Renowned Australian wine producer Penfolds continues its trailblazing exploration of winemaking across three continents with the release of its Penfolds 2023 Collection.
Love them or hate them, but Penfolds does amazing things with wine. Heck, even their harshest critics admire – and are jealous of – the leading Australian winemaker’s panache and avant-garde experimental approach that’s seen them break rule after rule in their winemaking.
And all too often to great result.
Championing and celebrating a house style that blends wines across different Australian winemaking regions? Mixing fortified Shiraz with Chinese baijiu? Making wine in California, including blending Napa Valley fruit with those from South Australia? Partnering wineries in France to make wine on their behalf?
Preposterous. But also some level of genius.
And such are the latest annual releases from Penfolds with its 2023 Collection. The sprawling collection spans not only variety and vintage, but also encompasses regions – countries! – and specific terroirs and vineyards.
The Penfolds Collection 2023 comprises of wines from three countries – Australia, California and France. Notable examples from the collection?
For sure, you have the various examples that exemplify the brand’s multi-region winemaking approach such as the latest releases of Bin 28 Shiraz, Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, and Bin 311 Chardonnay.
Of course there’s the Grange 2019, the 69th release of that iconic wine that stamped the Penfolds name on the world of winemaking. You have the second release of the Penfolds II Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot MV, continuing its alliance with Dourthe of Bordeaux. Or how about the 2019 Quantum, the latest in the flagship of Penfolds’ California releases that combine Cabernet from Napa and South Australia? Then there’s the Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020, the brand’s first-ever AVA-specific release (vinified with fruit sourced from its Gamble Ranch vineyard).
On the home front, there’s the inaugural release of Bin 21 Barossa Valley Grenache, while the Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 is said to be a stellar example thanks to a fantastic Coonawarra harvest.
And another that continues the Penfolds penchant for defying convention? The Chinese Winemaking Trial 521 Cabernet Sauvignon Marselan 2021 (CWT 521), its first-ever premium Chinese Collection wine made with Cabernet drawn from Shangri-la in China’s Yunnan province (much like Moët Hennessy’s Ao Yun), plus some Marselan from Ningxia.
Some winemaking traditions, it seems, are meant to be broken. At least in the Penfolds playbook.
“Each Penfolds Collection showcases a continuum of winemaking progression as we constantly and curiously look forward to ‘what’s next’,” says Peter Gago, chief winemaker at Penfolds. “Only months from 2024, when we mark 180 years of Penfolds winemaking, there are a few blank pages ready to be filled with a few more surprises”.
“Nothing stands still,” Gago adds.
The Penfolds 2023 Collection (to date), now globally available:
China
- CWT 521 Cabernet Sauvignon Marselan 2021
California (US)
- Quantum Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
- Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
- Bin 704 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
- Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz 2020
- Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
France
- Penfolds II Cabernet Merlot MV (partnership with Dourthe)
- FWT 585 Cabernet Merlot Petit Verdot 2020
Australia
- Grange 2019
- Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
- Yattarna Chardonnay 2021
- RWT Bin 798 Barossa Valley Shiraz 2021
- Magill Estate Shiraz 2021
- St Henri Shiraz 2020
- Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2022
- Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2021
- Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
- Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz 2021
- Bin 28 Shiraz 2021
- Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz 2021
- Bin 138 Grenache Shiraz Mataro 2021
- Bin 21 Grenache 2022
- Bin 23 Pinot Noir 2022
- Bin 311 Chardonnay 2022
- Bin 51 Eden Valley Riesling 2023
- Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
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