2021 Penfolds, Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia
Critics reviews
From vineyards in Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills. Overall, summer and autumn conditions were cooler than average, allowing grapes to ripen slowly.
Aged for 12 months in French (25% new) and American (12% new) oak hogsheads, with the balance in one-year-old French and American oak hogsheads. TA 6.3 g/l, pH 3.67.
Very dark purple. Minty, pyrazine nose. Very juicy start – almost soft and certainly sweet – and then a pinched, drying finish with definite vegetal notes. A bit short. Wait.
Drink 2025 - 2037
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (July 2023)
The 2021 Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon is from Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills. As I smelled this, I thought, “Gee, this smells good!” Usually, I find the American oak’s presence distracting and ill-matched to the leafy, detailed Cabernet fruit.
Here, there has been a significant proportion of French oak (25% new) and a lesser proportion of American oak (12% new oak). You get dark chocolate, berry compote, resin, stewed rhubarb, cassis, crème de menthe, soft-eating liquorice and black olive tapenade. All regions have a warm climate, except for Adelaide Hills, of course.
In this cooler year, the fruit is mouth-filling without being heavy. Saturating. Lovely. Creamy. Big! Excellent.
Drink 2023 - 2051
Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate (July 2023)
Very Australian, bearing riffs on tea tree, black olive, sage and eucalyptus. All Aussie bramble, with tempering elements of clove and a gush of blackcurrant at its core. The tannins, spearmint and compressed. A bit drying, despite the wine's fuller weight. And yet, for those seeking liquid Australiana, this is worth its weight in gold. After all, it could come from nowhere else.
Drink or hold
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (July 2023)
Inspired by Bin 707, this cuvée, first launched in 1993 with the 1990 vintage, demonstrates Penfolds’ multi-regional blending philosophy even further by also including Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from McLaren Vale, Padthaway and Adelaide Hills, but dialling down the oak – here 12 months in French (25% new) and American (12% new) hogsheads.
A supremely cool and classy wine, this vintage perfume seduces from the off. Gorgeous, layered aromas and rich flavours of black forest gateau, rosemary, pencil lead, boysenberries, violets and exotic tobacco. Lovely cleansing acidity prevents any heaviness, and the oak sits in the background, adding a quiet cedar tone and a superfine tannin structure.
Hard to resist now, but it will mature beautifully—the best-value wine of the range and a no-brainer at this price.
Drink 2025 - 2055
Tina Gellie, Decanter.com (June 2023)
2021 is a fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 407 vintage that brings together fruit from Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills. The wine shows a lovely presence, with every piece in its place. It opens with expressive cassis, chocolate mint and graphite with well-proportioned oak.
A composed and well-structured palate follows, with genuine tension intertwined with tremendous brights of fruit before a cedary, youthful and surprisingly long finish. There’s a killer balance from start to finish.
Drink 2026 - 2035
Angus Hughson, Vinous.com (July 2023)
About this WINE
Penfolds
Penfolds enjoys an iconic status that few New World producers have achieved. Established in 1844 at the Magill Estate near Adelaide, it laid the foundation for fine wine production in Australia.
The winemaking team is led by the masterful Peter Gago; it has the herculean task of blending the best wines from a multitude of different plots, vineyards and regions to create a consistent and outstanding range of wines. Its flagship wine, Grange, is firmly established as one of the finest red wines in the world.
Under Gago’s stewardship, the Penfolds range has evolved over time. Winemaking has moved away from New World heat and the sort of larger-than-life style that can mask individuality; the contemporary wines instead favour fine balance and typicity for the region or grape.
South Australia
At 72,000 hectares, South Australia is the engine room of the country's wine industry, responsible for 43 percent of its vineyards and encompassing some of Australia’s most famous fine wine regions.
One of the most important areas in qualitative terms is the Barossa Valley, beginning 50km north-east of Adelaide, and famous for its full-bodied Shiraz, as well as for its Grenache and Mourvèdre. To the east, the cool Eden Valley is home to some really fine Riesling and top-class Shiraz, such as that made by Henschke. To the north of Barossa is the Clare Valley, also a source of good Riesling but home to well-structured reds as well.
South-east of Adelaide lies the delightful vineyard area of the Adelaide Hills, where fine Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir are produced by wineries such as Petaluma and Llangibby Estate. Langhorne Creek to the east of Adelaide has earned a reputation for its Cabernet Sauvignon, Verdelho and Shiraz while, between Adelaide and the sea, McLaren Vale is a noted area for red wines.
The unique vineyard region of Coonawarra lies 400km south-east in an area of pure limestone topped by a loose, red topsoil. Cool enough to resemble Bordeaux, this area produces great Cabernets and Merlots and is much in demand. Slightly to the north and to the west lie the regions of Padthaway and Mount Benson respectively, which enjoy similar success as sources of great white wines, especially Chardonnay. Wrattonbully however is known for its fresh, varietally-pure Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
However it’s the less-distinguished Riverland region that accounts for 50 percent of the state’s wine production.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.
The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.
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Description
The 2021 Bin 407 displays textbook cabernet aromas which bounce out of the glass like a ball from Mitchell Starc, with notes of plums, blackcurrant, mint and eucalyptus.
On the palate chocolate, vanilla, cedar, cloves and tobacco are complemented by masses of ripe black forest fruit, which wrap around fine grained and ripe tannins, offering some structure.
Matured entirely in 300L French & American hogheads the 2021 demonstrates wonderful depth, breadth and freshness, delivering varietal definition and typicity with aplomb.
Drink now - 2040
Alex Weller, Private Account Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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