Penfolds Collection 2019

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The Penfolds Collection 2019 adds another chapter to the penfolds long lineage of fine wines. A celebration of five vintages, seven varietals and twelve regions.

Wine critics commentary – Nick Stock for JamesSuckling.com

The Penfolds Grange 2015 has been released after four years of anticipation, and it is a classic edition that recalls revered powerhouse vintages like 1998 and 1990. I rated the wine 100 points in the launch tasting in London in mid-July.

The 2015 Grange is the highlight in a collection that contains numerous bottles of excellent quality. There has been a procession of excellent full-bodied South Australian red wines from the warm and dry 2015 vintage and this latest release lives up to expectations.

“It’s a very black-fruited, good old-fashioned gutsy Grange,” says Chief Winemaker Peter Gago, speaking in the year that marks 175 years of Penfolds winemaking. He has been sitting on this wine for just over four years and is clearly happy to see it released.

This will be a very long-lived vintage; it really should not be opened for at least a dozen years from release. The aromas are light at this stage, but there is deeply buried power and concentration and the palate is an epic display of muscular shiraz from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Magill Estate. Cabernet sauvignon makes up just two percent in the 2015.

The other star in the release this year is the St. Henri Shiraz 2016, rated 98 points. The keen focus of the 2016 vintage is a perfect fit for the delicate and fruit-focused St. Henri and it has delivered a wine with freshness, complexity, detail, purity and elegance.

This really is one of the great St. Henri releases, on a par with the already legendary 2010. Shiraz grapes were harvested across the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Coonawarra and Magill Estate at optimal ripeness. A great 2016 St Henri means there’s surely a great 2016 Grange preparing for release in 2020.

2015 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz – 100 points
Much anticipated vintage for Grange and it is a powerhouse of concentration and complexity. Aromas of orange and lemon peel to start, then graphite, blackberries, plum paste, black cherries, boundless sweet oak spice, fresh cedar, tar, mahogany, roasted coffee and chocolate - the list goes on. Such complexity. Classic Grange, offering such deep, dark intensity. The palate has immense richness and depth with a super succulent and very long, fleshy, deeply weighted array of dense, velvet-wrapped tannins that run so long. The fruit flavours sit in the blackberry, blood-plum and blueberry zone with succulent, long and assertive structure, carrying through in an utterly seamless mode. The finish is tightly wrenched, in spectacularly powerful style, locking this wine in for a very long haul. Best from 2030.

2017 Penfolds Bin 144 Yattarna Chardonnay – 96 points
The deepest and most complex expression of chardonnay at Penfolds, this has a dual edge, between white peaches and yellow citrus fruit. The palate is rigidly dry with such precise acidity placement and a very long, sorbet-like edge to the clean, hazelnut-dusted finish. Drink or hold.

2017 Penfolds Bin 798 RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz – 96 points
Stunning blueberries and mulberries here with a wealth of baking spices and red berries, as well as tarry notes and blackberries. It is all here. The palate has a super plush, rich and quite compressed tannin feel. Some firm and powerful moments, as the palate builds with plentiful spiced summer berries. Red plums and blackberries to close. Try from 2025.

2017 Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz – 95 points
Attractive wet stones and almost flinty notes, ahead of a very refined core of spice-wrapped red and black cherries, as well as praline and toffee. The palate has a very succulent feel. The acidity sits up in vibrant style and there’s a fine, succulent and long, refined finish. Oak rides up, but this always needs time after release. There’s replanting in the 5-ish hectare plot, so quantities are low for a spell here. Best from 2025.

2016 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz – 98 points
This is a much-anticipated vintage for St. Henri, and it does not disappoint. The complexity of fruit here is stunning, together with a very complex and playfully fragrant, spicy edge with graphite, roasted coffee and woody spices, framing a core of very fresh blackberries, red and dark cherries and blueberries. So fresh and brimming with fruit aromas. The palate has a stunning array of deeply fleshy fruit flavours with a superb sense of length and powerful, ripe tannin, underpinning vibrant, fleshy fruit that is beautifully assembled in a refined, elegant and impressively pure mode. So long and pure. Silky and elegant. A real masterpiece, taking its place among the finest vintages like 2010, 1990 and 1971. 95% shiraz and 5% cabernet sauvignon. Drink over the next three decades.

2017 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz – 94 points
This sits in the typical, just cabernet-dominant style (54%) and marries cassis, blueberries, leaves and cedary-dominant aromas with more substantial blackberries and dark cherries, as well as redder tones at the finish. The regional sourcing here is cleverly played and delivers a fleshy, soft and smooth wine in 2017. Long, vanilla-laced after-trail. Drink over the next fifteen years. A stallion in the cellar!

2017 Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon – 93 points
This has a duality between some cooler-climate sourcing (some downgraded Bin 707 material went here) and warmer-region fruit from McLaren Vale and the Barossa, delivering impressive flesh and fruit weight. Really builds and fills and holds a wide-open finish. Drink or hold

2017 Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz – 91 points
This has moved to position itself firmly as a wine that trades on the strengths of Barossa shiraz, in an all-round way, while also incorporating McLaren Vale and Padthaway sourcing. Deep blackberries and redder fruit with a creamy, vanillin-laced nose and some cedar and tarry notes. The palate has a smooth build of fleshy fruit and silky, refined and polished tannin. Drink now or wait six years.

2017 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz – 92 points
The regional stamp of minty and leafy aromas is strong here, as is the stream of redder-toned berry flavours and a fine, long and linear spine of tannin. Drink over the next decade.

2017 Penfolds Bin 138 Shiraz Grenache Mataro – 93 points
The nose here has such rich raspberries and blackberries with a gently earthy and spicy edge. The Barossa valley lives large in this wine, a regional expression of hearty, ripe and flavourful red and dark fruit, framed in smooth, supple, glossy tannins, with freshness at the finish. Drink over the next decade.

These wines are only available in limited quantities.
For the underbond pricing our usual En Primeur Terms apply. Wines should however be with us in a few weeks when you can have them delivered or we can keep them under bond for you.

To order please email customerservices@frazierswine.co.uk with your requests.

Offer closes 31st October 2019. Duty is currently £13.39 per 6 bottles and VAT is 20%.

There was no Bin 707 or Bin 169 made in 2017.