Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon represents the Penfolds house red wine style at its most rich and powerful. Typically it is immensely concentrated with dark berry/dark chocolate fruit, balanced and enhanced by well-seasoned new oak, plenty of fruit sweetness and strong, but not overwhelming tannins. Breaking with the tradition of using storage bin numbers, Bin 707 was named after the Boeing 707, the aircraft that brought Australia closer to the rest of the world during the 1960s! The wine is sourced from the best parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon which are vinified in open stainless steel fermenters before undergoing partial barrel-fermentation in new American oak hogsheads for a period of 18 months.
Deep crimson. Elegant blackcurrant, black olive, graphite aromas with meaty, vanilla, mocha notes. Supple and well-concentrated with attractive blackcurrant, blackberry fruits, fine graphite/ touch al dente tannins and plentiful mocha, espresso oak notes. Finishes muscular/ chewy /cedary firm and minerally. A very polished wine with lovely fruit density and torque.
97 points (2020)
"A benchmark meld of prime SA regional sources, from Barossa, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. Boysenberry tart. Violet. Bouquet Garni and tomato leaf, meander across a pliant expanse of brooding tannin, as much American oak-derived as grape. This is an impressive build of proprietary style and choice Cabernet sourcing."
97 points (July 2020)
Inimitable Bin 707. The warm summer of 2018 has ripened a deeply coloured and confidently structured Bin 707 of heightened fruit depth, met confidently head-on by new American oak. Blackcurrant, cassis and liquorice are deeply impacted by high cocoa dark chocolate and freshly ground coffee. As consummately engineered as ever, this is another Bin 707 to forget in the cellar, forged with tannins to confidently meet the destiny of its considerable proportions, promising a very long future indeed. Peter Gago describes 2018 as affording an opportunity to proactively assemble a Bin 707 blend more about refinement and balance than brute power and concentration, uniting regions that share a classic ‘Coonawarra line.’ This must, of course, be read in the context of the monumental proportions of Bin 707! For all of its refinement and balance, there’s certainly no shortage of power or concentration packed into this enduring cabernet.
97 points (July 2020)
Very concentrated, deep, dark red/purple with almost a blackish tint, coating the glass. The bouquet is coconutty and shy, somewhat reserved, the oak holding centre-stage at first sniff. The wine is very concentrated and powerful, with masses of chewy tannins that coat the palate. Vanilla, dark chocolate and mocha, hints of fruitcake and dried-fruits, while the tannins are very drying and just a touch oaky-tasting. There is cassis-like cabernet flavour on the palate and especially the aftertaste, which is not yet as evident on the nose. But it's still just a babe. The aftertaste lingers very long, and the flavour and tannin coats the interior of the mouth and lasts there a long time. Great potential; needs several years before broaching.
97 points, The Real Review (July 2020)
This has a very expressive and intense feel with assertive, 100% new American oak, sitting in a bold, spicy layer with vanilla, bourbon and espresso notes, across the blueberries, blackcurrants and boysenberries. The palate has a very taut yet luscious delivery of rich plum and cranberry flavors. There’s such long and taut tannin and oak is driving this into tightly compressed shape with roasted-coffee tones to the very intense and long, ripe plums and black cherries. Powerful, commanding cabernet. This is a great Bin 707. Attractive now, but best to wait until 2025.
98 points, JamesSuckling.com (July 2020)
In case readers weren't aware, Bin 707 is always aged in new American oak, like Grange. The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 features plenty of vanilla on the nose, backed by concentrated cassis fruit. It's full-bodied, velvety and richly tannic, clearly meant to have two decades (or more) of longevity. Marked by ripe fruit, a notable lack of herbaceousness, and lavish oak, it's out of step with current trends in Australian Cabernet Sauvignon, but it's no less delicious and all the more unique for that.
97+ points, Wine Advocate (July 2020)
The most individual of any Australian cabernet. It's a blend of regions and gets 100% new American oak. It's a wine that is not everyone's cup of tea, especially when it is young. But the key though is when it ages. That's when the true majesty of this combination emerges. Creamy black fruit combination on the nose with a trace of characteristic crushed ants. The palate is raw awesome power and yet despite all the high octane components it retains a graceful line.
96 points, The West Australian (July 2020)
It’s all about the bass. High violet notes are followed by rich, redolent black plums and tight blackberry, coming at you with a low, persistent rumble. If at first this wine appears understated and reserved, taste again and it starts to reveal much more – black olive, rhubarb, iodine, coal and slate. Still a tight-fisted velvet glove in its youth, although there’s great warmth and comfort in all these intricately meshed elements. Enjoy trying to figure out the whole delightful puzzle throughout its incredible palate length.
97 points, David Sly, Decanter (July 2020)
There were no issues for Cabernet in 2018 with evenness across both the warm and cool regions. Harvest was a doddle and it tastes like blending was a piece of cake, too. I say this because there are no wrinkles in this wine whatsoever. It is velvety, thrillingly balanced, typically broad-brush and loaded with awesome power. There is welcome, pliable juiciness at its core and this means that it will drink before the mighty 2016. But with everything in its perfect place, like the entire cast, lined up to take a bow on the stage after performing a heart-wrenching opera, what is the overriding theme of this wine? I used a word from my tasting note of Bin 707 to highlight the character of this entire collection and it is ‘polish’. This is a tremendously polished wine and it sums up everything remarkable about Bin 707.
19.5+ points (July 2020)
This is more like it. Pure, powerful and refined but drilled with long chains of tannin and super long through the finish. It’s lashed with resiny vanillin oak but the wine’s inherent power, shape and persistence win the day. Boysenberry as much as blackcurrant, mint and bay leaf, a whisper of coconut, an overriding freshness. It’s stern, tannic and powerful and yet it all flushes refreshingly through. Terrific release.
97 points, The Wine Front (July 2020)
Extremely luscious – particularly in contrast to Bin 169. Like melted blackcurrant pastilles with an overlay of an Australian summer. Great balance and drive but very sumptuous. The fruit is already dominating the tannins – which are notable. Very Penfolds and a success!
18 points, JancisRobinson.com (June 2020)
South Australia is the driest state on the world’s driest continent. Covering almost 1 million (984 377km) square kilomteres, it represents 12.8% of the Australian land mass. Sweeping plains are intersected by a spine of relatively low lying ranges, the Mount Lofty/Flinders Ranges which extend through the heart of the State. Over 50% of the state is elevated at under 150 metres. The Great Artesian basin covers almost one-third of the State. The major river is the River Murray which lethargically makes its way into the Southern Ocean. This water mass has a moderating effect on climate, particularly in the southern regions of South Australia where most vines are planted.
Summers are generally hot and dry with relatively mild nights. Winters are cool. Rainfall occurs mostly during late autumn/winter (May, June, July, August). Drought and salinity are major concerns.
The principle wine regions in South Australia are; the Adelaide Hills, Barossa (comprising the Barossa and Eden Valleys), Clare Valley, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Coonawarra and the Riverland. Vineyard expansion has also extended to Wrattonbully, Mount Benson, Bordertown, Robe, Southern Fleurieu and the Flinders Ranges.
It is a tradition for many wine companies to make multi-district blends from South Australian fruit – the idea of house style taking precedence over regional definition. Penfolds pioneered this concept. The vagaries of vintage variation can be evened out by fruit selection, ensuring quality at a high level. However there is debate that this concept comes at the expense of the ‘soul’ of the wine. Penfolds Grange is probably the most famous multi-district blend and is an excellent counter-argument.
Andrew Caillard MW, Langton'sPenfolds
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.
