Wines

#12 On The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines Of 2024!

94 points Wine Spectator
Generous and impressive for its seamlessness, this is like a slice of Black Forest cake, offering chocolate and cherry flavors that are practically creamy and plush. Dutched cocoa powder, dried herb and cigar box nuances amplify this red on the long finish, with velvety tannins alongside hints of fresh loam and clove. Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Drink now through 2036.

90pts Robert Parker:
Slightly herbal and leafy on the nose, the deep, currant-scented 2016 Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon blends fruit from five different regions of South Australia. It's medium to full-bodied, with soft, measured tannins and true Cabernet identity. Aged in French and American oak, there are some cedar and mocha notes apparent on the nose and finish, but the cassis fruit carries the day.

92pts James Suckling:
Youthful cabernet style here, showing plenty of blackcurrants and a tarry edge with dried plums, some raisins, mint and sweetly fragrant oak spices. The palate is very smooth and juicy. The fully ripe tannins are super fluid and open-knit, delivering a silky and approachable style. Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully, Padthaway fruit sourcing. Drink now or hold.

91pts Decanter:
Bin 407 is an offcut of Penfolds????? signature Cabernet Sauvignon, Bin 707, and as such it tends to share a similar multi-regional expression - in this case Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa, Wrattonbully and Padthaway. It's cloaked in both French and American oak, where it spends 12 months, resulting in a youthfully primary, vibrant red in that distinctly ripe, opulent Aussie style. Sweet, blackcurranty Cabernet aromas are accompanied by just a hint of cooler climate leafiness, all the while showing plenty of cassis richness, nice firm tannins and a savoury quality on the finish. Try with a rack of rosemary and garlic lamb. Drinking Window 2020 - 2030


Taste Description:
Colour
Deep and prominent - solid red.

Nose
Where to start? So immediately true to variety. Punchy, not shy.
Beneath: Subtle forest floor earthiness, laced with liquorice, fennel and anise with a sceric of non-aggressive fresh spearmint.
Above: Sugar pastille wafts - somewhat reminiscent of the fruit bon bons of youth- more prescriptively/realistically - blackcurrant jelly bean.
In between: Summer pudding fruit generosity - suggestive of a cherry clafoutis? Or maybe a fleshy red cherry trifle, avec sponge cake? Yes please.
Absorbed: Stylish/coiffured oak - want to say classy, but might sound pretentious? Next time.

Palate
Bountiful red cabernet fruits complexed by cut tobacco (pouch) and darkened spices.
Seamless, with a tightness/tension between acidity and tannins.
These tannins are ripe and friendly - currently perceived as fruit, not oak tannins.
Oak - quite possibly partially contributing to the sweetness apparent on palate?
Flavour and length. Lingers.

93 points James Suckling
An amalgam of redcurrant and blackcurrant aromas with cedary and leafy tones, dark berries and pepper and plenty of oak strut. The palate has a deep vein of black-fruit flavors, as well as plum and chocolate. Bold extract. A blend of Padthaway, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully, McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley. Drink now.

"(50% pinot noir and 25% each of chardonnay and pinot meunier): Pale, bright pink. A wild, pungent bouquet evokes redcurrant, cherry and licorice, with a suave floral quality in the background. Juicy, penetrating red fruit flavors are braced by a note of blood orange and show impressive intensity. Finishes brisk and incisive, with excellent length." 91pts Vinous

"(50% pinot noir and 25% each of chardonnay and pinot meunier): Pale, bright pink. A wild, pungent bouquet evokes redcurrant, cherry and licorice, with a suave floral quality in the background. Juicy, penetrating red fruit flavors are braced by a note of blood orange and show impressive intensity. Finishes brisk and incisive, with excellent length." 91pts Vinous

"Lively and mouthwatering, with flavors of black currant, graphite, candied lemon zest and smoky mineral, supported by a creamy mousse. A balanced crowd-pleaser. Drink now through 2018. 40,000 cases imported." 90pts WS

