PENFOLDS BIN 28 SHIRAZ 2023

Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"Bin 28 offers a showcase of warm climate Australian Shiraz – ripe, robust, and generously flavoured. First made in 1959, Bin 28 was originally named after the famous Barossa Valley Kalimna vineyard from which the wine was originally sourced. Today, Bin 28 is a multi-region, multi-vineyard blend, with the Barossa Valley always well represented.

The 2023 vintage eloquently expresses Penfolds House Style, balancing fruit intensity with a structure poised for ageing. This makes it both an immediate pleasure and a candidate for cellaring, promising to evolve with complexity over time.

The bouquet unfolds with an array of decadent aromatics, reminiscent of a French pâtisserie. A blend of baking spices emerges first, with cinnamon sugar, sweet custard, and the warmth of Chelsea tea cakes. Next, a berry pudding note emerges, with a compote of red and black fruits. Skillet-roasted meat and herb-infused pan scrapings are present. An indulgent sweet note of blueberry pie rounds out a complex, inviting aroma profile that is unmistakably Penfolds.

Blue fruits instantly emerge, specifically elderberries, blueberries, and bilberries. Poached plums merge with the exotic spiciness of cassia bark, imparting rich flavours. A hint of meat adds depth and character to the profile. The mouthfeel is sculpted by chocolate powder tannins, which are luxurious and precise, lending a structure that is both assertive and velvety. Also present is the umami complexity of tomato consommé, enriched with piquant olive tapenade. The palate is further textured by a ferrous minerality."

96/100 Andrew Caillard MW (2023 Vintage)
"Deep crimson. Intense dark cherry, blackberry aromas with dark chocolate/ espresso notes. Richly flavoured wine with superb dark cherry, blackberry fruits, fine chocolaty tannins, wonderful mid-palate richness and well-balanced mocha notes. Finishes bittersweet with chinotto dark berry fruits. A beautifully balanced wine showing all the hallmarks of the Penfolds house style. "

95/100 Dave Brookes, James Halliday’s Wine Companion (2023 Vintage)
"Deep crimson with a strong aromatic profile of blackberry, black cherry and blueberry studded with mixed spice, blackforest cake, roasting meats, panforte, dark chocolate and earth. Plenty of depth and latent fruit power with this release; perhaps a little more power than last year's model, with fine, strong tannins supporting the fruit beautifully. A strong release for the Bin 28 Shiraz."

94/100 Tina Gellie, Decanter, June 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"Penfolds’ first Bin wine, from 1959, this used to be named for the Kalimna Vineyard from which it was solely sourced. Now it is a multi-region blend, always dominated by Barossa Valley fruit – this year 42%, along with Padthaway (31%) and McLaren Vale (27%) – to showcase ripe, powerful warm-climate South Australian Shiraz. Always matured for 12 months in American oak hogsheads, there’s more new wood this year (15%), but it wears it beautifully, and that firm tannic backbone promises to carry this already approachable wine through the next two decades. Mulberry pie aromas – inviting with lots of vanilla and sweet baking spices – joined by savoury olive brine, tarmac and liquorice. The fresh but concentrated palate has more of the same, along with dark chocolate-coated cherries. Really impressive already, with more to come; the star buy from this year’s collection."

94/100 Jeni Port, WinePilot.com, July 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"A warm-hearted Shiraz if ever there was one, generous yes, but it’s a well-controlled generosity. Deep purple hues. Blackstrap liquorice, deep black fruits, anise, woody spices light up the bouquet. Almost slinky on the tongue, sinuous and close fitting, it moves well aided by time in American hogsheads (just 15% new) providing some spark and overall spiciness and pastry notes to a palate that celebrates ripe Shiraz. Laid out on long, soft, ripe tannins, it finishes much the way it started with a flourish of choc-liquorice and black fruit intensity."

93/100 Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com, Wine Advocate, July 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"The 2023 season in South Australia was wetter than either vintage either side of it, and the wines, if farmed well (yields managed, disease managed, ripeness achieved), have captured the detail and levity that these conditions can be responsible for. On balance, I've liked the 2023 Barossa/McLaren Vale reds that I have tasted so far. I've liked them more than those of the 2017 vintage, which experienced similar conditions. Here, the 2023 Bin 28 is rich and savory, the oak—wholly American oak, 15% new—sits atop the fruit on the front palate, but the fruit emerges and plumes through the middle palate and finish. A lighter release of this wine, it is still structured but not weighty."

17/20 & Good Value, JancisRobinson,com, July 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"Deep blackish crimson. Warm, ripe, medicinal, pure-Penfolds nose. Heady and back to what Penfolds do best. Home ground! Hint of camphor and lots of sweetness. Round, pleasing, resolved and approachable. Salty, fresh finish after a smooth palate entry."