Penfolds latest Bin Series releases, including the 2011 Grange

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Penfolds latest Bin Series releases, including the 2011 Grange

penfolds grange

Penfolds are possibly Australia’s leading red wine brand. They make a series of celebrated ‘Bin’ red wines that culminates in one of the planet’s most famous wines, famously once described by Hugh Johnson as the Southern Hemisphere’s first growth: Penfolds Grange. On Monday, I popped into the head offices of Treasury Wine Estates EMEA in Twickenham to taste through the new releases. Here are my verdicts.

Overall, it’s a very solid line-up of wines. The style is very nicely judged: the wines are ripe and generous, but there’s a freshness and good definition, too. These are wines that will age. And each of the wines is different: as well as sharing a family resemblance, they are true to their own identity (or Bin number), which is of course interpreted through the lens of the vintage. The possibly exception here is Grange. The 2011 vintage of this celebrated wine is quite different: it’s still Grange, but not entirely as you might expect. I really liked it, but found it a bit surprising.

These aren’t inexpensive wines. Penfolds are shrewd in their pricing and don’t want to let others make their margin. But the Bin 28 and 128 (not tasted here) are usually good value for money (around £22), and the mid tier of Bins 150, 407 and 389 are pretty ageable and not crazy expensive (£40-50).

All the wines with the exception of Grange are available under screwcap, but Penfolds say that in Europe everyone wants the cork-sealed versions. Of this line-up, the first two were screwcapped, the rest under cork.

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2013 South Australia
Brooding nose of sweet blackcurrant fruit with some blackberry and black cherry. Sweet, powerful palate of sleek black fruits with nice definition. This is ripe but balanced with lovely purity to the fruit. 93/100

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Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz 2013 Barossa, Australia
A relatively recent addition to the Bin Series range, this is aged in 500 litre puncheons, with a mixture of American and French oak. Taut blackcurrant and black cherry nose is brooding and focused. Very fresh, linear pure black fruits palate with a slightly stern, spicy, savoury edge. Good structure and real potential for development. 94/100

Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 South Australia
Aged in a mix of French and American oak. A mutiregional blend. Lovely sweet blackcurrant fruit nose with a hint of tar and some savoury blackcurrant bud character. Sweet, focused palate with a spicy twist to the ripe blackcurrant fruit. Finishes spicy and grippy. This is so varietally true, and it’s really appealing – and already beginning to drink well. 93/100

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2013 South Australia
This classic is a blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Shiraz, aged for 12 months in American oak (28% new). It’s concentrated and brooding with dense blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, with a sweet texture and a touch of creaminess. Dense, with nice purity and concentration. This has sweetness to the fruit but also lovely structure. It should age really well. 95/100

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Penfolds St Henri Shiraz 2012 South Australia
Famous for spending 13 months in large, old neutral vats rather than barrel, the St Henri is a favourite of the wine trade: it’s almost as if there’s a moral premium attached to it not being touched by oak flavour at all. This is fresh, supple and detailed with a nice concentration of sweet black cherry and blackberry fruit, and an appealing stony, grainy texture weaved around fine-grained tannins. Lovely balance here: a ripe wine but beautifully balanced with real potential for development. 94/100

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Penfolds RWT Shiraz 2013 Barossa, Australia
This is a bold example of Barossa Shiraz that spends 17 months in French oak, of which 57% is new in this vintage. Very fine, expressive, ripe, sweet and structured. There’s great concentration here and a slight creamy edge to the smooth blackcurrant and blackberry fruit. Very stylish and pure: sleek without being over-ripe. You can drink this now, but it has real potential. 95/100

Penfolds Grange 2011 South Australia
2011 was a tricky vintage, and only about half the average production of Grange was made this year. For only the sixth time this multiregional blend is 100% Shiraz, and it spent 17 months in new American oak. Aromatic, warm, sweet spicy cedary nose with hints of tar alongside the lush black fruits. The palate is sweet and savoury at the same time with some undergrowth and cedar, warm spiciness and a hint of mint. The fruit profile is blackberry and black cherry, but the driving force here isn’t fruit, but the savoury spiciness. There’s potential for development here. 95/100

See also: a write up of previous vintages of these wines

Find this wine with wine-searcher.com

2 Comments on Penfolds latest Bin Series releases, including the 2011 GrangeTagged
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

2 thoughts on “Penfolds latest Bin Series releases, including the 2011 Grange

  1. I don’t know about “moral premium”,but I
    Hate tje taste of almost any any oak except
    In very.rare cases.

  2. Aside from St Henri smelling of vanilla and tasting like it’s got oak, and has done for some years. Ah, the mysteries…

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