“Making wine appealing to the new generation is really important... wine is something that exists not just within the alcohol industry, but outside the alcohol industry. It exists as a creative outlet. It is almost an art in itself.”

– Steph Dutton, Penfolds Senior Winemaker and Country of Origin Group Winemaker

Penfolds needs little introduction. It’s not just one of Australia’s oldest winemaker; it’s the brand that put Australia on the global wine map. The iconic Penfolds Grange was so critically acclaimed it made the world sit up and take Australian wines seriously, challenging the dominance of Old World producers.

Interestingly, Penfolds' legacy is also built on a successful rule-breaking streak that consistently pushed the boundaries of winemaking. It was their pioneering work that popularised multi-regional wine blends, and now wines blended from entirely different countries and hemispheres.

The Penfolds' Magill Estate winery, where the Australian global icon was birthed.

This year, Penfolds is celebrating its 180th birthday in style with the Penfolds 2024 Collection. It's a lineup of 26 wines, including the coveted 2020 Grange and a special anniversary wine, the Bin 180, made with exceptional grapes sourced from Coonawarra in the outstanding 2021 vintage. For the first time, the 2024 Collection features wines from four countries: Australia, France, the US, and China. This global approach reflects Penfolds' new era of winemaking, where boundaries are blurred, and collaboration transcends continents and hemispheres. Talk about a world tour of flavours!

I had the privilege of attending a tasting of the Penfolds 2024 Collection in Singapore, and I seized the opportunity to speak with Senior Winemaker Steph Dutton. Steph is a key figure and one of the masterminds behind Penfolds’ magic, leading their winemaking team across all the regions where they operate.

In our interview, Steph shared her fascinating journey to becoming one of Australia’s most influential winemakers, and spilled the beans on how Penfolds captures the unique character of each wine region while keeping their signature house style. She demystified the art of blending and how Penfolds' blenders decide between making multi-regional blends and single-vineyard expressions to make distinctive and memorable wines. We also explored Penfolds' vision of the "New New World" of winemaking and where this exciting frontier might lead. Finally, Steph gave us some killer wine recommendations from the 2024 Collection for all kind of occasions and tastes.

Join me as we dive into this juicy interview with Steph!

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“Working in hospitality… was probably the best apprenticeship I could have for going into the wine industry. It reminds me that everything you're crafting should hopefully one day be enjoyed in a social setting where you're elevating an occasion.”

[88B]: Firstly, thank you for taking the time to speak with me.

Before we get into the 2024 Collection, we'd like to get readers to know you a little better. You’ve had a rather bold and inspiring career pivot, having studied genetics in University before making a hard left into wines when you found yourself veering more towards wine lists at some of Melbourne’s great restaurants. That led you down the path to become a key winemaker for Penfolds.

Tell us, what was that moment that you knew you wanted to take that leap of faith and pursue being a winemaker? What clicked?

[Steph]: Yeah, you're right! As far back as I say, I was preferring to turn up to my restaurant work shifts more than I was going to university. I was enjoying working with great wines from around the world and these incredibly impressive wine lists. Being able to be part of the selection process for customers to find the right wine for them was something that I really enjoyed. So, I actually started to do a lot of short courses. There were short courses run via a wine store called Prince Wine Store in Melbourne, a fine wine retailer.

And there were short courses in Burgundy, in Champagne, in Bordeaux, and in Barolo, some of the great regions around the world. They were running the WSET courses as well: WSET Level One, Level Two, and then the Diploma. I remember getting to the end of their courses and saying to them, "What's next? What course have you got for me to do now?" And they said, "Well, you've done all the short courses. Maybe you'd like to do the long course, which is, of course, oenology." So, I did every single short course that they were offering, and then I did my Master's in oenology, which is winemaking. I remember thinking, "Oh, gosh, I sort of had this as a hobby. And to think of it now as a career path actually really excited me." So, that was my next step!

And I have to say, working in hospitality, working in restaurants and on-premise venues, was probably the best apprenticeship I could have for going into the wine industry. It reminds me that everything you're crafting should hopefully one day be enjoyed in a social setting where you're elevating an occasion, where you're marking a moment – a wine that is fitting for celebrating a milestone.

