven’t considered pointing this as it’s kind-of off the charts anyway.”
Penfolds St Henri 2017
What an absolute treat and the best value wine in the Penfolds Super Premium collection which is a masterpiece in 2017. Our scores ranged from 94 to 98 points – you can read all the superlatives and reviews here.
Penfolds Bin 389 2018
An Australian icon, Bin 389 or “Baby Grange” has gained itself a cult following. Our reviews were a little mixed on this wine as scores ranged from 93 to 96 points, with Tony Love and Ken Gargett big fans. A great vintage or maybe not – check out all our reviews here.
Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2018
The Kalimna Bin 28 Shiraz has been a benchmark South Australian Shiraz for decades – a dependable wine that always delivered. The team was well and truly split on this one with Jeni Port and Tony Love scoring it 95 points with others considerably less. You can read all our reviews here.
Penfolds Bin 19A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2019
Now here is a crowd pleasing Chardonnay and a wine that has the modern complexity of great Australian Chardonnay plus a little bit of old-school ripeness, richness and rich French oak. Penfolds are now one of the best Chardonnay makers in the country and the skill of winemaking seen here shows why. Get all our commentary here.
Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay 2019
This was one wine we could all agree on – without doubt the best Bin 311 Chardonnay to date and a delicious modern expression of Australian Chardonnay. Scoring 93 to 95 points all round, thanks to a good dose of Tasmanian fruit, it was universally enjoyed and is without doubt the best value Chardonnay in the Penfolds collection. Find out why we liked it so much here.
