My personal Top 5 of The Penfolds Collection 2026
These are my personal selections of The Penfolds Collection 2026.
Of five wines recommended, two are white wines.
I’ve tasted the top-end Penfolds wines every year for 25 years, consumed them for 35 years, and have tasted verticals back to the 1950s.
For the sake of Penfolds perspective: I’ve reviewed over 700 Penfolds wines to The Winefront site.
The CampbellMattinson.com site only started in 2024 but the Penfolds Hub is quite a trove already.
These are not “the best” wines; they are the wines I would personally choose/buy, or would if I could get funds and good sense to align.
St Henri Shiraz is the only Penfolds wine to make it onto all three lists: 2024, 2025 and this 2026 list.
The Penfolds Collection 2026 is released on August 6, 2026.
The 2008 vintage of Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon was the last release to be priced under $200, at $190. Two vintages later the 2010 landed at $350 – a near-doubling in the space of two releases. Bin 707 is now $800 per bottle, and has been for the past four releases. It, along with Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, has felt the pull of increased demand on its price more than any other wine in the Penfolds range, arguably. Accordingly, given that the Chinese market for top-end Australian red wine isn’t what it once was, Bin 707 is likely to face the most downward pressure in coming years. This is either good or bad news, depending on what stock you’re holding. The latest 2024 vintage release is though one of the stand-outs of the Penfolds Collection 2026. More below.
This is the third year that I’ve done a Top 5 list of the current Penfolds Collection. Here are links to the Top 5 of Penfolds Collection 2025 and the Top 5 of Penfolds Collection 2024. There are similarities between each of the lists but then, too, there are surprising differences year-on-year.
Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2024 (AU$800)
Bin 707 often carries a good deal of oak and, accordingly, tends to divide opinion. Personally, I’m often impressed by Bin 707 [as evidenced by my Winefront reviews] but it’s rarely the wine that comes to mind post the annual Penfolds Collection media tasting. This year was different. I scored Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2024 the same as Penfolds Grange 2022, but it was Bin 707 that really etched itself into my mind. As I concluded in my Winefront review, “The best fruit, from a cooler year, in the hands of experts, for the win here. This is a great Bin 707.” I haven’t looked around the inter webs to see whether I’m with the crowd or against it, but Bin 707 was the stand-out wine of the Penfolds Collection 2026 for me.
Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz 2024 (AU$50)
The first time I ever bought a “case” of Penfolds wine, it was Bin 28, back in the day. For a period it became a standing order. It’s always served up fruit-and-oak in just about exactly the right measure, which is exactly what I wanted back then and, on the coldest of nights, still often feel in the mood for. Exactly where the grapes come from these days may or may not be the same as always, but when I tasted this 2024 release I wrote: “If you’ve always had a soft spot for Bin 28, this is the kind of release that developed that soft spot in the first place. It’s a very good Bin 28.” I’m not raving, I’m not a lunatic, I gave it 93/100, though in truth I was probably debating between 92-93. But shop around and it’s good buying.
Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay 2024 (AU$220)
My footy team loses far more often than it wins, and when the goals (by the opposition) mounted recently I pulled out my laptop and started downloading every Yattarna Chardonnay-related press release from the Penfolds website, going all the way back to the first 1995 release. That there is some kind of pain avoidance! Anyway, I took all these press releases and designed a chart of [where and how Yattarna has changed and evolved over the years]. Maybe it’s of interest; maybe it’s not. The reason I did this is because Yattarna Chardonnay 2024 is a beautiful wine and also because Yattarna is in the process of creating a beautiful history.
Penfolds St Henri Shiraz 2023 (AU$135)
Penfolds St Henri is in a rich vein of form; the past handful of years have all been excellent, as – going back a little further – were the 2016 and 2018 vintage releases. But the 2021, 2022 and 2023 are all stand-outs in my view. I’ll quote the first half of my Winefront review: “The noticeable difference in this wine, in a Penfolds context, is the lower or non-existence of oak flavour, but almost more noticeable is the lower impact of sweetness on the flavour profile. It’s ripe for certain, it’s not herbal, but it feels dry not just on the finish but throughout. This dryness adds an elegance, especially in tandem with this release’s mineral or graphite-like edges.” Go to the full Winefront review of Penfolds St Henri 2023 for a score, if you must, but safe to say that this St Henri Shiraz 2023 is both a great option for the cellar and, too, is comparatively excellent buying.
Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay 2025 (AU$55)
I’ve rated the past five vintages of Bin 311 Chardonnay at 93 points or higher. I rated this 2025 version at 94+ points. Bin 311 Chardonnay isn’t the lowest priced wine in the Penfolds range, but it’s seen modest price movement over the years (the 2015 release was $45) and the value/price equation is well in the buyer’s favour. In fact this 2025 vintage release is pretty much a steal. My Winefront review concluded with the words “Very fine. Very good. So much polish. 94-95, no more than that but easily that.” Pretty amazing for a wine at $55.
Worth a bonus mention: I have a feeling that Penfolds FWT 585 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Petit Verdot 2023 (AU$100) is going to get flogged around the traps. It’s very good. I scored it 94/100. In fact in a short space of time it’s established itself as routinely good. At the right price, it’s a buy.
These are my five personal picks of The Penfolds Collection 2026.
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See also [The full Penfolds Yattarna Reference Page]
See also [Penfolds Collection 2026: Ten Things You Should Know]
Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz 2022 [review].
All The Penfolds Collection 2026 wines [reviewed and rated by Mattinson on The Winefront].
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