Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Sourced from Coonawarra, Padthaway, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully and the Adelaide Hills, this is a wine with real purpose, confidence and bold style in a very good vintage. The nose has some creamy spice and nougat oak; there's a strong savory thread with dark herbs and dark stones too, along with almost brick mortar and very dark soy, iodine, tarry notes, and black olive. It opens up with gusto, really expressive. The palate has a seam of mocha flavor and the oak is fresh, adding a crispness to the wine from the outset. The density here is striking and very compact; it strides across the palate with purpose, length and poise. The tannins are seamlessly woven together, offering admirable ageing potential. Drink in 2024.
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Wine Spectator
focused and elegant, but needs time to bring everything together. Offers deep flavors of currant, blackberry, potpourri and spice that weave together seamlessly against a gentle grip of tannins, expanding beautifully on the long and expressive finish. Best from 2017 through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made from Coonawarra, Padthaway, Barossa, Wrattonbully and Adelaide Hills fruit and aged 14 months is 100% new American oak hogsheads, the deep, vibrant purple colored 2012 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon opens to lovely crème de cassis notes with some kirsch accents plus violets, cedar and menthol nuances. At the moment the oak stands out on the palate so it needs more time to integrate, but otherwise it is quite minty, has balanced acid though is very punchy and it is bursting with fruit through the very long, firm finish. Rating: 93+
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Wine & Spirits
Penfolds’ most ambitious cabernet sauvignon, this wine includes fruit from Coonawarra, Padthaway, Barossa, Wrattonbully and Adelaide Hills, finishing its fermentation in new American oak hogsheads. It includes old-vine fruit from Kalimna—Block 41 planted in 1955 and Block 42, dating to the 1880s, possibly the oldest cabernet vines in the world. That said, it’s more about power than grace for now, a sleek wine with tension in its structure and the roast coffee scents of oak dominating the finish. Brisk and gripping even after the bottle has been opened for two days, this will need a decade or more to resolve.
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.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
South Australia is the historic heart of Australian wine, a great wine capital of the world, and home to some of the most famous regions. It produces more than 80% of Australia’s premium wine from some of the oldest vines in the world. There is an abundance of varieties and wide spectrum of styles to explore. From the rogue to refined, discover Australian wines that are far from ordinary.