Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz 2020

Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz 2020

 

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Penfolds
RWT Bin 798 Shiraz 2020
  • Vintage : 2020
  • Country : Australia
  • Region : Barossa Valley
  • Subregion
  • Type : Red
  • Style Deep Full Bodied
  • Format : 75cl
  • Alcohol : 14,5°
  • Grappes : 100% Syrah

Experts Score Vintage
RP Robert Parker 98 2020
JS James Suckling 96 2019
WS Wine Spectator 96 2019
VN Vinous (Antonio Galloni) 95 2019
JH James Halliday 95 2019
JD Jeb Dunnuck 93 2017
BC Bob Campbell MW 98 2016
DCT Decanter 96 2016
More information on wine critics and ratings

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. RWT is made from fruit primarily selected for its aromatic qualities and fine texture rather than sheer intensity or power of flavour. The result is a wine that helps to redefine Barossa Shiraz at the highest quality level.

Colour: Deep mauve – impressive colour and brightness.

Nose: Barossa fruits ascend – preserved satsuma plum, rhubarb, cranberry. Confusingly, yet intriguingly, a waft of tar-sulphide masks country of origin… Spain, France? Assorted ‘exotics’ remind of entry into a continental gourmet deli – cheese/ mettwurst competing with blueberry yoghurt waffle-cone for attention? Another pertinent aromatic – cedar and restrained French oak.

Palate: Solid, forceful. Full-bodied – belying vintage. Fine, pronounced and persistent tannins court blue and black-berried fruits, sensitively encapsulating a sweet mid-palate. French oak of mixed forest origin and age works its magic – sensitive to this vintage’s flavours and structure, kindly endowed by Barossa vineyards and soils. A supple, woven/pleated fabric texture validates the inclusion of this blend’s chosen vineyard components, and its relatively brief sojourn in oak pre-bottling.

Robert Parker (RP) : 98 Points (2020)
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.

James Suckling (JS) : 96 Points (2019)
A strident RWT with a regional signature of tar and coal smoke to the ripe plums and blackberries. Such intense, ripe dark-plum and blackberry drive on powerful, deep-set tannins that run long through the finish. Contained power.

Wine Spectator (WS) : 96 Points (2019)
Rich and succulent, oozing with milk chocolate, salted caramel and kirsch flavors, with dense and toothsome tannins that are polished and refined. Blackberry and spiced plum flavors show clove, cumin and white pepper accents, with a sweet note of spearmint lingering on the long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2045.

Vinous (Antonio Galloni) (VN) : 95 Points (2019)
Opaque violet. Deeply pitched cherry, blackcurrant, licorice and incense aromas are complemented by vanilla and woodsmoke flourishes. Shows outstanding clarity and power, offering densely packed black/blue fruit, candied violet, cola and spicecake qualities, along with a peppery nuance that builds with aeration. Chewy and energetic on the strikingly long, sappy finish, which features well-knit tannins, lingering vanilla and spice notes. (7/2021)

James Halliday (JH) : 95 Points (2019)
Matured 18 months in 57% new French oak hogsheads. A strong and robust Bin 798 of grand black-fruit impact, framed boldly in French oak tannins of enduring structure. Spicy black fruits of all kinds meet licorice and dark chocolate. Mouth-embracing tannin impact declares both the mood of the drought season and confidently deployed barrels, making for a vintage that commands a long spell in the cellar. Great line and length seal its future. (8/2021)

Jeb Dunnuck (JD) : 93 Points (2017)
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.

Bob Campbell MW (BC) : 98 Points (2016)
Deep, dense, almost inky purple/red colour, with a glorious bouquet of mocha, grilled nuts of various kinds, great concentration and density, which saturates the palate and lasts for minutes on the aftertaste. Smoky, toasty, nutty, graphite and roast meat aromas; charcoal and bitumen, but not fruit! The fruit is there in spadefuls but it is submerged behind a curtain of complexity. An enormously impressive wine, the texture almost improbably supple and smooth in spite of the welter of tannin. Outstanding wine. (HH) (8/2018)

Decanter (DCT) : 96 Points (2016)
Developed in 1995 from a red winemaking trial, hence RWT, this is the quintessence of Barossa Shiraz, albeit in 72% new French rather than American oak, which brings a finesse of mouthcoating texture to the wine. It has depth of colour, aromas of liquorice, spice and mocha, and concentrated black fruits on the rich, sumptuously opulent palate. It's all underpinned by French oak polish along with a freshness and fine-boned structure that should see this sleek beauty last two decades if kept in good condition. If this were a Bordeaux it would be a second growth, and apart from Grange this is the star of the show this year. It should be great with a roast rib of beef. Drinking Window 2020 - 2040 (AR) (9/2018)

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Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz 2020 Reviewed by Robert Parker 29-11-2023 . Score: 5