The annual May 1 PENFOLDS release is certain to be remembered as one of the finest complete colections of PENFOLDS wines yet released
Recognised by the worlds' wine writers, merchants, sommeliers and wine lovers as wines that offer complexity and style, the 2007 PENFOLDS Luxury & Icon range continues to showcase the impressive diversity of Australian and PENFOLDS wines.
Peter Gago, PENFOLDS Chief Winemaker, advises, "The 2004 vintage is one of the finest ever for PENFOLDS, producing some exceptional wines that offer choice between immediate delight and also years of cellaring potential. As these wines were blessed by an ideal growing season, they showcase flavour intensity, depth of character and impressive structure."
This year's range includes:
• 2002 PENFOLDS Grange (price set by the market, approx $500).
• 2004 PENFOLDS Yattarna Chardonnay RRP $120
• 2004 PENFOLDS RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz RRP $150
• 2004 PENFOLDS Magill Estate Shiraz RRP $90
• 2003 PENFOLDS St. Henri Shiraz RRP $80
• 2005 PENFOLDS Reserve Bin 05A Chardonnay RRP $85
• 2004 PENFOLDS Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon RRP $160
This year's release displays the distinctive and consistently recognisable PENFOLDS 'House Style'; the ultimate expression of PENFOLDS time-honoured tradition of sourcing the best fruit from the best regions. The wines ably demonstrate PENFOLDS expertise with single and multi-regional blending, making wines to style and pursuing the highest of quality benchmarks.
In addition to a wonderful vintage, there are other reasons to get excited about this year's releases: PENFOLDS Bin 707 returns to the range; the 2005 PENFOLDS Reserve Bin 05A Chardonnay has been promoted to the premium range; and the Trophy winning 2004 PENFOLDS RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz will be the first PENFOLDS red wine at this level to be sealed with screwcap.
2004 South Australian Vintage
The 2004 vintage produced some wonderful wines, which should impress upon release, but also offer years of cellaring potential. 2004 was a tremendous vintage for South Australia producing concentrated and complex Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay.
Good rainfalls during winter and spring provided an excellent start to the growing season. Mild conditions over autumn extended the vintage in the Barossa Valley, resulting in relatively low yields. Many grower and company owned vineyards delivered fruit of exceptional quality, especially from older vines. Coonawarra experienced similar conditions and recorded the latest vintage in living memory. PENFOLDS red wines all show excellent varietal characteristics, generous fruit and great depth of flavour. 2006 provided the White Winemaking Team with an excellent opportunity to look further a field for premium white fruit, in particular Chardonnay.
Peter believes this release will deliver on expectations. While justly well known for the red wine offering, this year PENFOLDS also includes the Reserve Bin 05A Chardonnay, a label that allows the Winemaking Team to create an alternative style of premium Adelaide Hills Chardonnay - wild yeast, high solids fermentation, no filtration.
2002 PENFOLDS Bin 95 Grange
The most anticipated wine in this release is the iconic 2002 PENFOLDS Grange. The 2002 PENFOLDS Grange boasts an unbroken line of vintages from the experimental 1951 offering, and clearly demonstrates the synergy between Shiraz and the soils and climate of South Australia. Peter describes the 2002 release as a wine that will last for decades.
"The palate displays fully-ripe and intensely flavoured Shiraz (and 1.5% Cabernet!) matured in new American oak hogsheads. The result is a unique and definitive Australian style that is now recognised as one of the most consistent of the world's great wines. It is the original and most powerful expression of PENFOLDS multi-vineyard, multi-district table-wine blending philosophy. The descriptor 'poised' is totally appropriate in the context of this alluringly well-balanced 2002 offering," said Peter.
Peak drinking 2012 - 2042
2004 PENFOLDS RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz
Since its first vintage in 1997 (released in May 2000) collectors immediately recognised the cellaring potential of RWT - already this French oak matured wine has a significant secondary market following.
"The style is opulent and fleshy, contrasting with PENFOLDS Grange, which is more muscular and assertive. RWT is made from fruit primarily selected for its aromatic qualities and fine texture rather than sheer intensity and power. The result is a wine that helps to redefine quality Barossa Shiraz," said Peter.
RWT draws fruit from 20 to 100 year old vineyards primarily planted across the west and north-west of the Barossa Valley. The dry, hot northern district, which centres around Kalimna, Moppa and Ebenezer is largely open, sweeping country of alluvial plains, with red loam and red brown clay soils dissected by gullies and rivulets. Stands of eucalypt trees and scrub provide natural windbreaks.
Peak drinking 2008 to 2028
2004 PENFOLDS Magill Estate Shiraz
A symbolically important PENFOLDS single-vineyard wine. It is the only wine grown and made on the site of the original 1844 established PENFOLDS Magill Winery in Adelaide's eastern suburbs - 5.2 hectares of Shiraz vineyard 8 km from the city.
First made in 1983, PENFOLDS Magill Estate Shiraz is an elegant, medium-weight style with velvety texture and fine tannins, matured in both new French and American oak hogsheads. Peter describes this wine as sleek and contemporary, yet crafted in the old-fashioned way in Magill's original winery using hand-picked fruit that is then vinified in open fermenters and basket pressed.
