Luxury winemaker Penfolds is celebrating 180 years of winemaking excellence with the unveiling of The Penfolds Collection 2024 and a commemorative Bin 180 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz 2021.
The 2021 Bin 180 was crafted from the 2021 Coonawarra vintage, using Cabernet Sauvignon from Block 10 and Shiraz from Block 5, being some of the oldest symbolic plantings in the Coonawarra region.
In honour of the 180th anniversary milestone, Penfolds partnered with South Australian artisan Andrew Bartlett on a limited-edition art piece which encloses the rare three-litre jeroboam wines. Constructed from staves of Penfolds French oak barrels, the contemporary design features wood panels that represent 18 decades of Penfolds history.
Penfolds Chief Winemaker, Peter Gago, stated: “Our goal was to craft a landmark wine to acknowledge Penfolds 180th Anniversary.
“Compellingly – the lure of outstanding parcels in barrel availed from the stellar 2021 Coonawarra harvest. Fatefully – testament to a pre-ordained and magical Australian varietal union – a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Resultingly – Penfolds 2021 Bin 180 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz.”
A continuation of Penfolds’ Country of Origin endeavours, The Penfolds Collection 2024 includes 25 wines made from vineyards across Australia, the US, France and China.
Within the collection, the Australian release includes the Penfolds flagship 2020 Grange. Crafted with the best parcels of South Australian Shiraz from the 2020 vintage, Gago says the wine is “assured and distinctive, this Grange will appease and reward.”
Another highlight from the Australian component of the collection is the 2022 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, now celebrating 60 years since its first release, joined by a further 16 Australian wines.
Penfolds winemakers first explored Californian soils 20 years ago, and this year’s US release includes four wines from the 2021 vintage, Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon, Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz and 2021 Howell Mountain Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet France.
From France, the collection comprises the 2022 Penfolds II Cabernet Sauvignon and 2021 FWT 585 Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot Merlot, being only the third release from Penfolds partnership with Bordeaux winemaking house Dourthe.
Finally, The Penfolds Collection 2024 includes the 2022 CWT 521 Cabernet Sauvignon Marselan, the second product of the Chinese Winemaking Trial (CWT) and a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon from Shangri-La with Marselan from Ningxia.
“Our Penfolds Collection 2024 is testament to eighteen decades of innovation and invention, hard work, trials, mistakes, and the honing of a Penfolds House Style. We have a dedicated team working across the globe, covering viticultural regions in two hemispheres, allowing us to deliver an increasingly diverse and consistently excellent collection of wines each year,” added Gago.
The Penfolds Collection 2024 will be available globally from Thursday 1 August 2024.
