Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz 2021
Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz 2021
14.5% alcohol, cork, Adelaide.
I’ve scored Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz well over the years but in terms of personal taste, it’s long been my least favourite of the Penfolds “supers”. It’s the Penfolds wine with the best story – it’s a single vineyard wine from the home of Penfolds at Magill Estate near Adelaide – but also with the most excessive amount of oak, and for the latter it always leaves me disappointed. It could be so much better. It could be the best of ‘em.
I tasted this Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz 2021 pre-release, but didn't review it at the time. I didn’t because I thought that the oak was way too much, and I wanted another chance to appraise it. Here we are a few years down the track – the 2022 and 2023 have already been reviewed – and it seemed like enough time had elapsed. This 2021 Magill Estate Shiraz is by no means mature now but it’s had more than enough time to settle and integrate. Have I been too harsh on the Magill Estate wines previously? Have I just been tasting them too young?
Here we go.
One thing I will say about this 2021, tasted in 2026, is that it smells incredibly good. It’s all roasted nuts and dark berries, among other things, and it fills both the glass and beyond. As soon as I popped the cork I thought: hello, this is something.
That said, even now, I do think that there’s more oak evident than there should ideally be. This wine would be better again if oak were used more judiciously. But with that little dig out the way, boy, I have to admit, this sure is a good wine. Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz may well overdo it on the oak but when it’s good it’s damn good, and this 2021 is – hand on heart – a superb release. In fact it’s pretty much magnificent. It’s so good that it had me wondering whether it’s the best release of Penfolds Magill Estate shiraz ever.
That’s quite a thing to wonder. I’ll pen a piece shortly along those lines.
Update: I tasted this 2021 Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz again the next day. It’s not prematurely developed, but it is showing quite a bit of development. It’s now as mellow as it is beautiful. It’s entered the start of its prime. Cream, iodine, orange rind, pan juices, sweet plums and leather; the cylinders are all lit up, and firing.
96/100.
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There are 25 vintages of Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz reviewed on The Winefront site.
