Penfolds RWT Shiraz 2020
Style: Red Wine
Variety: Shiraz
Closure: Screwcap
Penfolds RWT Shiraz 2020
Camberwell
Burke Road
Camberwell VIC 3124
Australia
Producer: Penfolds
Country: Australia
Region: Barossa Valley
Vintage: 2020
Critic Score: 98 and 19.5/20
Alcohol: 14.5%
Size: 750 ml
Drink by: 2050
Penfolds RWT Shiraz presents an admirable alternative to the multi-regional sourcing and American oak maturation that are hallmarks of Grange, expressing instead, single-region Barossa Valley Shiraz matured only in French oak. The initials RWT stand for 'Red Winemaking Trial', the name given to the project internally when developmental work began in 1995. Naturally, now no longer a 'Trial' RWT Shiraz was launched in May 2000 with the 1997 vintage. Its style is opulent and fleshy, contrasting with Grange, which is more muscular and assertive.
The palate is massive and super-powerful in typical RWT style. A biggie, and a very grand wine. The tannins are remarkably smooth and supple for such a whopper. Superb wine." Huon Hooke
RWT is typically inky and deep in colour, with sumptuous fruit sweetness, mouth-filling flavours, underlying spice, savoury nuances and chocolaty tannins. The wine is matured in new and seasoned French oak for around 12 to 15 months. The result is a wine that helps to redefine Barossa shiraz at the highest quality level.
The 2020 Penfolds RWT Shiraz is a 100% shiraz from premium vineyards in the Barossa Valley. The wine was matured for 16 months in French oak hogsheads (49% new, 51% 1-y.o.).
"The palate is generous, with voluminous and enveloping tannins, so silken they betray their density and persistence. This sturdy foundation provides a perfect canvas upon which to display the spoils of the harvest, layers of flavours roll over the palate in waves. Varietally correct and true to origin. Blue fruits, boysenberry, plum and mulberry are front and centre, a signature of RWT. A suggestion of crème brûlée and panforte provide a sweet counterpoint to complex notes of exotic spice and cedary oak. Peak drinking 2025 to 2050.
Vintage Conditions: Winter rainfall was 17% lower than the long-term average, the second consecutive year of winter drought. Spring was cool and dry, driven by below-average minimum and maximum temperatures. The trend of cool and dry weather continued well into November delaying flowering and fruit-set. The 2019 calendar year was the driest on record for the Nuriootpa weather station. The beginning of summer was marked by a heatwave, with a peak of 45.6°C on the 20th of December. In all, the Barossa Valley had 26 summer days recorded over 35°C. Conditions in January and February provided some welcome respite. Average February maximum temperatures were 3°C below average. This, combined with a welcome 21mm of rain on the 1st of February, allowed the grapes to slowly reach full ripeness. A low yielding vintage that delivered a small crop of shiraz with strong varietal characteristics." Penfolds
Expert reviews
"Peter Gago explained that on 20th December, the temperature peaked at 45.6C, yet these vines dealt perfectly with this extreme challenge. In fact, I think it emboldened these vines, giving them a serious depth of flavour and darkness that opens onto a phenomenal array of black fruit and density, and it is packed with awesome power, and yet it is so refreshing and lifted on the finish it defies belief! Compact yet massive, overwhelmingly grand and delicately perfumed, this is an incredible RWT with a very long life ahead of it. This is an unmissable wine for serious collectors in this release. Drink: 2030-2055." Matthew Jukes - 19.5+/20 points"The 2020 RWT Shiraz Bin 798 is a powerhouse of bloody fruit and firm tannin. It veritably explodes from the blocks, showing plum skin, raspberry leaf, blackberry, mulberry, lashings of salted licorice and rendered lamb fat. I am coming to love (in a big and serious way) the Barossa Shiraz' bottlings from 2020—the year was significantly down in yields, warm and dry, and responsible for wines of muscle, density and gravitas. So, too, for this wine. Excellent." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate - 98 points
"This is a wonderful Bin 789 with striking poise, polish and intensity on offer. Show-stopping aromas of ripe blackberry, dark plum and espresso are primal and freshly captured. The palate is rich and lusciously expressed, with a very plush and intense core of ripe blackberry and dark-plum fruit. Roasted coffee here, too. Such poise and polish. Drink over the next decade or more." Nick Stock, JamesSuckling.com - 98 points
"Very deep, concentrated red-purple colour; deep-set black fruit aromas, laced with dried herbs, thyme and oregano, the palate massive and super-powerful in typical RWT style. A biggie, and a very grand wine. The tannins are remarkably smooth and supple for such a whopper. Superb wine. Drink: 2024–2047." Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 98 points
