2024 Penfolds Bin 23 Pinot Noir
100% Tasmania. While it opens with a confected kiss, alternating dashes of clove, bramble, and cooking herbs, the nose then verges toward a “pinosity” aspect with fresh wild strawberry and Morello cherry aromas. The palate is pure, light, and refreshing, a wine that dances around on its tiptoes yet shows considerable mid-palate presence. There is a certain fine backbone to it, right to the end. The tannins are fine and well-polished, closing with a good amount of savoury, earthy characters. 92 pts
2024 Penfolds Bin 21 Grenache
An interplay of Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Like biting into a fresh Ambrosia red apple, there’s a noticeable degree of deliciousness from the bright, well-polished, red-fruited composition. Raspberries, blood plums, dark cherries, strawberries, and pomegranate; the exotic aspect is neither intrusive nor dominant. The level of concentration, fruit sweetness, and dried extract, yet balanced in alcohol, finesse, persistency and degree of engagement, is fantastic. The length is a continued rolling of the most shining fruit, the appealing spicy notes from the oak, with a hint of that alcohol generosity only meeting at the very end. The level of freshness is also off the charts. Serious grenache with plenty of life ahead of it, yet already approachable. 95 pts
2023 Penfolds Bin 138 Barossa Valley Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro
A blend of 56% Grenache, 38% Shiraz and 6% Mataro. Ferrous-like to begin, the fruit is quite composed and packed together, needing extra time to unfold. Some baking spices emerge as the wine opens up, primarily dominated by sweet red fruit. The palate also features a ferrous, mineral note, followed by a distinct eucalyptus character that complements the fruit rather than overpowering it, adding that unmistakable Aussie personality. It’s a wine that needs extra time in the bottle, as it now feels like holding all that tension right in the mid-palate. The gamut of tannins showcases an attractive bitterness and promises good longevity. 93 pts
2023 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz
Needs time, air, and complete attention to each and every detail: boysenberries, black currants, blueberries, blackberries. Dense, dark, and hugged tightly by sweet oak spices. Tannins are well present, expandable, and touchable, framing perfectly a tightly-knight bouquet of fruit that has yet to unfold completely. At the moment, there is a degree of sweetness of oak and fruit that dominates, but the prospect to evolve is there. Blend from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Padthaway. 94 pts
2023 Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz
A very considered medley of black and blue fruit emerges at the first look, with a glimpse of black cherries and elderberries. Just give it some time, and it will show you what it is capable of: carob, rolled tobacco leaf, spearmint, polished new leather, and olive tapenade. You named it; you have it. Every sniff delivers a new aroma. Such a captivating nose. Tannins are monumental, with the right degree of fruit bitterness; the acidity sustains the structure. Leave this wine in the glass for a while before savouring it; it holds up well to oxygen, improving with time. 96 pts
2023 Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz
Like the warmest tropical island welcome, the opening is filled with exotic spices, including cardamom, cracked black pepper, nutmeg, and nigella seeds. Then, change the registry to soy sauce, dried rosemary and bush tomato. Yet, the fruit remains firmly in place underneath the secondary aroma noise. The tannins are beefy yet protective toward the alternating mix of sweet spices, herbal, and savoury pencil shavings characters. The polished, tactile fruit gives its best from the pointy end of the palate onwards and opens to a long finale bursting with Davidson plums. Incredible balance and the correct amount of x-factor. 96 pts
2023 Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon
A multiregional composition from Padthaway, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and Wrattonbully. Not the shyest pal, it showcases Turkish rolled tobacco leaf, slightly grilled capsicum, blackcurrant leaf, cracked black pepper, and a generous handful of blackberries and blackcurrants. The tannins are savoury and muscular, earthy and mineral. Quintessential South Australian cabernet with a bold, aromatic personality and a menthol-like breezy edge. 93 pts
2023 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz
From McLaren Vale, Padthaway and Barossa Valley. A blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Shiraz, showcasing the best of both worlds. Crushed violets, ylang-ylang oil, shimmering blackberries and blood plums, boysenberry compote, rosemary, polished leather and dark Ghana chocolate, amongst all. The tannins are granular, and the mid-palate focuses on the sweetness of the oak spices and fruit, lending the finale an umami-like tone. As time passes, the wine evolves, offering a new and interesting take each time. 95 pts
2022 St Henri Shiraz
From Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Padthaway. As if someone has been distilling fruit to its truest essence, this wine is putting on a show on its own. Concentrated boysenberries, Java plums, and blueberries until it walks down into a road peppered with ferrous, leathery, turned earth, peppercorn, and Nicaraguan cigar elements. The velvety tannins and fruit roll along the way together, creating an electrical by-product as they move through. The movement then hits the back of the palate and stays there, almost as if suspended in mid-air. That is where the seriousness and durability of this wine lay. 97 pts
