RWT Bin 798 Shiraz 2018 (Penfolds)

Drink it now or cellar for up to 30 years. It is recommended to decant it for an hour. Founded by English immigrant Christopher Rawson Penfold in 1844, with the aim of producing medicinal wine, Penfolds is today the most famous and prestigious producer of Australian wine. The great success came in the 1950s, thanks to the oenologist Max Schubert and the creation of what is considered their most representative wine, Grange. To meet market demands, the company also began producing the table wines Bin 389, Bin 707, Bin 28, and Bin 128, in the same period. Today the company is part of the Treasury Wine Estates group together with Matua, Beaulieu Vineyard, Beringer, and Wolf Blass. The first vintage of Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz was in 1997 and was released on the market in 2000. At that time the name of the wine did not have the denomination Bin 798 and the RWT stood for "Red Winemaking Trial", indicating the ongoing experimentation. RWT is produced with grapes of Shiraz from the Barossa Valley and aged in French oak. The wine is concentrated and powerful. On the nose, it reveals an opulent and exuberant aromatic profile, with notes of plums, mulberries, and currants, and then hints of coffee, chocolate, and hazelnut. On the palate, it is rich, substantial, and muscular. The tannins are firm but smooth. The finish is long, and dense and recalls hints of chocolate. It is the perfect wine for red meat.