This was published 11 years ago
Winning numbers
Penfolds' latest releases take the Aussie red into new territory, writes Jeni Port.
AUSTRALIAN winemakers do things differently. Sometimes they are celebrated for it. Imagine taking grapes not only from different vineyards within a state but also from different states and blending them. Crazy logistics but some fabulous wines can result.
Sometimes our winemakers aren't understood at all. Hardly anyone outside this sunburnt land really ''gets'' sparkling shiraz. And sometimes what they do is largely ignored. A couple of years ago, a leading Australian winemaker tried to get everyone behind the great Australian red blend, the unique Aussie coming together of shiraz, whose home is the Rhone Valley, and cabernet, whose home is Bordeaux. On paper it makes for an odd couple but combining cabernet's sternness with shiraz's warmth produces a stunning amalgam - a liquid yin and yang.
The cellar at Magill Estate.Credit: Michael Mossop
The maker's call to action was met with a bit of a yawn. Blends were passe, especially something so old-fashioned as shiraz cabernet. Winemakers were looking forward, not back; the great Aussie blend had been overtaken by shiraz, pinot noir and alternative grapes.
Clearly, few of those winemakers has ever had the good fortune to taste one of Australia's greatest red wines, Penfolds 1962 Bin 60A. Just a glass would have made them followers. Bin 60A is a rarity, literally one of a kind. It was made by Max Schubert, the creator of Grange, who sourced Coonawarra cabernet and shiraz from their Kalimna vineyard in the Barossa Valley. Only 425 cases were made.
Penfolds 1962 Bin 60A.
To celebrate Bin 60A's 50th birthday this year, Penfolds dug deep into the Magill cellars and retrieved a couple of bottles to open following the annual pre-release tasting of Penfolds bin and icon wines. The wine, supported by a trio of Grange from '53, '71 and '76, stole the show. The 60A was in incredible form, with a still-pulsating surge of clean earth and fruit as the wine entered the mouth. This was not a 50-year-old but a wine half its age, a seamless entity enveloping the senses and finishing with great length.
If this is what Australian cabernet shiraz can do, why aren't younger winemakers pursuing such a beautiful ideal?
Penfolds has been one of the champions of the great Aussie red-blend style headed by the reliable Bin 389 cabernet shiraz, which celebrates its 52nd birthday this year. Year to year, 389 is probably the most consistent of the Penfolds bin wines, a point endorsed in the new 2009 vintage, part of the annual Penfolds bin and ''icon'' releases - which includes the 2007 Grange - that go on sale on Thursday.
In recent years, Penfolds introduced more bin numbers: Bin 150 Marananga shiraz was launched last year and Bin 23 Adelaide Hills pinot noir the year before. Are these additions stretching the relationship the company enjoys with the Australian drinker or capitalising on it, providing even greater choice?
Quality always has to be paramount and in the Marananga shiraz there can be no doubt a new star has been born. Bin 28 Kalimna shiraz continues its progression from Barossa single-vineyard red to multi-district blend to trademarked Penfolds exclusive property. Hence, while Kalimna is a geographical place in the Barossa Valley, Penfolds has exclusive access to the name.
Times are changing at Penfolds. Whether it was drought or the consumer's growing distaste for muscle-bound wines high in alcohol, the company appears keen to adapt. The bin whites are increasingly sourced from cooler climates and the new bin reds offer a counterpoint to the traditional styles. Even a stalwart such as St Henri is now being sourced increasingly from the Adelaide Hills.
Here is the pick of the new releases:
■Bin 128 Coonawarra shiraz 2010
With a splash of Padthaway and Wrattonbully fruit thrown in, Bin 128 is all structure: deep black fruits, rich texture, pronounced savoury tannins. Good wine from a fabulous vintage.
■Bin 28 Kalimna shiraz 2009
Dense, with a penetrating scent and flavour of briar, earth - more savoury than fruit-led - and strong tannins. A muscular wine.
■Bin 407 cabernet sauvignon 2009
A youthful wine still finding its way, melding and combining the separate parts: black dusty fruits, blackcurrant predominant, silky tannins, generous spice with a dusty cigar oak personality. Needs time.
■Bin 150 Marananga shiraz 2009
A good follow-up to the 2008 inaugural release with trademark indelible purple colour and pretty aromatics, blue fruits and spices (cloves, cinnamon) and elegant oak tannins. A finer expression of Barossa shiraz.
■Bin 389 cabernet shiraz 2009
Since its first vintage in 1960, Bin 389 has never missed a year. Stylish as ever, the 389 template remains unbroken: blackberry pastille sweetness with herbs on nose, vanillan oak, black fruits, dense and tannic wine edging into a clean, dry finish.
■RWT Barossa Valley shiraz 2009
The earliest harvest ever for RWT saw pronounced red fruits to the fore, a vibrant start to the wine with stewed plums, spice and a noticeable oak contribution. A forceful wine with excellent cellaring potential.
■Bin 707 cabernet sauvignon 2009
Intense wine in the 707 mould with blackcurrant aroma and the pungent scent of herbs and spearmint. Powerful, tightly knit palate with vibrant fruit and chocolaty tannins.
■Yattarna chardonnay 2009
There are no winemaking rules with Yattarna, anything goes, and so in 2009 we see the continuing search for refinement, elegance. Pale in colour, bruised apple, citrus, mealyness on the nose and a rich, complex mouthful on the palate with surprising softness to close. Tasting conditions for this wine hit 30 degrees, undoubtedly affecting the wine (and probably the taster).
■Grange 2007
This year's release features the addition of two per cent cabernet sauvignon, contributing some tannic backbone maybe in a year when drought was probably at its hardest. You almost sense a dried-earth toughness. Powerful sweet exotic fragrance of black fruits, dark chocolate, aniseed and Asian spices. Highly structured, concentrated wine with liquorice strap, blackberry intensity, fine tannins. I can't say this has the charm or elegance of some Granges but there's no mistaking the power.
The 2012 Penfolds Bin and icon releases will be available on Thursday. Prices are approximate.