-
95
/ 100
Decanter -
94
/ 100
Wine Pilot -
96
/ 100
Andrew Caillard MW -
95
/ 100
Jamie Goode -
93
/ 100
Erin Larkin
Red
Classification
Shiraz
Variety
2020
Vintage
750ml (Bottle)
Bottle Size
Australia
Country
South Australia, Barossa Valley
Region
14.0%
Alcohol %
5-10 Years
Cellaring
Scores
95 / 100"Always the most unique, savoury and graceful red in the Penfolds stable, beloved for the fact it does not see any new oak (just 12 months in large, seasoned vats) and thereby emphasises the unadulterated purity of South Australian Shiraz. And the dry, low-yielding 2020 vintage has delivered an already approachable St Henri whose score may well improve with further maturation (in the meantime I wait with rapt anticipation for the 2021…). More McLaren Vale fruit joins the Barossa and Clare parcels this vintage thanks to late summer rain, and the result is a textured, mineral, fresh-fruited profile that conjures up rhubarb, cherries and wild strawberries along with seaweed, curry spices and polished leather enveloped in dusty, textured tannins"
- Decanter
94 / 100
"While this is a very fine wine, it is not, for me, a great St Henri. 100% Shiraz from McLaren Vale, Barossa and Clare Valley, it spent twelve months in large seasoned oak vats. The colour is a dark deep red. There are notes of florals, rose petals, raspberries, dry herbs, warm earth and violets. Finely balanced with decent length, a pleasing flick of acidity runs the length. We have hints of smoked delicatessen meats on the palate with satiny tannins that provide some serious grip. Drink for ten to fifteen years. A very good, not great St Henri."
- Wine Pilot
96 / 100
"Deep crimson. Fragrant inky, blackberry, graphite aromas with hints of roasted walnut, spice. Complex and evolved with blackberry, dark chocolate, tobacco leaf, chinotto flavours fine loose knit lacy chalky firm tannins, and underlying graphite, walnut notes. Finishes claret firm and tight. A refined style with lovely complexity and mineral length. Should develop very well."
- Andrew Caillard MW
95 / 100
"So stylish. This lacks a little of the polish and flesh of some of the other bottlings, but makes up for it with lovely structure and focus. Bold, nicely concentrated black cherry and blackberry fruit with pepper, cedar, olive tapenade and a slight salinity. Has the stuffing to go the distance, but also approachable now with the right food."
- Jamie Goode
93 / 100
"Routinely my favorite red cuvée in the Penfolds Collection (matured in large-format seasoned French oak), there is always a freshness and suppleness to the fruit that is most elegant in the glass. Here, the 2020 St Henri Shiraz shows the warm and low-yielding season from whence it came in the splay of roasted beetroot, red fruits and meats on the mid-palate. A chunky, meaty iteration of this wine, the tannins are grippy and full in the mouth. You get aniseed and clove through the finish. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
- Erin Larkin
Tasting Notes
Penfolds St Henri Shiraz is a premium Australian red wine that has been produced by Penfolds since the early 1950s. It is a unique wine in that it is not made in new oak, but rather in old large vats that allow the wine to develop its own character. This results in a wine that is rich and plush when young, but gains soft, earthy, mocha-like characters with age.
St Henri Shiraz is a blend of shiraz and cabernet, with the shiraz typically making up the majority of the blend. The grapes are sourced from a variety of vineyards in South Australia, including Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and Adelaide Hills.
The wine is aged for 15-18 months in old large oak vats before being bottled. It is then released to the market after a further 2-3 years of bottle aging.
Tasting Profile
- Light
- Full
- Low Tannin
- Tannic
- Sweet
- Dry
- Low Acidity
- High Acidity