Big is better

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz wine. Photo / Greg Bowker

Cloudy Bay is the most recognised New Zealand producer internationally and Penfolds is ditto for Australia.

While sauvignon blanc did it for Cloudy Bay, Grange did it for Penfolds, followed by an impressive array of reds often the result of careful blending from hither and yon. While many purists would cling to the notion that only single-vineyard wines can produce genuine greatness, Penfolds flies in the face of such belief and continues to deliver astute quality wines which are often the result of multi-regional collaboration.

Chief winemaker Peter Gago says, tongue firmly in cheek, "Penfolds is the world's largest boutique vineyard." An oxymoron? Depends how you define boutique. What is undeniable is that this large company has a reputation that many would offer up their first-born for.

The reputation has been hard won - Penfolds hasn't simply been reliant on corporate money and the obsession with volume and growth. It has, instead, sought to develop a portfolio of wines carrying the Penfolds name, but with the flexibility and good sense to create brands or house styles that reflect regionality, vintage variation and varietal definition.

In simple terms, it produces a fistful of wines across a broad price spectrum which don't deviate from the Penfolds mantra of buying excellent fruit from reliable growers, and a commitment to serious and experimental winemaking without compromise.

The role of a Penfolds winemaker is to make the best possible wine within the constraints of each vintage. Given that Penfolds likes to age its wines where appropriate, the 2009 bin release for the buying public includes wines from the 2006 and 2007 vintages only. How good are the wines?

One word: excellent. How good are the prices? Two words: never better.

Recommended

2006 Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz
This has been made since 1959, so they've had time to get it right. It shares DNA with the classy Grange. Not a headbanger - open, approachable, a classic.
Price: $24

2007 Penfolds Bin 138 Grenache Mouverde Shiraz
Grenache-dominant, this is made in a softer Rhone style for early drinking. Dense, deep colour, strong juniper berries and ripe quince flavours. Mellow.
Price: $25