"Deep colour. Beautiful blackberry, blackcurrant, dark chocolate, roasted chestnut, hint marzipan. Lovely plush concentrated wine with smooth blackberry, dark plum fruits, fine loose-knit slinky/graphite tannins, underlying roasted chestnut oak and fresh mineral acidity. Finishes velvety firm with some mocha notes. Very good density, fruit richness and vigour. The Penfolds winemaking stamp nicely balanced with the opulence and beauty of ripe Barossa shiraz. Drink 2024-2045." Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal Penfolds Collection 2022 - 98 points
"From parcels chosen primarily for their aromatic qualities and plush texture, the black fruit depth and power of RWT rise to grand heights, declaring the Barossa in layers of spicy dark berries, Satsuma plum and black cherries. Impressive dark chocolate French oak (49% new) sets out a fine tannin profile and elongates a grand finish that will hold its confidence in the cellar for magnificent decades." Tyson Stelzer - 96 points
"While multi-regional sourcing for many of the Penfolds high-end reds is now the accepted practice, it's worth reminding ourselves that the Barossa Valley still carries some home ground advantage. And this glorious creation tells us that in no uncertain terms, driven by all the dark plum and blue to black berry vibes of major Barossa shiraz. Settle all this down with 16 months in French hogshead barrels, almost half of them new, and the layers all fit together in genius balance: gentle spicing, cola, sarsaparilla, mocha, building a palate echoing with regional power and gravitas." Tony Love, Wine Pilot - 96 points
"You'd never know that 2020 was a lesser year. The palate here has its usual RWT strut but it has carry through the finish as well. It's a meaty release, backed by plum, backed by clove and musk. This is deep, man. For all its silk and cream there's a gravity to this, a presence, driven by the weight of flavour but also by the rock and roll of fruit-drenched tannin. Gold medal standard." Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 95 points
"This is a strong vintage of RWT. It's austere, dense and still-young but is also seamlessly layered, almost unnoticeably complex. The brambly blueberry and raspberry fruit is woven with plums, dried herbs, spices and florals, with a note of freshly sealed tarmac. The palate is silky and supple, tightened by a muscular line of chalky tannins with lifted acidity and densely packed flavor. A long distance runner, this should be held another few years until around 2026, then drunk for several decades after." Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast – 95 points
"New oak always plays a noteworthy role in the RWT shiraz. Always. It can sometimes be a sticking point in its youth, but then I am sure the Penfolds' winemaking team members see generous new oak as part of the “opulent and fleshy” style they seek. The 2020 certainly fits a lot in to start, balancing lovely aromatics with some, at times, heavy-handed vanilla, spiced French oak (49% new). It plays out along similar lines on the palate. No surprises there. Still, the fruit has a lot going for it – flavourful plum, black cherry, mulberry, black berries – joined by a world of spice together with some earthy tones that add up to a good depth of flavour. Dusty, dry tannins probably need time to settle. A touch undeveloped yes, but RWT tends to benefit from extended ageing. If this is what you are after, this is your kind of wine." Jeni Port, Wine Pilot – 94 points
The story of rwt
Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Barossa Valley Shiraz, first made in 1997, was released after several years of red winemaking trials from which the wine takes its name. Since the 2014 vintage it has been allocated Bin number 798, based on the alpha-numeric telephone punch dial, to reflect its established status within the Penfolds wine portfolio.
The fruit is sourced exclusively from the best vineyards in the Barossa Valley, where ripening conditions particularly suit the Penfolds House Style. These include the Kalimna, Koonunga Hill, Moppa, Marananga and Ebenezer vineyards. The overall winemaking process is almost identical to Grange, however, unlike Grange, it is matured only in French oak. The maturation includes partial barrel fermentation for 12 to 15 months in 50-70% new French oak hogsheads (300 litres). These wines are built for the long haul, with the precision, concentration and balance to age for many years – the best vintages will last at least 30.
"RWT Bin 798 celebrates Barossa bloodlines and the graceful elegance of French oak. This is no longer a trial but a stand-alone Penfolds red that embodies regional provenance and now has its own track record" Andrew Baldwin, Winemaker
“An ode to the Barossa with all that beautiful power and depth.” Nick Ryan, Penfolds Rewards of Patience tasting panel member
Peter Gago
The following text is taken from an article by Ken Gargett in Quill & Pad, https://quillandpad.com
Peter Gago has what many people in the wine world think is the best job on the planet. He is chief winemaker for Penfolds, based in South Australia and one of Australia’s oldest wine producers.
