Penfolds Bin 707, Vintage by Vintage: The Years It Was Made, and the Years It Wasn't
Since its 1964 debut, Penfolds has made Bin 707 in 48 of 61 vintages – and chosen not to make it in 13.
The just-released Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2024 is the wine that jumped out at me in this year’s Penfolds Collection 2026. I liked it as much or more than Grange 2022, on a personal level. It’s one of the very best Bin 707s that I’ve tried. This prompted me to reacquint myself with the Bin 707 lineage. Bin 707 isn’t produced every year.
Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon has been produced in most, but not all, vintages since it was first made in 1964. In 13 vintages Penfolds did not make it at all – in the early years because the fruit was directed to other wines, and later because grapes of the required style and quality weren't available.
The distinction matters. The 1970 to 1975 gap was a diversion of fruit. But more importantly, every skipped year since – 1981, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2011, 2017 and 2020 – was a quality decisionk. Bin 707 exchanges the romantic, unbroken line of Grange for a broken line that speaks directly to the truth of its season.
Vintages of Bin 707 never made:
1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 (fruit diverted to other wines)
1981
1995
2000
2003
2011
2017
2020
There have therefore been 48 releases of Bin 707, spread across 61 vintages, 1964 to 2024. The most recent skip, the 2020, is why there was no Bin 707 in the 2022 Penfolds Collection.
FAQ: Penfolds Bin 707
When was Penfolds Bin 707 first made?
The first vintage of Bin 707 was 1964.
How did Penfolds Bin 707 get its name?
Bin 707 broke with Penfolds' practice of naming wines after their cellar storage-bin numbers. It was named instead after the Boeing 707 – the jetliner that had recently opened up Qantas's London-to-Sydney "Kangaroo Route" – with the name traced to a Penfolds marketing staffer who had previously worked at Qantas. Penfolds' own reference book, The Rewards of Patience (9th edition), records the Qantas connection, so the story is documented rather than folklore. The wine's 1964 debut sat squarely in the jet age the name evokes.
Which vintages of Bin 707 were never made?
1970 to 1975 inclusive, then 1981, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2011, 2017 and 2020 – 13 vintages in all.
Why does Penfolds not make Bin 707 every year?
Two reasons. From 1970 to 1975 the Cabernet fruit was directed to other wines. In the later skipped years, Penfolds judged that fruit of the required style and quality wasn't available, and declined to declare the wine rather than lower the standard.
Was there a 2020 Bin 707?
No. 2020 is the most recent vintage Penfolds chose not to make, which is why the wine was absent from the 2022 Collection.
How many vintages of Bin 707 have been made?
By this record, 48, across the 61 vintages from 1964 to the current 2024 release.
How is Penfolds Bin 707 matured?
Much like Grange. Bin 707 is matured in 100 per cent new American oak hogsheads – 300-litre barrels – typically for around 16 to 18 months, with the current 2024 release spending 16 months in barrel. It shares the all-new American oak regime that defines Grange, which is one reason the two are so often spoken of together.
What is the current release of Bin 707?
The 2024 vintage, in the 2026 Penfolds Collection, at $800.
How many vintages of Bin 707 have been reviewed on The Winefront site?
46 of 48. Winefront has not reviewed or tasted the 1969 and 2013 releases.
Of all the vintages of Penfolds Bin 707 reviewed on The Winefront site, which vintage scores the highest?
You can throw a hat over these releases.
See more: 2024 Bin 707 features in my [Personal Top 5 of the Penfolds Collection 2026].