2023 Magill Estate Shiraz
A robust, nose-catching style with cowboy leather, musk, incense, blue violets, red liquorice, juniper berries, mulberries, and chocolate-covered cherries. It’s a luring wine; the palate combines fruit, tannins, and acidity in a seamless wave of desire, leaving you wanting more. As it continues to dance around the palate and evolves in the glass over time, it still requires plenty of measures to fully resolve the entire amount of fruit that is still tightly packed. 97 pts
2023 RWT Bin 798 Barossa Valley Shiraz
Intoxicating, exotic notes of sandalwood and Tahitian vanilla pods lead the way on the nose. The palate has already reached a compromise with the oak, showcasing a mineral, graphite-like backbone complemented by well-polished, generous dark fruit. Blueberry yogurt, mulberry conserve, blackberries, cherry cola, some crème brûlée, and cedar. It’s very much representative of that bon vivant style that Barossa does best, and it will need plenty of time to fully express each of its colour shades. 95 pts
2023 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon
From McLaren Vale, Padthaway and Barossa Valley. A young and characteristic expression of cabernet bursting with crushed violets, freshly squeezed cassis, pencil shave, spearmint, and extra dark chocolate, coconut husk, all playing their keynotes in unison, like expert fingers on the piano. On one side, there is a level of exotic and floral allure, with notes of incense, essential oils, and dried lavender; on the other, an Old World-like reminder of cooking herbs, garrigue, and rolled tobacco leaf. Yet unashamedly Australian all the way through. You can savour and touch each and every element on the palate, thanks to the continuity of fruit, the vibrancy, balance, presence and weight of the tannins. It will last decades while already showing a great deal. 97 pts
2021 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange
When I was about to move to Australia in 2010, my mentor at the time exclaimed: “Wow, you’re going to Australia! The land of Penfolds Grange!”. Grange’s name and global fame preceded it as one of the most iconic multiregional blends the vinous world knows. This stellar 2021 vintage is composed of 94% Shiraz and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and Clare Valley. I deliberately waited over an hour before I even got near it with my nose. Yet, when the moment came, it was quiet, whispering gentle whiffs of pure spearmint oil, wild black currant, blackberry, turned earth, new leather, blue violets, bay leaf, red liquorice and that unforgettable smell from inside your best butcher shop. The tannins were dense yet sophisticated and well-built for the long haul. A lot was happening in the centre until the wine decided to regroup, walking quietly, yet with the right amount of confidence, down the long length. It was an engaging wine that evolved slowly, revealing itself gradually rather than all at once. The palate wasn’t getting fatigued; instead, it was refreshed and encouraged to continue. A masterful piece that can dose its power and class with grace. 99 pts
2025 Penfolds Bin 51 Eden Valley Riesling
A sherbety, lemon curd and citrus bomb, with aromatics of honeysuckle and orange skin oil. The palate exhibits a notable tension, featuring a bracing wave of lime and grapefruit, accompanied by crunchy Granny Smith apples and a hint of yuzu. The perfumed, aromatic nature translates to the palate, complemented by sufficient extraction. Dry to its core and zingy in its persistency. 94 pts
2024 Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay
From Adelaide Hills, Tasmania and Tumbarumba. Juicy mandarins, kumquat, pink grapefruit, crunchy pink lady apples, Meyer lemons, hawthorn. Then comes the exotic force with marzipan, Key lime pie, and pineapple shrub. Above the richness and tropical flair, the palate displays a lovely saltiness, with a phenolic grip and a discerning acidity tension that works to extend the length. 94 points
2024 Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay
100% Adelaide Hills. Intense, creamy, multi-layered. An alternation of coconut husk, honeycomb, chives, freshly whipped cream, Meyer lemons, nectarines. The palate is voluminous, with a sweet generosity of fruit, yet a reductive lick adds an extra dimension to the frame, equally drawing in lovers of this timeless style and newcomers. 95 pts
2023 Penfolds Bin 144 Yattarna Chardonnay
A masterful blend of Tumbarumba, Adelaide Hills, and Tasmania showcases why these regions are the gold standard for Chardonnay. Mineral and tense yet voluptuous and generous, with notes of peaches and cream, slightly burnt orange zest, crunchy Ambrosia apples, pink grapefruit, grilled hazelnuts, and a hint of vanilla slice. Decisively tense at the opening of the palate, with a salty-mineral water-like taste, there is a pull from the acidity, the lingering nature of citrus and green fruit characters, with some papaya and beeswax adding a rich personality. It has volume, but it translates it gracefully and in waves, which alternates the saltiness with the sweetness of the spices, stone fruit and tropical fruit. Tasted over two hours, and it has been holding exceptionally well. 97 pts
