Wednesday Wines – Episode 321 – The Penfolds Collection 2026
(Embargoed until 15.01 GMT on 22nd July 2026)
with Peter Gago and joined by His Excellency The Honourable Jay Weatherill AO, Australia’s High Commissioner at the official residence, Stoke Lodge
I was privileged to be the first to taste these wines in the world, alongside two other UK-based wine writers. Please note that I have only included wines from this release that gained scores of 18/20 (93/100 in new money) and above in this piece. This means that a few did not make the cut this year. I did not taste Magill Estate, and it will be sent over in due course when it is ready.
WHITE
2025 Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay (Adelaide Hills, Tasmania, Tumbarumba; 13.0% alc; 8 months in French oak barriques, 23% new) – With a pristine nose and amazing citrus lift, this is one of the most aerial and attacking Bin 311s for a long while, and the lithe palate and crisp finish make it incredibly mouthwatering and alive in the glass. The fruit character is wholly along the yellow/green spectrum with no exoticism at all, although florals abound on the nose. This is a sensational Bin 311, and it punches way above its price. 18.5/20
2025 Penfolds Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay (12.5% alc; 8 months in French oak barriques, 58% new and 31% one-year-old) – The nose is grand, elevated, superbly plush and luxurious, and the fruit is expressive, and yet there is a similar finish to Bin 311 with a ratcheted tension that is simply extraordinary. Super-long, seemingly exotic and layered, but it is just the power and control that give this impression; this is a second Chardonnay that stays very much the citrus side of the tracks, and this means it will appeal to the Puligny lovers more than some of the fatter vintages in the past. 19+/20
2024 Penfolds Yattarna Bin 144 Chardonnay (12.5% alc; 8 months in French oak barriques, 56% new and 24% one-year-old) – This is a stony, pebbly, amazingly linear and resonant Yattarna, this remarkable thing about this vintage is that it starts strongly, with epic fruit notes, ginger, oak and amazing crunch, and then manages to maintain this volume of flavour for minutes. It doesn’t dip or meander for a second. The finish, which seems never to truly resolve, is heroic and the acidity, which does an incredible job of transporting the fruit perfectly down the tracks, is all-powerful, and it is likely to protect this wine for decades. I cannot remember a finer first-taste of Yattarna. 20+/20
RED
2025 Penfolds Bin 23 Pinot Noir (Tasmania, Yarra Valley; 13.0% alc; matured in French oak barriques, 22% new) – With hints of green leaves, rhubarb and plum stones, this is a stunningly bright, airy, modern and racy Pinot Noir, and it is as trendy a wine as Penfolds has ever made. I absolutely love this free, easy and engaging style and it is a far cry from the darker, more solid wines of years past. It will surely recruit new customers to the fold, as well as restaurants galore. 18/20
2025 Penfolds Bin 21 Grenache (Barossa, McLaren Vale); 14.5% alc; 10 months in French oak hogsheads, 28% new) – In a similar vein to Bin 23, this is a ripe, modern and super-clean style with open fruit and a cleansing and forward mid-palate. The finish is balancing, chalky and crisp, making this a beautifully well-made Grenache with a refreshingly futuristic (or admirably ancient, depending on your perspective) stance that I greatly enjoy. 18/20
2024 Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz (McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, Clare Valley, Fleurieu; 14.5% alc; 12 months in American oak hogsheads, 9% new) – Deeper, swarthier and more overtly Aussie than the honed 2023, this is a much chewier and spicier wine, and there is, accordingly, more action and drama on the finish. It needs time, and it certainly possesses more tannin and more energy than many, but this will be a mighty Bin 28. It also needs air, and over half an hour or so, it certainly started to make moves on the palate. This is a superb gauge of its potential, and I urge Bin 28 lovers to put down a few cases for 2035 onwards! 18+/20
2024 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz (14.5% alc; 12 months in French oak hogsheads, 12% new) – There is a wild nature here that belies the origins of this wine. There is also more amplitude than expected and more fruit timbre, too. Considerable depth of spice and iron are evident, and this adds ripe tobacco notes and fertile earth tones which further sweeten the experience, making this a thoroughly exotic Bin 128, and a wine that already appeals greatly in the glass! I must admit to being amazed, not least when considering the price of this wine (it usually hangs around the £40-mark). This is the wine to select between Bins 28 and 128 for early consumption and wine nerdiness, as it shows a very exciting side to Coonawarra. Peter Gago informed me that there is some fruit from the great Block 5 plot in here. This score reflects just how much I adore this wine. 18.5/20
2024 Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz (Barossa Valley; 14.5% alc; 16 months in French, 3% new and 61% seasoned, and American, 2% new and 34% seasoned, oak hogsheads) – There is much more control here than in some of the past vintages on the nose, and then the palate hits you with waves of tannin and grip. This is the most backward and commanding (and probably least obviously commercially crowd-pleasing) Bin 150 for years. But the nose always tells the truth, so if you can ignore the raucous finish for a moment or two, and imagine the perfumes driving deeper into the palate, as they surely will do with time, this will be an astonishingly fit and expressive Bin 150 if you have the patience. I venture it will become absolutely incredible. It’s an unexpected and totally different, and perhaps unseen, side to this wine! The Zilm property behind Seppeltsfield is partly responsible for the grip, emergence of control and tension here. This wine used to be made from relegated Grange fruit, and it has now realised its true individuality and character, and the new French and American has dropped from 25% right down to single digits! Hoorah. 19+/20
