Critic tasting note: (1999 vintage) "RWT is everything the St. Henri isn't - although in '99 only 75 percent of the wine is aged in new French oak. Fifty-four per cent of the fruit is sourced form Kalimna vineyard while the remainder is purchased from long time growers. Penfolds does a vineyard hand sort to stop any rot from getting not he blend and no sprays are used. Look for a spicy, clove, pepper, vanilla, black cherry, blackberry nose with smoky licorice, mocha and leather. Rich and concentrated flavours offer up spice, clove, vanilla, blackberry jam, black cherry and smoky pepper hints. The finish is elegant, silky and long. It a touch more forward than 1998 but with heaps of stuffing and fruit. If you need any more incentive to buy this wine there will be no RWT made in 2000. (Anthony Gismondi and Stuart Tobe)." - 93/100, Gismondi on 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. In the Penfolds tradition of trial and innovation our winemakers embarked on a project in 1995 titled 'RWT' - meaning 'Red Winemaking Trial' - to create a new Australian Shiraz integrating the rich, generous flavours of Barossa Valley Shiraz with the finesse of tightly-grained French oak. The result is a fine wine of great elegance and depth of flavour. RWT is second only to Grange in the Penfolds Shiraz hierarchy, although the two wines are stylistically different. RWT expresses Shiraz more openly than Grange. This is partly a function of the grapes themselves and partly a result of maturation in French oak, rather than stronger, sweeter-flavoured American oak. RWT is opulent and voluptuous, and fleshy where Grange is muscular.
Vintage Notes
Uncharacteristic cool weather and spring rains retarded vine development throughout the valley. This was exacerbated by high temperatures in January followed by rains in February and early March. The season finished warm and dry however, enabling a trouble-free final ripening, with 1999 fruit characteristically lighter than 1996 or 1998, but also brighter and more varietally distinct.
Ageing
14 months in 75% new and 25% two-year-old French oak.
