Penfolds introduces two new Australian Superblends

If you are a wine collector or a connoisseur, you might have personal preferences in terms of the use of the oak used for ageing- basically either American or French oak used in barriques or bigger containers, adding different flavours. French oak gives firmer and silkier tannins while American oak gives bolder, slightly sweeter but rougher tannins that mellow in the bottle. In both cases, the tannins from oak combine with those present in grapes and form a new structure which tends to be more complex than tannin from grapes or wood alone.  

Penfolds has introduced two super-premium Shiraz Cabernet blends with nomenclature as Bin 802A and Bin 802B, which were trademarked as Superblends in April 2021, that have been priced close to the iconic Grange and will be a regular Release every year.

Also Read: GRANGE: Up, Up and Away in my beautiful Cocoon

Two Superblends from Penfolds with different Oak Barrels

The Bin 802A is a blend of 68 % Cabernet Sauvignon and 32 % Shiraz from the 2018 vintage, which were aged separately for 22 months in new American oak hogsheads. This wine is being released globally on August 5, along with the rest of the 2021 collection. The wine with a bold oak-driven feel should appeal to palates that show a preference for bolder wines.

The Bin 802B has 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance 45% Shiraz which was blended immediately after fermentation and matured for 19 months in French Oak hogsheads (appx. 239-liter capacity) with 54 % new barrels and 46 % second pass. This wine is still maturing in the barrels and will be released at the global launch next year in August 2022, with the rest of the wines from Penfolds, which are released globally in August every year. This more powerful and refined version is based on the already existing Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz which has taken 60 years to become an important wine and should be more harmonious.

Also Read: Grange- Grand Wine King of Australia

These two 2018 Superblends, known as the siblings raised in different environments, are a part of the 18 labels from Penfolds Collection 2021 being launched tomorrow though a select few journalists were invited to a special Tasting with the Chief winemaker Peter Gago at a special pre-launch event last month in Australia. Only 1400 cases of Bin 802A have been produced though Bin 802B has had higher production of 5000 cases, indicating perhaps, the higher popularity of French oak.

‘The blends are essentially the same, but the wines couldn’t be more different,’ says Gago, adding, ‘People say we’re compromising Grange and our flagships with this concept. Well no, the Superblend is a wonderful Cabernet-Shiraz at that same highest level, but without being gimmicky. The name is a bit provocative and naughty, and I’m very aware of the likes of Super Tuscans around the world.’

There may be an opportunity here for the Indian wine producers who are planning for a top quality Cabernet- Shiraz or Shiraz-Cabernet blend that is quite popular in India, to go for the super-maturing Superblends. For the uninitiated, the leading grape in the blend classification has a higher percentage of the grape in the blend. Sula, Grover and KRSMA could be the likely contenders.

Also Read: Super Grange ‘g3’ released in Hong Kong

Incidentally, the style of Grange continues to evolve each year to keep up with the contemporary tastes to focus more on bright red fruit, less black plum, and less visible oak and oak tannins, according to Rob Geddes MW from Australia. Grange is celebrating 70 years of Grange production started by Max Schubert in 1951, but with chequered history for the first few years.

During the 70th anniversary year of Grange, Grange 2017 (a cooler vintage in the whole of South Australia) is being released (67th consecutive one) on August 5 at the same price as last year AU$950 /US$695). Although most vintages have included some Cabernet Sauvignon (4-14%), the 2017 Grange is 100% Shiraz sourced from Barossa and McLaren Vale. This is only for the seventh time since inception-the other vintages being 1951, 1952, 1963, 1999, 2000 and 201, that pure Shiraz is being used, indicating the importance of tweaking Shiraz a bit to create the most harmonious wine in most years.

G4- The Super Grange Cuvee

Buoyed by the commercial success of Super-Grange G3- a blend of 3 vintages 2008, 2012 and 2014, Grange introduced G4 last year- a super blend of 4 vintages-2002.2004, 2008 and 2016 (one wonders of it was the superiority of the vintages or a mathematical algorithm that prompted Penfolds to release G4 at a super-price of A$2500, but such limited production bottles are anyway meant for collectors and are good marketing gimmicks.

Also Read: Penfolds Grange has a Story in Every Bottle

Penfolds wines including Grange are currently being imported by Brindco in India.

Subhash Arora

If you Like this article please click on the Like button