Awards, Ratings & Reviews
98 Points — Nick Stock | JamesSuckling.com
"This is a wonderful Bin 789 with striking poise, polish and intensity on offer. Show-stopping aromas of ripe blackberry, dark plum and espresso are primal and freshly captured. The palate is rich and lusciously expressed, with a very plush and intense core of ripe blackberry and dark-plum fruit. Roasted coffee here, too. Such poise and polish. Drink over the next decade or more. – 98 points"
98 Points — Erin Larkin | Robert Parker Wine Advocate
"The 2020 RWT Shiraz Bin 798 is a powerhouse of bloody fruit and firm tannin. It veritably explodes from the blocks, showing plum skin, raspberry leaf, blackberry, mulberry, lashings of salted licorice and rendered lamb fat. I am coming to love (in a big and serious way) the Barossa Shiraz' bottlings from 2020—the year was significantly down in yields, warm and dry, and responsible for wines of muscle, density and gravitas. So, too, for this wine. Excellent – 98 points."
19.5+/20 Points — Matthew Jukes
98 Points — Huon Hooke
97 Points — Ken Gargett, The World of Fine Wine
97 Points — James Halliday, Wine Companion 2023
96 Points — Wine Enthusiast
(2020 Vintage, Tasted: Mar 2023)
"It's austere, dense and still-young but is also seamlessly layered, almost unnoticeably complex. The brambly blueberry and raspberry fruit is woven with plums, dried herbs, spices and florals, with a note of freshly sealed tarmac. The palate is silky and supple, tightened by a muscular line of chalky tannins with lifted acidity and densely packed flavor. A long distance runner, this should be held another few years until around 2026, then drunk for several decades after."
96 Points — Andrew Caillard | The Vintage Journal
"Deep colour. Beautiful blackberry, blackcurrant, dark chocolate, roasted chestnut, hint marzipan. Lovely plush concentrated wine with smooth blackberry, dark plum fruits, fine loose-knit slinky/graphite tannins, underlying roasted chestnut oak and fresh mineral acidity. Finishes velvety firm with some mocha notes. Very good density, fruit richness and vigour. The Penfolds winemaking stamp nicely balanced with the opulence and beauty of ripe Barossa shiraz. 16 months in French oak (49% new, 51% one-year-old) oak hogsheads. Drink 2024–2045. 14.5%."
96 Points — Falstaff
(2020 Vintage, Tasted: Oct 2022)
"Dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections and subtle ochre brightening on the rim. On the nose, subtle notes of oak, black fruits of the forest, candied orange zest and blackberries. Complex, mineral and salty with cherry notes, vivid wood savouriness and red berries on the finish. Still very closed and unapproachable, needs a lot of time. (2030–2045)."
97 Points — The Wine Front
(2020 Vintage, Tasted: Jul 2022)
95 Points — The Wine Independent
(2020 Vintage, Tasted: Jul 2022, When to drink: 2025 to 2045)
About This Wine
Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Barossa Valley Shiraz, first made in 1997, was released after several years of red winemaking trials from which the wine takes its name. The project began in 1995 titled 'RWT'—meaning 'Red Winemaking Trial'—to create a new Australian Shiraz integrating Barossa Valley fruit with French oak. RWT is opulent and fleshy, contrasting with Grange, and expresses Shiraz more openly. RWT is made from fruit selected for aromatic qualities and plush texture. 16 months in French oak hogsheads (49% new, 51% 1-y.o.). Alc/Vol: 14.5%.
Specifications
- Vintage: 2020
- Grape Variety: Shiraz
- Region: Barossa Valley / South Australia / Australia
- Alcohol: 14.5%
- Acidity TA: 6.9 g/L
- Acidity pH: 3.64
- Maturation: 16 months in French oak hogsheads (49% new, 51% 1-y.o.)
- Peak Drinking: 2025–2050
- Last Tasted: May 2022