Max Schubert created Grange with the experimental first wine, the 1951, after he returned from Bordeaux and wanted to establish an Aussie First Growth. The story of Grange has been told many times, and as fascinating as it is I won’t rehash it again. Schubert ruled at Penfolds right through to the 1976 vintage, when he handed the reins to Don Ditter. Ditter made the wines right through to the 1986 vintage when John Duval stepped up. Duval was chief winemaker until the 2002 vintage, when he left to do his own thing, very successfully.
Since that time, Peter Gago has been the chief winemaker. It should be noted that although the role of chief winemaker at Penfolds will always be inextricably linked with Grange, there are a great many other wines in the portfolio for which this position assumes ultimate responsibility.
Alongside the winemaking, in which he is still heavily involved, a usual week in non-Covid times sees Gago flying around the world to tastings, dinners, events, festivals, and promotions. I suspect that only David Attenborough (outside of pilots and crew) has racked up more flying miles. I remember seeing him one day when he seemed even more pleased with the world than usual. Turns out he’d just run into his wife, Gail, now retired but a long-term and highly regarded member of the South Australian parliament, at the airport. Gago had not been aware that they would both be in the same country that week, let alone cross paths, such is his usual peripatetic lifestyle.
Gago has friends and admirers all around the globe, from the rich and famous to young, aspiring wine lovers, and will spend time talking to them all. I suspect that if he wanted to start dropping names, the din would reverberate for days, but you could not find a humbler man. Gago is a serious music buff and you’d be amazed at the number of rock stars who revere him, much in the way their fans might do for them (for instance, after crawling over broken glass to get a ticket to a Bruce Springsteen concert I saw Gago sitting in prime seats with Springsteen’s family, after which they went for dinner and knocked off a few bottles of Grange).
Gago is probably as close to a rock star himself in the world of wine, although perhaps more modest rather than flamboyant. And I have no idea if he can sing.
The thing that most amazes me with Gago is that every time you talk to him, he is bubbling with genuine enthusiasm, not just for Grange but for all his wines. He just loves what he is doing. One gets the feeling that every morning he wakes up and pinches himself to make sure it is real.
Among his many attributes, Gago has the gift of the gab like few others. Only once have I ever seen him lost for words and caught off guard. Many years ago, at the annual release – held in a very fancy location near the shores of Sydney Harbor; it is always a fancy location somewhere and also always includes great champagne to kick off the day as Gago is fanatical about the world’s best bubbles – the then current chairman or CEO of whichever corporate entity was then the owner of Penfolds attended the day. Forgive me for my failure to remember just where the corporate snakes and ladders left Penfolds that day and for failing to remember the relevant gentleman’s name. He had only been appointed as a temporary executive while the search for a more permanent one was ongoing, but unlike any of the CEOs before and after, this man had a genuine interest and came to a couple of tastings to learn.
Anyway, as we sipped our champagne on the lawns overlooking Sydney Harbor and chatted, our friend suddenly posed a question to Gago. He had been meaning to ask, he said, just how much Grange the company made. There were five or six writers in this little group and suddenly, every single one of us had pad and pen poised. The production of Grange is a national secret that is not to be disclosed under pain of death (general consensus puts it at, depending on the vintage, between 5,000 and 15,000 cases, with most releases in the mid range, but this is pure speculation).
Gago was at a loss. The boss of bosses had just asked him a direct question and Gago is far too polite not to answer but knew he couldn’t give that information out in public. He managed a fair bit of mumbling and generalizations and I think he suggested they meet later. Pads and pens all went back into bags, and we could not help grinning while Gago looked like he’d just swallowed a bad oyster.
Gago was born in England in 1957, but his family moved to Melbourne when he was only six years of age. Originally a math teacher (teaching is still a passion), he undertook a science degree at the University of Melbourne and then attended Roseworthy College, a famous Australian winemaking college, graduating as Dux (the highest ranking academic performance -ed), which will surprise no one.
In 1989 he joined Penfolds as a sparkling winemaker, working with Ed Carr, who has established a career in sparkling wine (now with Arras) as successful as Gago’s is with table wines. He moved to reds and quickly rose through the ranks until succeeding Duval in 2002. In the 73 years since Schubert was first appointed, Gago is only the fourth chief winemaker.
During his tenure, he has stacked up an extraordinary array of bling, as has Penfolds under his stewardship (Gago heads a team of eight winemakers for table wines and a couple more for fortifieds). He has several “Winemaker of the Year” awards from different entities and publications, both from Australia and abroad, but the accolades go well beyond that.