Peak drinking now to 2017
2003 PENFOLDS St. Henri Shiraz
The 2003 PENFOLDS St. Henri Shiraz offers an alternative expression of Shiraz to that of Grange. It is unusual among high quality Australian red wines as it does not rely on new oak. Created in the early 1950s (first commercial vintage 1957) this wine gained a new lease of life in the 1990s as its quality, distinctive style and food compatibility became better understood - and as many wine drinkers shied away from fashionable highly oaked and alcoholic reds!
PENFOLDS St. Henri represents pure fruit definition and flavour. It is matured in old, 1460-litre vats that, while allowing the wine to develop, impart no oak character, ensuring that the focal point for PENFOLDS St. Henri is the Shiraz fruit. The 2003 vintage is rich and plush now and will gain soft earthy, mocha-like characters as it ages.
Peak drinking now to 2024
2004 PENFOLDS Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon
With no 2003 Bin 707 released, the 2004 marks a welcome return for this marque. The 2004 PENFOLDS Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon is the PENFOLDS Cabernet Sauvignon 'Grange equivalent'. Featuring ripe, intensely flavoured fruit, complex fermentation characters and matured in new American oak, this wine truly expresses the PENFOLDS policy of multi-vineyard, multi-region fruit sourcing.
Named by an ex-Qantas marketing man, Bin 707's first vintage was 1964. The wine was not made from 1970 to 1975 (when the focus shifted to Bin 389) nor in 1981, 1995, 2000 or 2003 (when fruit of the required style and quality was not available). Full-bodied and with great cellaring potential, Bin 707 has a secure place among the ranks of Australia's finest Cabernets.
Peter describes this wine's palate as textured, lush and chewy, with an even coating of talc-like tannins. The palate has a 'compression' of flavour, without heaviness or over-extraction....marmalade, orange and tangerine citrus notes align with those that decry Cabernet. This wine is poised and balanced, with highly stylised and crafted oak, and is defined and structured, showcasing the 'finest cut' of ripe, low yielding Cabernet. This is a wine of depth and layers of flavour at a sensible alcohol level.
Peak Drinking 2009 to 2035
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While justly famous for its red wines, PENFOLDS also excels with whites, particularly Chardonnay. Yattarna grew out of extensive winemaking trials designed to create a white wine of quality to one day stand alongside Grange. These trials also gave rise to the Reserve Bin A Chardonnay, a label that allows the Winemaking Team to push the boundaries and further explore the variety's potential.
2004 PENFOLDS Bin 144 Yattarna Chardonnay
Launched in 1998 with the 1995 vintage, Yattarna reflects PENFOLDS patience and continued commitment to excellence. Its name is drawn from the Aboriginal word meaning 'little by little, gradually.'
Peter says this wine is tightly structured with a fine backbone, and is still in its infancy (despite three years in bottle!). Crisp apple, grapefruit and subtle citrus flavours are surrounded by barrel ferment characters of fresh nougat and roasted nuts. Oak, whilst barely perceptible, provides structure and complexity. This is the first Yattarna to contain no new oak, and the first Yattarna to be completely sealed with screwcap ... the journey continues!
"While 2004 afforded a challenging year for this style of Chardonnay in South Australia, a multi-regional sourcing philosophy enabled us to venture East into the cooler climate of Southern Victoria to craft a wine that is true to the Yattarna style - replete with finesse and elegance, yet powerful in its flavour profile. This is a wine that will age for many years," said Peter. In true Premier/Grand Cru style, Yattarna will benefit, but not necessarily demand further cellaring.
2005 PENFOLDS Reserve Bin 05A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay
PENFOLDS Reserve Bin A Chardonnay has evolved its own distinctive style - very different to that of Yattarna. The fruit, sourced entirely from the Adelaide Hills, is hand-picked into small bins and then whole-bunch pressed. The juice is run directly into barriques from different press fractions and is allowed to undergo natural fermentation. Mouthfeel and complexity are achieved by fermenting on full solids using a high percentage of new oak. The wine undergoes 100% wild, malolactic fermentation and is bottled unfiltered.
"2005 Reserve Bin A - is a unique wine showcasing the combination of premium Adelaide Hills Chardonnay and natural winemaking techniques. This wine has a great deal of complexity without losing distinctive flavour and structure gleaned from Adelaide Hills' vineyards and soils," said Peter.
Peter applauds the PENFOLDS Winemaking and Viticultural Team's continuing pursuit to refine and evolve these wines. Their commitment to ensuring fruit intensity, complexity, longevity, and a retention of style and trademark balance of fruit, oak (and tannins) certainly shines through with this release.
The 2007 range of PENFOLDS Luxury & Icon wines is nationally available from fine wine stores from Tuesday 1 May. For more information on the wines, including in-depth tasting notes visit www.PENFOLDS.com.au or telephone 1300 651 650.
These wines are proudly available at PENFOLDS Cellar Doors:
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PENFOLDS Cellar Door - Magill Estate 78 Penfold Road Magill SA 5072 Tel: (08) 8301 5569 |
PENFOLDS Cellar Door - Nuriootpa Tanunda Road Nuriootpa SA 5355 Tel: (08) 8568 9290 |
For further information:
Ildi Ireland, PR Manager
T: (03) 8626 3374 or 0407 058 862
E: ildi.ireland@PENFOLDS.com.au
