Winemaker Notes
Deep magenta, purple on rim. Alluring, invoking. Sweet, aromatic, spicy (cardamom, cinnamon, lavender) … can aromas of butter chicken be mentioned in this context, in a tasting note?! Ascent of tangelo/blood orange spikes – propelling a chinotto/citrus lift. Dusty white chocolate, cocoa butter, and Italian temptations – panna cotta, zabaglione … and what can only be an illusion of tiramisu! Oak – bound to be lurking there somewhere! Camouflaged? Decant more aggressively to reveal? Conceded. It is: glossy, flamboyant, ostentatious. Is not: over-ripe, alcoholic, extracted. Thereby hits the stylistic Barossa/shiraz bulls-eye … with a little help from fastidiously selected French oak. This oak tightens/focuses/encapsulates. Simultaneously structurally tackled by embracing, ripe tannins. This fruit is then surely shrouded, submissive? Never. Archetypal blueberry bavarois and blackberry fruits brazenly strut across the palate. Dense, bountiful, and was there mention of lengthhhhhhhh …?!
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Shiraz RWT is a brilliant, brilliant wine, and I suspect the finest version of this cuvee ever produced. Thrilling notes of black raspberries, crème de cassis, toasted spice, mint, and espresso all emerge from this deep, rich, powerful Shiraz. With massive concentration, it still glides across the palate with no sensation of heaviness or rusticity, building, perfectly ripe tannins, and incredible opulence and intensity. It shows more grilled meat notes with time in the glass and is a monumental Barossa Shiraz that flirts with perfection.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 RWT Shiraz is Penfolds's embodiment of Barossa Valley Shiraz. Aged in French oak (72% new), it offers hints of vanilla and cedar, but more than anything, it showcases the region's bold berry and plum fruit. Full-bodied and rich, verging on decadent, yet firmly structured and long on the finish, it's a powerful yet elegant wine that is capable of being consumed young or aging up to two decades. Having embarked on a career in the wine business right around the time the first RWT was released, it's a treat to see how the latest version is showing. It's a relative bargain among the Penfolds upper echelon.
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James Suckling
Barossa Valley shiraz meets French oak (72 per cent new) in a warmer vintage and delivers a wine that sits right in the pocket of elegance and richness combined. Aromas of redder fruit with raspberries and red plums, as well as black tea and a smoky, coal-dust edge. Boysenberries, too. This is complex. The palate has commanding length and depth with succulent, powerful yet fine and compressed tannins at its core. Both the length and balance are impressive. A great RWT! Try from 2022 and for at least two decades after that. Should peak after 2030.
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Wine Spectator
Striking, with polished, fine-grained tannins that provide a velvety background for a complex array of flavors. Sandalwood, chai tea, gingerbread and white pepper notes mingle with supple raspberry, black cherry coulis, spiced plum and red licorice flavors, with a hint of white truffle. Concentrated and harmonious. The finish goes on and on. Drink now through 2039.
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.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.