94 points Vinous
The 2019 Reserve de la Comtesse is elegant, silky and nuanced, with terrific presence and tons of pure class. Crushed red berry fruit, mint, blood orange, rose petal and spice all build with a bit of aeration. I am so impressed with the wine's breadth and textural intensity. The 2019 Reserve is without a doubt one of the best recent editions here. Antonio Galloni (02/22)

92-94 points Vinous
The 2019 Reserve de la Comtesse is conspicuously deep in colour. The bouquet takes time to unfurl with exceedingly pure blackberry, raspberry and cassis aromas, the oak seamlessly integrated. The palate is very well balanced with fresh acidity, fine grain tannins, a touch of salinity developing towards the finish that has more grip than previous vintages. Superb. Neal Martin (6/20)

95-96 points James Suckling
The density of fruit is serious with blackcurrants, black berries, crushed stone and coffee beans. Yet it’s not heavy and overdone. The palate is full and rich, but also agile and weightless, with tannins that are spread and pretty.

93 points Vinous
The 2022 Réserve de la Comtesse Is a sexy wine. Plush contours wrap around a core of black cherry, plum, graphite and dried flowers. The 2022 is unusual in that it includes all the Petit Verdot produced at the property. That's a decision that paid off handsomely. Antonio Galloni

#63 On The Wine Spectator's Topp 100 Wines Of 2024!

93 points Wine Spectator
There's a subtle succulence to this graceful Champagne, framing flavors of peach skin, ripe pear, Marcona almond and orchard blossoms. The fine, detailed mousse is raw silklike in texture. Finishes with minerally fleur de sel and oyster shell notes. Disgorged December 2023. Drink now through 2029.

94 points Wine Advocate
The wine released in 2024 is the 2019 Pintia, from a very dry year when they did a softer vinification and used some 15% stainless steel for the ??levage to keep the fruit and freshness. It fermented in stainless steel and oak vats with indigenous yeasts. It's a powerful year; the wine has 15% alcohol and is round and full-bodied. It's a heady and ripe Pintia. They had to be careful with the harvest date, and they harvested early and quite quickly. Even though the wine is ripe and heady, with notes of grenadine and small ripe berries, it's also exotic and spicy, quite showy, lush and full-bodied, with 2019 tannins. It's a more powerful wine that is going to require patience.

95 points Vinous
The 2020 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello is a massive, packed wine. Graphite, crushed rocks, dried herbs and cedar open first. Ovello tends to produce a more linear style of Barbaresco, and that is very much the case here as well. However, the 2020 also possesses notable depth and layers in the mid-palate. It's a gorgeous wine in the making. (Drink between 2025-2035)

95 points Wine Advocate
The Ovello vineyard has some northern exposures and generally represents a cooler growing site. You can expect intense fruit flavors and more prominent tannins as a result. The Produttori del Barbaresco 2020 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello fits the bill. Vine growth starts much later and usually lasts longer to produce dark intensity and bold aromas in the wines. In the cold years, the tannins can be aggressive, but in the hot years like 2020, they show better balance. This wine offers ferrous notes of iron and rusty nail followed by cherry-driven sweetness.

97 points Vinous
The 2020 Barbaresco Riserva Rabaja is another stellar wine in this range. Dark and explosive, the 2021 possesses notable richness to match its dark, brooding personality. Black cherry, plum, leather, cloves, menthol, licorice and gravel explode onto the palate. The 2020 will require a measure of patience, but it has a ton of potential. (Drink between 2025-2035)

96 points Wine Spectator
Like the Asili, the 2020 Rabaja is in a class of its own. Rich, full, featuring cherry, raspberry and rose flavors, very fruity, yet with a firm structure underneath. The tannins are dense and chalky here, with graphite and stone on the finish. It is perhaps the richest of the lineup, with fine detail and dimension...