The Barossa valley is one of the most famous wine regions of Australia, known for its big and bold wines.

After an unplanned detour we arrived at Penfolds Magill Estate, where we were welcomed by Jamie Sach, Penfolds Global Ambassador. Penfolds was founded in 1844 by Dr Penfolds, who had brought vines to Australia to make medicinal tonics for his patients. Until the 1950s, fortified sweet wines were the style, with Penfolds specializing in tawny (fortified wines aged in oak rather than bottle). In the 1950s, Penfolds’ winemaker Max Schubert traveled through Europe and was impressed by the aging potential of the wines from Bordeaux. He decided he wanted to produce something similar in Barossa, but there was no Cabernet Sauvignon at that time. Because there were high quality vineyards with old vine Shiraz, he decided to make a ‘Hermitage’ (a famous Shiraz/Syrah from the Rhône Valley in France). There was a cottage called Grange on one of those vineyards, and that is where the name Grange came from. Schubert didn’t know at the time about the difference between French and American oak for winemaking. Since American oak was more readily available, that is what he used. Because the Shiraz aged in American oak called Grange was such a success, this example was followed by others and American oak became the norm for Shiraz from Barossa. However, the owners of Penfolds did not like the new Grange Hermitage at all because it was so different to the sweet fortified wines they were used to, and ordered Schubert to stop producing it. He continued in secret, until he managed to let some English importers try it and they loved it.

Most iconic wines in the world are single vineyard wines, but Grange is the exact opposite. The house style of Penfolds is multiregional blending, blending fruit from many different vineyards that may be thousands of miles apart. The blend will be different each year, in order to make the style and taste of the wine consistent over the vintages. Each parcel of grapes is assessed as it comes in. If it has a high quality and will contribute to get the right style, it becomes a candidate for Grange and will be aged in American oak. If it is high quality but not perfect for Grange, it will be aged in French oak as a candidate for the Penfolds Bin 798 RWT, which is Penfolds’ flagship Shiraz aged in French oak. The parcels are then followed as they are vinified and aged, and only the best make the final cut to end up in Grange (or RWT). The other parcels ‘trickle down’ to the ‘lesser’ wines. The wine from each parcel is tasted blindly for the final decision in which blend it will end up. This system is very similar to that of the châteaux in Bordeaux, which make a ‘first wine’, ‘second wine’, and sometimes also a ‘third wine’. However, in Bordeaux all the grapes come from the vineyards around the château, whereas at Penfolds the grapes can come from all over South Australia (or in some cases even all over Australia, as we will see with the Yattarna Chardonnay).

Jamie gave us a tour of the historic winery at Magill Estate that was built in 1890, which is now only used for small batches as it has the right size for that, but requires much more manual labor than the modern winery in Barossa. The wooden board on top of the fermenter is used to close the fermenting grapes from the air, to lock the fruit in place.

The tasting of 9 of the current releases of Penfolds tasting was led by winemaker Shavaughn Wells. The ‘mid segment’ of Penfolds wines are named by a Bin number. Originally this referred to the bin in the cellar where the wine was stored (such as the first vintage of Grange in Bin 1), but now the Bin numbers are assigned in a way that only has a meaning to the staff at Penfolds. There is no structure to the Bin numbers, but if a wine has a Bin number that does mean that it has reached a certain status. For instance the Cellar Reserve Grenache has been made since 2002, but 2022 was the first vintage to be released as Bin 21. In this case, the number 21 refers to the fact that this was the 21st vintage of this wine.

These are the wines we tasted:

• Bin 51 2023 (Riesling, Eden Valley): perfumed, balance, structure.
• Yattarna Chardonnay 2021 (Chardonnay from three different states: Tasmania, Tumbarumba, Adelaide Hills, aged in French oak, no Bin number because it is in the premium segment and meant to age well): oak, mineral, creamy and powerful but elegant, good acidity, complex.
• Bin 21 2022 (old vines Grenache, Barossa Valley): rosehip, perfumed, velvety tannins, restrained power, elegant.
• Bin 28 2021 (Shiraz from South Australia, aged in mostly seasoned American oak, first official ‘Bin’ wine): blackberry, firm ripe tannins, fresh.
• Bin 389 2021 (Cabernet/Shiraz from South Australia, aged in American oak): dark fruit, slightly herbaceous, very firm tannins, needs time in the bottle, acidity. Australia is the only place in the world where Shiraz and Cabernet are blended a lot. Personally I think the Cabernet dominates the Shiraz (and I am not a fan of Cabernet).
• Bin 169 2019 (Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra, aged in French oak, the Cabernet brother of 798/RTW): herbaceous Cabernet character, juicy, tannins still a bit grainy despite this already being 2019, needs more time in the bottle.
• Bin 798 RWT 2021 (Shiraz from Barossa Valley, aged in French oak): oak, blackberry, beautiful fruit, firm ripe tannin and needs some time in the bottle (but not as much as Bin 389), fresh.
• Bin 707 2021 (Cabernet Sauvignon from South Australia, aged in new American oak, the Cabernet brother of Grange): oak, herbaceous Cabernet character, firm ripe tannins, but less grainy and more ready to drink than the 169 because of the American oak and fruit selection, fresh.
• Grange 2019 (Shiraz from South Australia, aged in American oak): lush blackberry fruit, beautiful aroma, firm ripe tannins, powerful but fresh, complex, needs time in the bottle but can be drunk already with meat, depending on personal preference the best window to enjoy the wine is between 15 and 25 years after the vintage.

After the tasting we continued with a lunch, accompanied by aged Penfolds wines. It is great to be able to taste the wines with food and aged properly.

