Tyson Stelzer on Connoisseur FINE WINE Fine Wine GUIDE

Penfolds Collection 2020 reviewed by Tyson Stelzer

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Penfolds Collection 2020 reviewed by Tyson Stelzer

 

Whatever your opinion of big brands, far-flung blends, controlled allocations and upwardly spiraling prices, this is one of the most outstanding and important Australian wine releases of the year – not only for South Australian shiraz and cabernet, but now for a more than respectable pinot, and one of the finest chardonnays ever conceived in this country.

For South Australia’s most famous red winemaker, a foray ever deeper into Tasmania for chardonnay and pinot noir is a telling declaration for the future of cool climate winemaking in Australia. The company has maxed out the altitude of the Adelaide Hills (at around 650m) and has turned to latitude to, as chief winemaker Peter Gago puts it, ‘climate proof its risk management’.

This release represents Penfolds’ strongest set of chardonnays yet. White winemaker Kym Schroeter rightly considers the trio of 2018, 2019 and 2020 to be ‘probably our best all-round white release I’ve ever seen.’ Yattarna 2018 is one of the finest chardonnays I’ve tasted outside the grand crus of Burgundy itself.

Prices have remained steady (this is not the year for price rises), with the exceptions of Grange and Bin 707 (each up $50) and Bin 407 (up $10). Gago comments that ‘the price of Bin 707 continues to go up, and none of us like it, but there is still a queue around the corner, and it remains the quickest Penfolds wine to sell out.’

Penfolds has worked very hard to establish its international markets (Gago has been courting the US for three decades now) and it has a strong presence there and in China, the Nordics and across Europe (and now even boasts ‘significant’ sales into France). With warehousing established in each of its key markets, the brand is well positioned to weather this year’s inherent supply chain disruptions.

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