“The best advice I can give when getting to know a new wine region intimately around the world, whether it's in the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere, is patience.”

[88B]: Penfolds’ DNA since the days of Max Schubert has been a commitment to crafting Australian wines of remarkable longevity. But Penfolds today is not contained to just Australia.

As someone with lots of experience visiting Penfolds’ wineries around the world, from France, to the US and China, tell us how wine lovers like ourselves can best get to know a wine from a region we’re new to? What’s three things we should start with to learn about the local terroir, winemaking, varietals and flavour profiles?

[Steph]: The best advice I can give when getting to know a new wine region intimately around the world, whether it's in the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere, is patience.

Gersch Vineyard in North-Western Barossa Valley has been supplying to Penfolds for well over a century.

It is really hard to rush the process. You need to know how a vineyard or a region is going to perform in a wet year, in a cold year, in a dry year, in a hot year, and in everything in between. Sometimes everyone is guilty of wanting to rush their apprenticeship or wanting to get the answer quicker. But I think if you take your time and you're mindful and patient when you land in a region, you'll gain the most knowledge and the best understanding.

Penfolds' Chief Winemaker Peter Gago visiting a high-altitude Chinese vineyard in the mountains of Shangri-La.

Now, what doesn't change, regardless of where you are in the world, is that great fruit is capable of making great wine. So making sure that you're viticulturally set up for success is really important. And that's everything from choosing the right varieties, the right clones to put in the right soil for the right terroir, managing your yields, and making sure the vine is balanced. Those are the fundamentals that I think are universal, regardless of where you are in the world. Each wine region gives its own little nuance in terms of its tannin profile, its fruit generosity, whether it's savoury, sweet, broad, fleshy, generous wines, or more linear, racy wines.

Penfolds' vineyard in Bordeaux.

Your job as a winemaker is to be mindful enough to see what personality is emerging from that region and overlay it with Penfolds' house style. The two coming together create something that is uniquely ours, you know, that belongs to us. It should look familiar as a Penfolds wine, but not the same, regardless of where you are around the world.

“In some years, you search for certain wines, but in other years, certain wines just arrive in front of you, and you almost need to do nothing but nurture them through maturation.”

[88B]: We celebrate 180 years of Penfolds this year with the launch of the 2024 Collection. And whilst there are 26 wines making up the Collection, the 2021 Penfolds Bin 180 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz is the crowning expression. That’s a lot to put on a wine!

Could you take us into your tasting panel discussions as to how the Penfolds winemaking team had decided on this particular expression? What about it feels thoroughly reflective of the Penfolds legacy and representative of what Penfolds is?

[Steph]: If I can be cheeky, I'd like to call out two wines that are worth highlighting from this year's collection. It would probably first be the 2020 Grange, and then, of course, the 2021 Bin 180, which is our anniversary wine celebrating a really important milestone for us, but also Coonawarra as a region and excellence that emerged in 2021.

Hand on heart, I would say that every single vintage, regardless of what other wines are being released, Penfolds Grange is the best wine that we can craft within vintage constraints. I refer to Grange as being us sorting out the best of the best and then taking that pool of fruit and finding the best of the best. Again, it's that tiny 0.1–0.2% that works out to be of a certain style, but absolutely the best quality.

Then you get these beautiful, character-driven wines that sometimes emerge from certain vintages. In 2021, which was a really strong Coonawarra vintage, there were two blocks that were exceptional performers: Coonawarra Block Five, which is Shiraz, and Coonawarra Block Ten, which is Cabernet. They almost looked like they were just meant to be with each other. In some years, you search for certain wines, but in other years, certain wines just arrive in front of you, and you almost need to do nothing but nurture them through maturation. And Bin 180 was a celebration of an exceptional vintage, an exceptional region, and two varieties that marry so well with each other, both Cabernet and Shiraz, matured in one-year-old French oak. And I think the result is an incredibly graceful and elegant wine. Rather than being the big blockbuster that is the most obvious in the room, it will be a really beautiful wine over, I think, the next 20 to 30 years.

