Exquisite parcels of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon and Kalimna Vineyard Barossa Shiraz were identified and separately vinified in open and closed headed down fermenters. The wine was racked into new oak towards dryness, where the wine completed fermentation. After malolactic fermentation, individual components were classified and then selected for inclusion into the Bin 60A blend.
An utterly superb wine, a glorious freak of nature and man; ethereal and beguiling, yet the palate is virtually endless, with a peacock's tale stolen from the very greatest of Burgundies; the fruit sweetness perfectly offset by acidity… The 100 point dry red? Why not! This is possibly the greatest red wine tasted in our times in Australia. Wine Companion (2008).
Medium deep brick red. Fully mature wine with infinite complexity and richness. Ethereal praline, mocha, apricot, espresso, herb garden, polished leather aromas. Supple and fine grained with seductive espresso, herb garden, dried fruits, apricot flavours, fine, loose knit tannins and lovely clear, gentle acidity. Finishes minerally and long with plenty of sous bois, earthy, leather notes. The most famous Australian wine of the 1960s, with an astonishing wine show record and subsequently a contemporary legend. Still holding up well, with enough substance and balance to last another 20 years. Penfolds -- The Rewards of Patience #7, 2013.
Marvellous old wine bouquet with aspects of roasted meats, raisins, prunes, toffee and licorice. Ethereal, soft and mellow, but intense with… power and drive… Still has a core of fruit sweetness. Great balance and endless aftertaste. (2013).
Penfolds
Penfolds is probably the most extraordinary of the world’s wine brands with an enviable reputation for quality at every price level. The original Penfold was an English doctor who, in 1844, planted grapes at Magill, now a suburb of Adelaide. However, it was not until the late 1940s that Penfolds began to forge a reputation for red wine.
The Penfolds house style emerged from a fortified wine producing culture and evolved as a winemaking philosophy which has had a profound effect on the entire Australian wine industry. Many of the techniques initially adopted to make Penfolds Grange would become part of the wider Penfolds winemaking culture. The number of techniques employed in the research and development of Penfolds wines is astonishing. Max Schubert and his team pioneered: major advances in yeast technology and paper chromatography; the understanding and use of pH in controlling bacterial spoilage; the use of headed down/submerged cap fermentation and the technique of rack and return; cold fermentation practices; the use of American oak as a maturation vessel and perhaps most critically, partial barrel fermentation. Nowadays, the use of American oak and barrel fermentation for instance is considered traditional Barossa winemaking practice!
Today, Penfolds house style embraces the concept of multi-regional blending, optimum fruit quality, the use of fine-grained American or French oak, barrel fermentation and maturation. Overall, the Penfolds style is about highly-defined fruit aromas, fruit sweetness, ripe tannins, richness, power and concentration. The number of iconic wines that have emerged from the Penfolds stable over the years is remarkable. Bin 389 a Cabernet Shiraz blend released in 1960 is now considered the quintessential Australian wine blend. Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz and Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz released in 1962 pre-empted the contemporary enthusiasm for regional definition by about 25 years. Improved vineyard management, site selection and winemaking brought about subsequent releases of Bin 707 and Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Penfolds Wine Making Philosophy is the accumulation of more than half-a-century of knowledge and winemaking practice initiated by Max Schubert and subsequently refined by Don Ditter, John Duval and Peter Gago. Their collective commitment to multi-regional and vineyard blending contributed to a consistency of style and quality that has cemented Penfolds reputation as the foremost producer of premium age-worthy red wines in Australia.