2024 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet / Shiraz (53% Cabernet Sauvignon / 47% Shiraz; Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Padthaway; 14.5% alc; 13 months in American hogsheads, 34% new) – And here we have another conundrum of a wine. And it’s a puzzle that has no solution in the box or online! And yet, trying and failing to compute its myriads of flavours is extraordinarily enjoyable and a little frustrating, like the very best brainteasers. One thing is certain – this is a highly complex and somewhat unpredictable wine that might confound lovers of this Bin, but also recruit new tasters to the fold, because it shows incredible complexity and corridors of flavour and spice, not surprisingly because it comes from such a complex tapestry of components. Unlike previous vintages which seamlessly meld together, it appears that 2024 Bin 389 wilfully wants to show its striations, cracks, confluences and wounds, and I love it. 19+/20
2023 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz (McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Frankland River, Port Lincoln; 14.5% alc; 12months in large, seasoned oak vats) – This is a black labrador puppy of a St Henri, with a silky soft tummy and a lustrous coat. In addition, it has so much generosity and a kindly nature; it opens on command and welcomes forensic inspection. There is nowhere to hide here with black liquorice, an entire suite of black fruits and flowers and a spice rack to boot. Earthiness and oak are present, but discreet. Forward and communicative, and yet with enough tannin and acidity to last a couple of decades, but perhaps no more, this is a stunning wine, and it will blow people away, not least if it’s one’s first sip of this glorious and eternally amazing label. 19/20
2024 Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Barossa Valley Shiraz (14.5% alc; 14 months in French oak hogsheads, 82% new and 18% one-year-old) – Hard, unyielding and muscular, this is one of the firmest and more backward young RWTs I can remember. The fruit is like black marble with no way of cracking into its core. Unlike the chocolate fondant vintages, which I unashamedly like, this is a monastic wine with singular density, coolness and reserve. And guess what? It started to shimmer in the glass after half an hour, and then after an hour it flinched again. Ooh, I am very much enamoured by this wine, and I like the way it moves on its own and when it wants to rather than me dictating its trajectory. This might well be one of the classiest and most intricate RWTs of all time. The fruit integrity is nothing short of epic, so I will throw caution to the wind here with my score! This might well end up being one of, if not the greatest, RWTs ever made. 19.5+/20
2024 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Padthaway; 14.5% alc; 16 months in American oak hogsheads, 100% new) – This is a massive and unnerving Bin 707, and I am getting the same vibes as villagers do in Game of Thrones when the silhouette of a massive dragon passes behind a cloud. It’s not often a wine makes me feel this much on edge. And unlike RWT, which turns Hyde to Jekyll, this wine is malevolent, confrontational and all-powerful. Thank goodness then the nose is intensely Cabernet-soaked and identifiable because the rest of the wine is a leviathan. It’s too much for me, so I will duck out. But lovers of structured, imposing Cabernet will perform cartwheels for this wine. My score reflects its dimensions. 19++/20
2022 Penfolds Superblend 802.A Cabernet Shiraz (59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Shiraz; 14.5% alc; Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, Padthaway, McLaren Vale; 18 months in American oak hogsheads, 100% new) – This is a far more open and approachable wine than ‘B’, and the American oak helps to soften it onto the palate, allowing it to flow beautifully despite its youth. The overall experience is of a very young and very powerful wine, but the American oak has really helped to tame some of the firepower here already! There is no doubt that this will become a thrilling and ostentatious wine within a decade. 19+/20
2022 Penfolds Superblend 802.B Cabernet Shiraz (69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Shiraz; 14.5% alc; Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, Padthaway, McLaren Vale; 18 months in French oak hogsheads, 54% new, 46% one-year-old) – ‘B’ shows more tension and a much dryer harder finish, and it sucks moisture out of the mid-palate and the finish, so this is overall a much more difficult wine to assess. I reserve judgement for another day, but on this occasion, ‘A’ gets my vote. 18.5+?/20
2022 Penfolds Grange Bin 95 Shiraz (07% Shiraz, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon; 87% Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra; 14.5% alc; 18 months in American oak hogsheads, 100% new) – The nose is nothing short of glorious and it is, somewhat shockingly, completely unfurled and open with fresh-picked rose petals, fresh rolling tobacco, and handfuls of fresh earth. In fact, none of the tasting notes has any of the dried characteristics one finds in other vintages. It is majestic, commanding and full-bodied, but also lithe, athletic and certainly more ‘Burgundian’! And I have never thought this word, let alone written it. It is conversational and charming, and the tannins are fresh, fine-grained and imperial. They are certainly big and athletic, but they are also civilised, elegant and downright incredible. This is a perfect example of a perfect, near-drinking Grange. That said, I have no doubt it will run for at least three decades, too! 20/20
Scores – As a wine taster and writer, I prefer you to read my words rather than focus on my scores. This is why I rarely score wines unless I write detailed notes like these. I believe that scores taken from the context of tasting notes are essentially meaningless. I describe my featured wines in full detail so you can imagine their aroma, shape, and flavour. Scores don’t help with this. You will be aware that several different scoring methods are employed in the global wine trade. Most of my wine-writing colleagues have been tempted to the dark side, using the 100-point rating system. A few, usually older types, cling to the venerable five-star rating. As you know, I favour the 20-point score. It’s how I was taught and dovetails nicely with how I judge wines. For those unfamiliar with the 20-point scoring system, a table is provided below that translates it into various other formats. If a score has no ‘+’, this indicates a wine that is in balance and can be drunk relatively young, thanks to its precocity and charm. One ‘+’ indicates a wine that will benefit from medium-term ageing (following the style of the wine), while two ‘++’ suggests a wine that should manage to make the long haul, softening and evolving as it goes. Very occasionally, I use three ‘+++’ to signal a wine that needs an eternity to soften or will last forever; such is its power. A ‘?’ means that I am unsure about an element within the wine – this will be explained in my note.
