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.
Even if you were tasting this wine blind, your first tasting note would have to be, WOW! The scent sets the scene beautifully. There is an inherent complexity here. And balance. Each individual component melding as one: aromatic florals, vanilla pod, red berries, fennel seed emerging across a line of lightly smoked charcuterie.
In its youth, there’s a cut and thrust of tannin (the cut, the former) and oak (the thrust, the latter) which puts a taut scaffolding in place for a long, long future. It combines McLaren Vale smoothness, Coonawarra black-hearted, tannic intensity with a Barossan sweet and savoury core and, while Padthaway also plays a small part, you have to say that the big three regions own this wine. Blackcurrant pastille, tapenade, smoky oak, red currant, forest floor, sage/mint and pliable tannins bend to the will of the whole. Bin 707 rarely looks so approachable, so young.
98 points, Wine Pilot
Sourced from McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Barossa and Padthaway, 18 months in new American hogsheads. The colour is a dark maroon/red. Opens with attractive aromatics. Some oak, but the fruit is more than a match for it. Flavours emerge and weave throughout – chocolate, dark berries, bergamot, cigar box, soy, black cherries, dried herbs and some tobacco leaf. There is a hint of capsicum as well. Seamless. There is power here but everything is in the ideal balance. Such a well crafted wine. Focus, power and really serious length. Very fine tannins. The finish sees some juicy fruit emerge with the oak. A compelling Cabernet and one with decades ahead of it. Dense fruit but the structure carries it so well that the wine appears light on its feet. A truly superb 707.
98 points, Wine Pilot
Deep crimson. Classic blackcurrant mulberry aromas with roasted chestnut, graphite notes. Ample, yet elemental and multi-layered with plentiful pure blackcurrant mulberry fruits, fine persistent grainy/ muscular tannins, superb mid-palate richness and underlying mocha roasted chestnut notes. Finishes brambly firm with plenty of cedarwood cassis notes.
A sturdy Bin 707 with beautiful fruit definition and tannin vigour. Claret lovers rejoice! Seal; Cork, Drink 2028 – 2050 14.5% alc
97 points (July 2021)
McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Barossa Valley and Padthaway fruit. Matured 18 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads. Such a bold statement of new American oak seems somehow old-fashioned in this day and age of Australian cabernet, and yet there is a comfortable assurance about the irrefutable Bin 707 model, promising that the woodwork will find its place with sufficient patience. The purity and precision of cassis and blackcurrant fruit on display is something to behold. In inimitable Bin 707 form, new American oak rises to the auspicious occasion, propelling and uplifting to mighty effect and monumental tannin impact. Fruit and oak sit apart for now, but each in their rightful place, and, as ever, promise great things indeed in a very long time to come. Line and length of the highest order confirm it will go the distance without the slightest doubt.
97 points, Wine Companion (July 2021)
Very deep red/purple colour which stains the glass. The bouquet is a riot of mocha, the melted dark chocolate and espresso coffee notes clearly identifiable, together with concentrated, super-ripe blackberry, blackcurrant and cassis cabernet identity which soars above the oak and other factors. Rum and raisin chocolate. Masses of softly drying tannins coat the tongue, but it's the richness of flavour that dominates all else. Tremendous length, broad and slightly chewy. It finishes with a huge crescendo. An amazing wine. (McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Padthaway. 18 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads)
97 points, The Real Review (June 2021)
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.
