Penfolds Bin 180 Cabernet Shiraz 2021 has been made to commemorate the 180th birthday of Penfolds. That's a fair innings, and this is a fair wine. I guess it could have been priced at $180, to keep it neat, but what's an extra grand between business colleagues. The blend is 57%/43% in cabernet's favour. It's grown on Penfolds Block 10 (Cabernet Sauvignon) and Penfolds Block 5 (Shiraz), both of which are in the Coonawarra region. It was matured for 15 months in French oak. 100% of this oak was one-year-old, which means that none of the oak was brand new. The wine is cork sealed, and comes in a blond wooden birthday box. It’s 14.5% alcohol.

The main point of this wine is its quality, full stop, and perhaps too that it’s an ultra-limited release that has been produced to mark Penfolds’ 180 birthday. Given the general new-oak style of Penfolds’ top wines though, it’s hard not to concentre on this wine’s no-new-oak persona. This is a super premium, and indeed gorgeous, red wine from Penfolds, and it’s been made without any brand new oak.

My note on Penfolds Bin 180:

Minty, long and lingering, bold-fruited but elegant, strung suitably with tannin, the styling classic, the quality likewise. This is an exquisite red wine. Red, blue and black berried fruits run in a constant, irrepressible stream, picking up tannin and momentum as they run, without slowing, through to a finish that is so long, it has a beauty of its own. Call it a commemorative release, or a special bin, the nomenclature doesn’t matter. This is a Coonawarra cabernet-shiraz blend of the highest quality. It doesn't just express the region; it understands it. With this Bin 180 commemorative release, Penfolds hasn't just made a wine; it's made history.

Rating: 97/100.

This is the best Penfolds special release since the Penfolds Bin 170 Kalimna Block C Shiraz 2010. That Penfolds special release wine was priced at AU $1800.

Full coverage, reviews, scores and comments on every wine in the 2024 Penfolds Collection is available on The Winefront here.

Penfolds Bin 180 Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 now goes to the top of Australia’s most expensive current-release table wines list. It’s been produced mainly in 750ml bottles, but as a 1.5 litre magnum as well. There’s also an ultra-rare 3 litre bottle version, though only eight of this 3 litre version have been produced (yes, only eight of the 3-litre bottles).

Release date: Penfolds Bin 180 Cabernet Shiraz 2021 was released on 1 August 2024.