You can find the perfect blend

The launch of Penfold’s Collection 2024 and thoughts about the T word.

From being a slightly esoteric concept used by French winemakers, the wider drinks industry has taken to ‘terroir’ in a big way. Scotch whisky marketers especially seem to love the word - for a product that’s usually made from barley which can be grown anywhere. Gins made from bought-in neutral spirit and imported exotic botanicals are said to possess ‘terroir’. My local wine merchant describes his shop as ‘terroir-driven’.

Terroir is a sacred cow in the wine world. If you doubt that wine’s highest calling is to express the place it comes from, then you are a heretic as I saw the other day when Polish linguist Dariusz Galasinski quoted a American winemaker on Twitter recently who prefered his wines “were delicious than expressed terroir”. Jamie Goode replied “but for interesting wine, terroir is critical”. A long discussion ensued. 

So it was unusual and somewhat refreshing to attend a tasting where the T word wasn’t mentioned once. The occasion was the launch of the latest Penfold’s Collection at the Peninsula Hotel in London with head winemaker Peter Gago, and Shauna Bastow who looks after the Bordeaux side of things (which will be explained shortly). It’s most famous wine, Grange, has always been a multi-regional blend from South Australia. It’s not just Grange, the much-loved Penfolds wines like St Henri (formerly known as St Henri claret), Bin 407 Cabernet and Bin 28 Shiraz are all made in a similar way.

Peter Gago - loves a blend

In all the talk of terroir, its easy to forget just how recent the popularisation of the concept is. Of course, the Greeks and the Romans knew that certain vineyards were better than others. And this minute study of the land and was intensified by monks in Burgundy and Germany. But for the most part the wines that reached the end customer in London or St. Petersberg would be blends. With the vagaries of the weather and the cost of transporting wine, it would have been too risky to export single vineyard wines. 

The most notable examples of this are port and champagne, various vineyards and grapes blended together to make a consistent product that could be shipped in large quantities and sold under a brand name. The great chateaux of Bordeaux are not single vineyard wines, they are a blend of terroirs, often in the past with a good dollop of something more exotic. It used to be routine to ‘improve’ claret with stronger wines from the south. There was a term for it ‘hermitaging’ - after Hermitage from the Rhone valley. 

Terroir wines really only took off in the 1970s and ‘80s with the decline of the great merchant houses of Burgundy and elsewhere when growers began bottling their own wines. Now almost all producers make a nod to their terroir, whether it is deserved or not.

But not Penfold’s. In fact the Australian giant has taken blending to new heights in recent years. The company has gone global with outposts in Napa, where Penfold’s is now one of the biggest landowners, Bordeaux and China. There’s also a partnership with Thiénot making Penfold’s-branded Champagne. Gago said that this last one was a particularly good fit as champagne like Penfold’s is all about the house style.

We tasted Penfold’s wines from Napa and Bordeaux though not from China. I was particularly taken with the 2021 FWT (fine wine trial) 585 from Bordeaux. It tasted like classic refreshing claret to me but as winemaker Shauna Bastow explained at the lunch, it has to be labelled as Vin de France because it uses grapes from all over Bordeaux, left bank and right bank, something not permitted in the AOC. They simply cannot resist a genre-busting blend at Penfold’s!

Then things got crazier with the ‘Wines of the World’ range like Bin 149 Cabernet. This is a blend of cabernet sauvignon (with a little franc) from Napa Valley and South Australia! Crazy. Then there’s Penfolds II - a blend of Coonawarra and Bordeaux made in conjunction with Dourthe, 100% cabernet and tastes like absolute essence of the grape. 

Tasting with Gago is always great fun. There’s a sense of mischief about him which shows in these wines. I can picture him chuckling to himself as he tips a load of Napa cabernet into a giant vat of Bordeaux. I love his cheerful disregard for the modern shibboleths of winemaking. 

The only problem as so often with Penfolds are the prices - Penfolds II is going to cost about £300-£400. The wines range from expensive to really, they’re charging that much? The company has gone upmarket since when I worked in the wine trade. It’s ‘Luxury & Icon’ wines are now sold at La Place in Bordeaux alongside first growth claret. 

But there are some wines that offer quite good value like the always excellent Bin 28 shiraz which retails for around £30. The good thing about the Penfolds range is that you really don’t need to spend Grange money - £600 a bottle - to get something sublime. Probably my favourite wines of the tasting were the 2021 St Henri shiraz (retail around £80) - already tasting superb - and the deliciously (there’s that word) old school Bin 407 Cabernet 2022 (£60). Sadly out of my price range but not oligarch money. I’ve highlighted a few wines below that offer good value though I’m not sure when the vintages I tried will be available yet. 

What next for Penfolds? Gago mentioned that 20 years ago he suggested the company plant in Sussex and “they all laughed at me.” One thought occurred though, I think he is missing a trick with these Wines of the World because surely he should be making a 21st century take on a 19th century Bordeaux. Cabernet from the Medoc bolstered with a good dollop of Barossa shiraz. I’d pay handsomely for that. 

Penfold’s value

Penfold’s Bin 28 Shiraz 2022 (2021 available from Waitrose for £30)

Big nose, dark fruit, balsamic vinegar, charred meat, maybe even char siu buns.

Big ripe tannins with damson jam, gamey meat nose, baking spices, warm and toasty with an oaky finish. Classic Aussie shiraz. Good price at around £30 and will age beautifully I imagine. 

Penfold’s Riesling Bin 51 2024 (2023 available from Fine Wine Direct for £30)

Not all Penfold’s wines are multi-regional blends. There was a wonderful Bin 23 Pinot Noir from Tasmania which I can’t find online and this lovely Eden Valley riesling. The nose is quite incredibly - intensely floral nose, lemon blossom and jasmine. It’s tightly-coiled at the moment. Needs time but the wonderful nose promises much.

Penfolds Bin 407 2022 (2021 available from Laithwaites for £65)

Contains fruit from Coonawarra, Padthaway, Wrattonbully, McLaren Vale, and Barossa, Classic cab nose with pencil shavings, rosemary and thyme with dark fruit. Grippy tannins with sweet slightly medicinal fruit, cherry jam with a cherry put nuttiness. Really quite old school in a good way. I'd rather drink this than far more expensive wines in the Penfolds.