The Wild Card Pour
The Penfolds 2023 Collection is a global journey of winemaking mastery, from California to China, led by a spirit of innovation.
It is when classics give way to the new that fresh classics can be born. While it may be comfortable to reach for the familiar, especially during the holiday season when tradition often holds strong, the Penfolds Collection 2023 challenges that mindset with a mix of flagship and rising favourites, and one experimental trial wine.
For Penfolds, innovation has been at the core of the brand for almost two centuries. In fact, many of the Australian winemaker’s iconic flagship wines, such as the Grange, Yattarna Bin 144 and Red Winemaking Trial 798 Barossa Valley Shiraz, are the result of this unique trial- based approach.
The experiment in the Penfolds Collection 2023 – in and of itself a sure conversation starter at the festive dinner table – is the Chinese Penfolds Winemaking Trial 521 Cabernet Sauvignon Marselan 2021. A first for Penfolds, the wine is a combination of cabernet sauvignon from Shangri- La in the Yunnan province and Marselan from Ningxia in north- central China, a key region for modern Chinese winemaking. Like the trial wines that came before, the Chinese Winemaking Trial 521 currently has a small release.
The exploration into China’s vineyards expands Penfolds’ repertoire of viticultural countries beyond California, Bordeaux and its homeland Australia. With the centuriesold approach of finding the best fruit from the best regions, it is only natural that the
Penfolds philosophy extends beyond the Australian borders.
“Each Penfolds Collection showcases a continuum of winemaking progression as we constantly and curiously look forward to what’s next,” says Peter Gago, chief winemaker at Penfolds. “Nothing stands still.”
Of course, every party benefits from crowd favourites. The Penfolds Collection 2023 includes the Grange 2019, which marks the 69th release of the iconic wine; the Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 bottled from a stellar harvest in Coonawarra; and the second release of the multi- vintage Penfolds II Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot MV created with the Bordeaux house, Dourthe. From its Californian endeavours, Penfolds has selected the flagship Quantum Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 and the single- vineyard Penfolds Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020.