2018 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon

2018 afforded an opportunity to proactively assemble a Bin 707 blend that was more about refinement/balance than brute power/concentration.

Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from small parcels right across South Australia with a sole ambition – to make it into this flagship Bin 707 blend in 2018.

Peter Gago, Penfolds chief winemaker

97+/100

In case readers weren't aware, Bin 707 is always aged in new American oak, like Grange.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 features plenty of vanilla on the nose, backed by concentrated cassis fruit. It's full-bodied, velvety and richly tannic, clearly meant to have two decades (or more) of longevity.

Marked by ripe fruit, a notable lack of herbaceousness, and lavish oak, it's out of step with current trends in Australian Cabernet Sauvignon, but it's no less delicious and all the more unique for that.

Joe Czerwinski, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, www.robertparker.com, July 2020

18/20

Jancis Robinson, www.jancisrobinson.com, June 2020

97/100

David Sly, Decanter, www.decanter.com, July 2020

98/100

Nick Stock, JamesSuckling.com, July 2020