2017 Penfolds 'RWT' Shiraz Barossa
A redefinition of high quality Barossa Shiraz. The “Red Winemaking Trial” is crafted from fruit selected for its aromatic qualities and fine texture, aged in 100% French oak, to create an opulent and fleshy wine body. Moroccan spices waft over saturated red cherry and blackberry pie, this is a deep and dark wine. This wine while remaining fine-structured and poised. A balanced wine that will age magnificently.
Penfolds has a very long and meandering history, and represents generations of winemaking knowledge in action. In 1844, Dr. Christopher and Mary Penfold planted vineyards at Magill Estate near Adelaide. The first Penfolds wines, from the 1800s, were made from newly established vineyards around Adelaide and made for the enjoyment of new South Australian colonists. During the first part of the 20th century, Penfolds gradually added significant acreage and became a household name across Australia. It exported table and fortified wines throughout the Commonwealth. After a visit to France in 1950, Penfolds chief winemaker Max Schubert dreamed bigger, wanting to dramatically expand the winery’s export presence, as the French had. The iconic Penfolds Grange came forth in 1951, leading to a remarkable parade of wines that would bring Penfolds wines worldwide acclaim for their richness, consistency, and longevity.
Wine Spectator
Offers a lush, juicy mix of blackberry, blueberry and black cherry flavors that appears seamless, integrating with notes of amaretto, clove and lavender. Plush, juicy and very generous on the long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2034.
JS96James Suckling
Stunning blueberries and mulberries here with a wealth of baking spices and red berries, as well as tarry notes and blackberries. It is all here. The palate has a super plush, rich and quite compressed tannin feel. Some firm and powerful moments, as the palate builds with plentiful spiced summer berries. Red plums and blackberries to close.
DC96Decanter
A deep, dark, brooding ruby in colour, this RWT 2017 (from 'Red Winemaking Trial' originally developed in 1995) displays an intense yet subtly peppery and tarry fragrance with an added veneer of vanilla from its 15 months in new French oak. That intensity splashes onto the tongue in a profusion of flavours mingling opulently ripe black cherry with pepper, vanilla, tarry spice and herbs in a polished Barossa red that, thanks to the cooler growing season, shows an elegance of texture and balance through all the richness. At the same time, it has a seriously tongue-coating, chocolatey firmness in Barossa-meets-Côte Rôtie style. Chicken and game are great food options here.
WA95Wine Advocate
Red raspberries abound on the nose of the 2017 RWT Shiraz, which—as usual—is all Barossa fruit aged in French oak (70% new). It's full-bodied and velvety, with appealing notes of dried spices, beef and plenty of red fruit. There's a cedary veneer to this vintage, which looks as if it will need a couple of years to come together, then drink well for up to two decades.
JD93Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Shiraz RWT, also known as the Bin 798, is all Barossa Valley Shiraz that’s always brought up in French oak, with 70% being new in 2017. It checks in behind the magical 2016, but nevertheless it’s still a beautiful Shiraz that offers everything you could want from this variety. Sporting a deep purple color as well as a beautiful perfume of crème de cassis, black raspberries, toasted bread, vanilla bean, white flowers, and plenty of spice, it’s full-bodied, elegant, and silky on the palate, and what it lacks in density and depth, it makes up for it with its incredible purity and elegance. It’s approachable today (give bottles an hour in a decanter), yet I suspect it will benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for 15+ years or more. It’s a class act.
WE92Wine Enthusiast
With all of the glossy polish that Penfolds is famed for, the RWT showcases heady aromas of raspberries, currants, plums, dried flowers and anise with furniture polish and butterscotch oak influence and undercurrents of beet and earthy herbs. Rich, satiny fruit on the palate is nipped and tucked by powerful, spicy tannins, and there's a lingering oak character. A big, classy wine with nary a hair out of place. *Cellar Selection*