Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of lime zest, lemon sherbet, white flowers, wet slate and subtle herbs. The palate is light and tight, with piercing acidity and notes of grapefruit pith, citrus peel and crushed stones. Linear and focused, with a dry, persistent finish and a powerful undertone that will evolve nicely for years to come. Drink or hold.
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Australian Wine Companion
The 2024 Bin 51 presents as a wonderfully focused, perfumed release with floral tones of Christmas lily and orange blossom flitting around the vibrant lime and grapefruit core. Hints of finger lime, lemongrass, crushed quartz and makrut lime. A light slick of phenolic texture on the edges creates textural complexity, and there's ample minerally drive as the wine finishes taut, long and stony dry.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2024 Bin 51 Riesling is highly aromatic, with notes of talc and chalk, musk, lilac and white spring flowers (Murraya, orange blossom, lavender). Newly bottled Riesling effortlessly exudes this aromatic capacity, and it almost never has this vivacity and clarity again. Although we all know they gain complexity and breadth as they age. So here, the white rocks, crushed quartz and floral character of the Eden Valley is on full show, and yet the palate has an attractive sudsy softness to it that I find attractive. This is a lovely wine with an impressive flavor draw over the palate that lingers. It has 11% alcohol, a pH of 2.95 and 7.5 grams per liter of total acidity, sealed under screw cap.
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Wine Enthusiast
A young, delicate Riesling from the Eden Valley, this offers an appealing pop of lime popsicle and white-peach-blossom aromas. There's a punch of limey acidity in the mouth. It's dry but fruity, with some pithy texture and softer flavor than the nose implies. This is a wine that whispers rather than shouts.
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Wine Spectator
Impressive for its focus and purity, offering notes of fresh ginger, lime, pear and lemon curd. There's plenty of intensity on the mouthwatering finish, with hints of sea salt and thyme.
Since 1844, Penfolds has been grounded in experimentation, curiosity and uncompromising quality. Their success has been driven by a lineage of visionary winemakers. It began with Dr. Christopher and Mary Penfold, the pioneers who dreamed big, inventing tonics, brandies, and fortified wines made from grapes and Australian sunshine. It continued with celebrated winemaking legends including Max Schubert, who pushed the development to extraordinary, bold new heights. It is this pioneering spirit and curiosity that still rings true after nearly two centuries, it is what has helped Penfolds become one of the most celebrated winemakers in the world today.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Higher in elevation and topographically more dramatic than the Barossa Valley floor, Eden Valley abuts it to its south and east. While it is a bit of an extension of Barossa, Eden Valley is topographically different than the pastoral Barossa Valley, and is composed of rocky hills and eucalyptus groves.
Recognizing Eden Valley’s potential with Riesling in the 1960s and 70s, producers started to move their Riesling production from Barossa to these better sites where schist soils on hilltops would produce more steely, tart and age-worthy examples. A most famous site, planted by Colin Gramp, called Steingarten, today produces one of the most outstanding Australian Rieslings. Youthful Eden Valley Rieslings express floral, grapefruit and mineral, while with time in the bottle, they become increasingly toasty and complex.
Riesling isn’t the only grape the region can grow; undeniably at lower altitudes Shiraz does very well. Mount Edelstone is a notable vineyard as well as the Hill of Grace, which boasts healthy Shiraz vines well over 100 years old. This is the only Australian region where Merlot has a made a name for itself and Chardonnay can be spectacular, particularly from the High Eden subregion in the southern valley.