Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay 2022 / 98p / Pale colour.  Lovely intense grapefruit, grilled nut, marzipan, vanilla aromas and flavours. Taught yet sinuous in structure with ample grapefruits and limes, underlying tonic water, grilled nut flavours, fine lacy textures, superb mid-palate volume and fresh high pitched indelible acidity. A thoroughbred of remarkable richness and torque. A beautifully focused and classic Margaret River Chardonnay showing off the fidelity of the Gin Gin Clone and precision vineyard sourcing. Drink now – 2032

The Penfolds 2023 Collection Release / “A great follow-on release highlighting the timeless quality and singularity of the Penfolds House Style.”

Hill of Grace – Celebrating 60 Years. Part I / The 60th anniversary release of Henschke Hill of Grace was marked with a wonderful tasting of vintages going back to the first 1958 vintage. These moments were a cause for reflection as the vineyard has become one of the foundations of Australia’s modern fine wine narrative.

Penfolds Californian wines are typically opulent styles and show the kindred spirit of Californian and Australian vine stock. 2019 Penfold Bin 149, described as a wine of the world is a Napa Valley South Australian blend and works impressively well. It’s worth remembering that the Australian component was vintaged six months before California and so the concept of maturation time is blurred. All the same the components all integrate seamlessly, and the wine should enjoy a long cellaring career. The same also applies to the 2019 Penfolds Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz which has hallmarks of South Australian winemaking but fully amplifies the power and energy of Californian Cabernet. The Shiraz component does the job of filling the mid-palate and adding plushness, but the torque in the Cabernet drives the flavours across the palate with impressive velocity. The wine is strangely familiar yet distant perhaps reflecting the cross-Pacific nature of the wine. 

Vasse Felix Tom Cullity 2018 /Medium deep crimson. Fragrant cassis, dark plum, chinotto aromas with herb garden, aniseed notes. Voluminous blackcurrant, dark plum, blackberry fruits, lovely persistent fine chocolaty textures, superb mid-palate density, fresh juicy acidity and plentiful mocha, espresso oak notes. Finishes chocolaty with plentiful sweet dark fruits and attractive mineral length. Lovely concentration, definition and torque. Should last some distance and keep for a while to let the elements further integrate. An impressive landmark vintage. 78% cabernet sauvignon 17.5% malbec 4.5% petit verdot. Matured in new (59%) and seasoned French oak for 18 months. 98 points

Penfolds Bordeaux Collection 2022 -The new French venture, in partnership with Dourthe, is particularly enlightened. Matthieu Chadronnier, managing director of negociant company CVBG Dourthe, is a one of the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic supporters of the “Beyond Bordeaux” category which is making significant inroads into this very specialised and extraordinary fine wine distribution channel. Bordeaux wine merchants are massively effective and reach parts of the world of fine wine, that many New World wine producers have been unable to crack. 
 
The promising Dourthe Penfolds collaboration takes the Beyond Bordeaux category to a new level. It is now 72 years ago since Max Schubert visited the region and imagined Grange. But now generational ambitions are on an equal footing. This joint project is a team effort between Emma Wood and Dourthe’s Frederic Bonnaffous, both highly skilled winemakers – each bringing different perspectives. On the one side there is an ambition to amplify the Penfolds aesthetic and on the other an aspiration to bring out the best of Dourthe’s terroirs in the Medoc. This push me - pull you type of winemaking has created a spirit of experimentation and open-mindedness. If both parties stay the course and egos stay in check, this could lead to something meaningful and special. Chief Winemaker Peter Gago, who oversees the project and works with the team to select the final outcome points out the refined and practiced Penfolds classification tasting process is the final determinant of quality and style. But of course, with Dourthe’s experience with cabernet and the less well known varieties merlot and petit Verdot (from an Australian perspective), there seems to be very good technical exchange and mutual respect. Having known the actors on both sides of the equation for a very long time, I think this partnership has some real legs and I am looking forward to seeing what comes next!  
 
The 2019 Penfolds “French Winemaking Trial” 585 is the first 100% Penfolds Bordeaux wine and is based on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. This collaboration has yielded a very impressive first vintage. It offers regional authenticity with a subtle Penfoldsian look. While it’s a work in progress it holds up against the Grand Cru circus, although the intent is not to frame it within this context. The technical exchange behind the scenes and new outlooks towards sourcing and winemaking – on both sides of the equation – make this wine the most fascinating of the Penfolds Collection 2022 release. 
 
The Franco- South Australian 2019 Penfolds II is self-described as “aspiringly lofty.” The complicated wine laws mean that it is labelled as Cabernet Sauvignon – France/ Shiraz – South Australia putting it the category of an international Vin de Table. The Shiraz parcel was vinified six months before the Cabernet parcels, and the final blends and bottling took place in South Australia. But of course, like many ambitious projects, this wine would stretch the black-and-white minds of lawmakers. This first vintage is something of a curio. It will be fascinating to see how the fruit and oak fold into each other over time. It is really an experimental release and only more vintages of this type and track record will tell. There is always a chance that this wine will be seen as historic one day. Peter Gago, never short of imagination, said “This wine is not about bigness or boldness or assertion. It is blended to convey an ethereal lightness, subtlety on the palate – sensitively binding two hemispheres Old World and New.”
 

2018 Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz -100 points / Deep colour. Beautiful and classic with intense blackberry, blackcurrant dark chocolate espresso aromas and wax polish, roasted chestnut, malt notes. Superbly concentrated wine with deep set inky blackberry, blackcurrant, dark plum, dark chocolate mocha flavours, fine chocolaty/ velvety tannins, underlying espresso, malt, oak notes and hints of aniseed. Finishes chocolaty firm with superbly integrated acidity and mineral length. A glorious year for Grange. This will last 50 years at least. Wonderful. One of the greatest vintages of all time highlighting a superb growing season, marvellous vineyard management, the fidelity of the Penfolds housemaking style and generations of imagination and effort. 97% Shiraz, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley. 18 months maturation in 100% new American oak hogsheads. Drink 2030 -2060+ 14.5% alc 100 points

Château Léoville-Las Cases 2021 95–96p /Medium-deep crimson. Blackcurrant lead-pencil cedar aromas with roasted chestnut notes. Classically structured wine with blackcurrant blackberry fruits, fine sinewy/ grainy tannins and roasted chestnut oak. Finishes muscular firm with leafy notes. Lovely precision. Fresh and voluminous but needs several years to show itself. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 15% cabernet franc, 5% merlot. Maturation in 85% new French oak. 13.2% alc

Château Mouton Rothschild 2021/ Medium-deep crimson. Lifted blackcurrant, blackberry aromas with toasty, marzipan roasted chestnut notes. Inky deep blackcurrant blackberry fruits, fine graphite/firm and a hint cedary tannins with plentiful toasty/ roasted chestnut/ vanilla notes. Finishes chocolaty firm and minerally with bittersweet notes. A very lovely wine with ample dark fruits, superb richness and energy. Should develop very well. 89% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 1% cabernet franc.97–98 points