The dishes and wine pairings were:

• Tuna, Ponzu and Asparagus
  • Bin 18A Reserve Chardonnay 2018: oak, crisp, and unexpectedly not a very good pairing with the creaminess of the dish.
  • Cellar Reserve Grenache 2002 (the first vintage of what is now Bin 21): rosehip, velvet tannins, balance, aged beautifully and unexpectedly a better pairing with the dish because it goes well with the creaminess.
• Woodfire Porterhouse steak, green beans and potatoes
  • Bin 407 2010 (Cabernet Sauvignon): fresh and a good pairing with the meat.
  • St Henri Shiraz 2010 (Shiraz aged in large old oak): blackberry, velvet tannins, complex, aged beautifully and a good pairing with the meat.
• Magill Estate Shiraz 2010 (single vineyard Shiraz, aged in 70% French and 30% American oak, of which 80% new): this wine was in a ‘closed’ phase of its development.
• Chocolate Mousse
  • Great Grandfather Rare Liqueur Tawny (30-year-old ‘port’ from a solera system): complex aromas of nuts and figs, higher acidity than tawny port.

Penfolds is by far the largest winery we have visited so far, and it is easy to bash it just for being large and commercial. But in the end it is the quality of what is in the glass that counts, rather than some fixed concepts like “iconic wine should be from a single vineyard”. I have to say that the quality of the wines at Penfolds was outstanding; their selecting and blending philosophy clearly works to produce great wines. It is a pity there were no Penfolds wines included in the blind tastings of Shiraz/Syrah and Chardonnay that we did. I think they would have done quite well.

Our next stop in Barossa was a Yalumba, the oldest family winery in Australia. We started with a demonstration at the coopery, where Yalumba makes its own barrels from French and Hungarian oak.

We also toured the ‘museum cellar’, with old vintages of iconic wines from all over the world.

We tasted several of Yalumba’s wines along the way:

• Eden Valley Roussanne 2021: nice texture.
• Barossa Bush vine Grenache 2021 (100-year old vines, aged in neutral oak): elegant, medium bodied.
• Barossa Shiraz 2022 (French, Hungarian, and American oak, of which 15% new): elegant, soft tannins.
• Signature Cabernet Shiraz 2019 (49th vintage, from Barossa and Eden, French and Hungarian oak): dark fruit, firm ripe tannins.
• Eden Valley Viognier 2021 (aged in mature French oak): floral, elegant.
• The Virgilius 2021 (Eden Valley Viognier, aged 10 months in oak): restrained aroma, complex, creamy, balanced, made for its aging potential.
• The Steeple 2019 (Shiraz from Barossa Valley planted in 1919, 16 months in French oak): elegant, ripe tannins, restrained aroma.
• Tri-Centenary Ancestor Vine Barossa Grenache 2021 (planted in 1889, aged 350 days on the skins in stainless steel, so no oak): very silky and elegant, red fruit, warmth.

Afterwards we went to wine bar and winemaker Otherness Wines and tasted four different Rieslings:

• Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling 2019: lime, slight petrol, crisp.
• Otherness Skuld Eden Valley Riesling 2020: restrained aroma, petrol, elegant, mild acidity, creamy.
• Otherness Verthandi Tasmania Riesling 2020: sweet and sour Riesling in the style of the Mosel with 36 grams residual sugar and very high acidity to offset the sweetness, pineapple aroma.
• Peter Louer Schon Fels Grosses Gewachs 2017 (Saar, Germany): honey, botrytis, slightly off-dry.

We ended our tour of Barossa with a visit to Elderton, a small family winery that is run by two brothers and their wives. They bottle part of their wines under another label called Small Victory. The brothers Cameron and Allister Ashmead took over the winery from their parents in 2003. Julie is the winemaker and Rebecca is the export manager.

The winery is surrounded by the historic vineyards, but they also own high quality vineyards in other parts of Barossa.

We started by tasting the Elderton wines:

• Elderton Eden Valley Riesling 2023 (young vineyard planting in 2015, partly aged in seasoned oak): tropical fruit, crisp.
• Elderton GSM 2022 (100-year old vineyard, Rhône blend of 43% Grenache, 34% Shiraz, and 23% Mataro/Mourvèdre, aged in old French oak for 7 months from destemmed fruit): typical fruity aromas of a GSM blend, silky tannins and elegant, easy to drink.
• Elderton Ode to Lorraine CSM 2021 (old vine 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Shiraz, 4% Merlot, aged 20 months in French oak puncheons, named after Cameron’s and Allister’s mother): Eucalyptus, soft tannins, fresh. Paired very well with the barbecued steak we had for dinner.
• Elderton Command Shiraz (single vineyard old vines planted in 1894, aged 18-24 months in 2/3 American oak and 1/3 French oak, of which 90% new): oak, dark fruit, bold, and full bodied, firm ripe tannins.

We had a barbecue at the estate for dinner with beef fillet steak, sausages, salad, and potatoes. And of course there was wine as well:

• Small Victories Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris 2021: white fruit, balanced.
• Small Victories Barossa Valley / Riverland Grenache Mataro Rosé 2022: very nice, like a Provence rosé.
• Small Victories Barossa Valley Old Vine Grenache 2021: beautiful fruit, light tannins.
• Elderton Command 2006: mature vintage of the same wine we tasted before. Medium bodied, soft tannins, fresh and elegant, aged perfectly.

The Riesling, GSM, and Ode to Lorraine that we tasted before were also available with dinner. Everything was very nice at this true family business: very nice people and very nice wines.