RWT Bin 798 Barossa Valley Shiraz 2020
| 98 Points - Nick Stock, JamesSuckling.com |
| 98 Points - Huon Hooke |
| 97 Points - Ken Gargett, The World of Fine Wine |
| 97 Points - James Halliday, Wine Companion 2023 |
| 19.5+/20 Points - Matthew Jukes |
Nick Stock | JamesSuckling.com
"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.” – 98 points"
Erin Larkin | Robert Parker Wine Advocate
"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 – 98 points."
Andrew Caillard | The Vintage Journal
"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. 16 months in French oak (49% new, 51% one-year-old) oak hogsheads. Drink 2024–2045. 14.5%"
“Balancing fruit intensity with the plush velvety tannins of the 2020 vintage – a benchmark Barossa Valley shiraz, classic RWT.”
- Shavaughn Wells, Penfolds Winemaker
Deep dark cherry red, opaque at the core and luminous on the rim.
Regionally distinct, an aromatic profile that can only signify the Barossa Valley.
A compelling synthesis of dark forest berries, bramble, satsuma plum conserve and dark cherry.
The primary fruit characteristics are unpinned by generous warm spice, fresh tobacco leaf and a suggestion of chinotto/sarsaparilla.
Violets add a hallmark floral stamp. Intriguing nuances of fresh vanilla pod and dark-roast arabica ristretto round out an enticing nose.
French oak notes are present yet remain restrained and nuanced.
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.
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.
| GRAPE VARIETY
Shiraz
|
Shiraz |
|---|---|
| VINEYARD REGION
Barossa Valley
|
Barossa Valley |
| wine analysis
Alc/Vol: 14.5%, pH: 3.64, Acidity: 6.9g/L
|
Alc/Vol: 14.5%, pH: 3.64, Acidity: 6.9g/L |
| MATURATION
16 months in French oak hogsheads (49% new, 51% 1-y.o.)
|
16 months in French oak hogsheads (49% new, 51% 1-y.o.) |
The RWT Story
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. 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 portfolio. These wines have the precision, concentration, persistency and balance to age for many years. The best vintages should last at least thirty years.
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