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91POINTS
16¾/20
Penfolds California Collection Cabernet Shiraz Bin 600 2018
California, United StatesIn 1998, Penfolds exported a heritage selection of vine cuttings from South Australia's esteemed Kalimna and Magill Estate vineyards and planted them at the Creston 600 Ranch in Paso Robles. Today the vineyard is known as Camatta Hills, but Bin 600 honours the original site name and the 22 two-year-old vines. The cabernet shiraz blend is a Penfolds specialty, so it is no surprise they made one in California. The first release is a 78/22 mix of cabernet and shiraz, with some Kalimna, Napa and Sonoma fruit joining the Paso grapes. They all spend 16 months in American oak (40% new, 60% one year old). The nose has a cool aromatic tone with coffee and tea notes. The palate is soft and medium-light with cocoa and cherries and a hint of pastrami and pepper. It could use five years to settle in, but if you must drink it now, grilled lamb chops would be the match to tame the tannins. Penfolds' arrival in California is hardly new; winemakers Darryl Groom and Mick Schroeter began in the late 1980s. Under the old Southcorp banner, vine cuttings were taken from several fabled South Australia vineyards, including Kalimna and Magill Estate, and planted in 1979 at Paso Robles. Today Penfolds is a part of the Treasury Wine Estates portfolio, giving senior winemaker Stephanie Dutton, winemaker Andrew Baldwin, and chief winemaker Peter Gago access to prime Napa Valley and Sonoma County sites to assemble what has been labelled the California Collection. Interestingly in the Gago way, the California winemakers are invited to taste the collection as it goes together, to share ideas and experiences. In the end, Gago and the Oz winemakers make all the final decisions regarding The California Collection.Tasted: 18 February 2021Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:| CDN | $79.99 | 750ml | West (Summer 2021); East (Fall 2021) |
| AB | $99.95 | 750ml | select private retailers |
| SK | $99.99 | 750ml | SaskLiquor |
| MB | $99.99 | 750ml | Manitoba Liquor Mart |
| ON | $99.95 | 750ml | LCBO |
| QC | $100.00 | 750ml | SAQ |
| NB | $99.99 | 750ml | NBLiquor |
| NS | $99.99 | 750ml | NSLC |
| NFL | $99.99 | 750ml | NLLC |
Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon - ShirazUPC: 012354724396