In 2017, in what is termed “the Queen’s Birthday Honors List,” he was awarded the highly prestigious Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for service to the wine industry. For non-Aussies, that is a big one! A year later, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia and named the Great Wine Capitals Ambassador for South Australia.
Very recently, Gago was awarded perhaps the most prestigious honor of all in the wine world: admission to the Decanter Hall of Fame (previously they honored the Decanter Man – or Woman – of the Year, but that changed). Decanter is a highly respected English wine magazine that established its hall of fame in 1984 with Serge Hochar from Château Musar in Lebanon the first recipient. There is only a single addition per year. Gago is the fourth Australian following Max Schubert in 1988, Len Evans in 1997, and Brian Croser in 2004. That two of the four chief winemakers from a single producer have made this list (Schubert and Gago) is unprecedented but shows just where Penfolds sits in the pantheon of wine producers around the globe.
And should you still remain unconvinced then take a moment to look at some of the names Gago has joined: Parker, Spurrier, Tchelistcheff, Robinson, Moueix, de Villaine, Antinori, Lichine, Gaja, Symington, Loosen, Guigal, Torres, Draper, Peynaud, Mondavi, and so many more. There is no question that the name Peter Gago sits very comfortably alongside them all.
What is most important is that across the board the Penfolds wines have never been better, and while it is a team effort, in the end we can thank Gago.
About the winery
After the success of early sherries and fortified wines, founders Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold planted the vine cuttings they had carried on their voyage over to Australia. In 1844 the fledging vineyard was officially established as the Penfolds wine company at Magill Estate.
As the company grew, so too did Dr Penfold's medical reputation, leaving much of the running of the winery to Mary Penfold. Early forays into Clarets and Rieslings proved increasingly popular, and on Christopher's death in 1870, Mary assumed total responsibility for the winery. Mary's reign at the helm of Penfolds saw years of determination and endeavour.
By the time Mary Penfold retired in 1884 (ceding management to her daughter, Georgina) Penfolds was producing 1/3 of all South Australia's wine. She'd set an agenda that continues today, experimenting with new methods in wine production. By Mary's death in 1896, the Penfolds legacy was well on its way to fruition. By 1907, Penfolds had become South Australia's largest winery.
In 1948, history was made again as Max Schubert became the company's first Chief Winemaker. A loyal company man and true innovator, Schubert would propel Penfolds onto the global stage with his experimentation of long-lasting wines - the creation of Penfolds Grange in the 1950s.
In 1959 (while Schubert was perfecting his Grange experiment in secret), the tradition of ‘bin wines' began. The first, a Shiraz wine with the grapes of the company's own Barossa Valley vineyards was simply named after the storage area of the cellars where it is aged. And so Kalimna Bin 28 becomes the first official Penfolds Bin number wine.
In 1960, the Penfolds board instructed Max Schubert to officially re-start production on Grange. His determination and the quality of the aged wine had won them over.
Soon, the medals began flowing and Grange quickly became one of the most revered wines around the world. In 1988 Schubert was named Decanter Magazine's Man of the Year, and on the 50th anniversary of its birth, Penfolds Grange was given a heritage listing in South Australia.
Despite great success, Penfolds never rests on its laurels. In 2012 Penfolds released its most innovative project to date - 12 handcrafted ampoules of the rare 2004 Kalimna Block Cabernet Sauvignon.
Two years later, Penfolds celebrated the 170th anniversary – having just picked up a perfect score of 100 for the 2008 Grange in two of the world's most influential wine magazines. Today, Penfolds continues to hold dear the philosophies and legends – ‘1844 to evermore!'.
South Australia
South Australian is responsible for more than half the production of all Australian wine. It is home to more than 900 wineries across 18 wine regions. The regions are Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Coonawarra, Currency Creek, Eden Valley, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Mount Benson, Mount Gambier, Padthaway, Riverland, Robe, Southern Fleurieu, Southern Flinders Ranges and Wrattonbully.
Many of the well-known names in the South Australian wine industry established their first vineyards in the late 1830s and early 1840s. The first vines in McLaren Vale were planted at Reynella in 1839 and Penfold's established Magill Estate on the outskirts of Adelaide in 1844.
South Australia has a vast diversity in geography and climate which allows the State to be able to produce a range of grape varieties - from cool climate Riesling in the Clare and Eden Vallies to the big, full bodied Shiraz wines of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Two of Australia's best-known wines, Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace, are produced here. There is much to discover in South Australia for the wine lover.