“The best blenders know when not to blend. I use the analogy of many voices coming together, singing together at once to create the completeness of a choir… However, as winemakers, you also need to spot the solo artists… they can be incredibly beautiful and complete on their own.”

[88B]: Terroir is a concept that is indispensable to winemaking and appreciation, and it obviously centers about themconcept of a wine expressing distinctively a singular locality. Yet, something entirely unique about Penfolds is the artistry of creating multi-regional wine blends that can span entirely separate continents, or “world wines” like the Penfolds x Dourthe expression for example.

What is a world wine able to offer that allows us to put terroir aside? What should we be looking out for in a world wine?

[Steph]: I think it's really important to call out that there is room for single vineyard terroir expressions in the wine industry, but there's also room for the art of blending. And we are so lucky to exist in an industry that celebrates both.

When it comes to wines of the world, where we're blending, sometimes across both Northern and Southern Hemispheres, we're always doing it with the aim of bolstering each parcel, improving the building block, and creating something that is always chasing excellence, always trying to be better than we were before.

The Penfolds Dourthe II Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 is a  blend of Cabernet Sauvignon from two of the Dourthe-owned wineries in Bordeaux and Syrah from Penfolds’ Nuriootpa Winery in South Australia.

However, the best blenders know when not to blend. I use the analogy of many voices coming together, singing together at once to create the completeness of a choir. A choir is sometimes full of volume. It's incredibly complete, and there's nothing missing - everybody knows their role. However, as winemakers, you also need to spot the solo artists. Whose voices would be diluted if you put them in a choir and instead really need to sing on their own? They may not be as loud as the choir, but they can be incredibly beautiful and complete on their own.

And so at Penfolds, we often say we get to have our cake and eat it, too, in the sense that we do world blends, we do multi-regional blends, we sometimes do multi-vineyard vintage blends, we do regional wines, but we also do single vineyard wines as well.

The Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz is a celebrated single-vineyard expression made from Penfolds' Magill vineyard and vinified at Penfolds' original winery. 

And, in this year's lineup, we have both the Magill Estate Shiraz from a single block where we're anchored in South Australia, but we also have a single vineyard offering from a Howell Mountain vineyard in Napa in California. And so being able to have all of those being represented in one collection, we feel like we're spoiled!

“A lot of people are drinking young wines. Not everybody has the correct storage conditions to store wines for 30 years. Some people simply don't want to go for 30 years. So, we are trying to work out how we can make our wines more approachable in their youth, but still have them as generational heirlooms that people pass down.”

[88B]: I understand your winemaking team has a practise of adjusting your wines by 1% each year, while adhering to the Penfolds House Style. You’ve also previously mentioned that Penfolds is currently well underway in its third era of premiumisation, putting aside borders and simply going where the fruit is best. And at the same time you’ve been very passionate about regenerative viticulture and sustainable winemaking from vineyard to cellar.

This seems as complex a project as playing 3D chess! So what does Penfolds envision as the "New New World" for wines?

[Steph]: It's a good question, and when you say it all in one sentence like that, you realise there's a lot going on in the world of Penfolds! I remind people that we are a really impressive team. We have eight Penfolds winemakers in the Southern Hemisphere. We have two Penfolds winemakers in the Northern Hemisphere. We are a team that is incredibly experienced, but we're also making sure that we have this generational passing of knowledge from one winemaker to another to make sure that we are passing on all of the things that have served us well in our past.

Fellow Penfolds winemakers Andrew Baldwin and Steph touring the Napa Valley vineyard.

But we constantly are introducing new ways of thinking to take us into our future as well. There are a couple of key things that I'd like to call out.

From what you mentioned before, chasing excellence, regardless of boundaries or borders, has always been in our DNA. I just think that we've been given permission in recent years to think bigger, to go further. And whilst we never could have imagined at one point in time stepping outside of Australia, now, it's not “stepping out of Australia”, but it’s “as well as Australia” and being able to explore esteemed wine-producing regions like Napa Valley and Bordeaux at the same time as excelling in your home country and then exploring and doing trial work in a country like China.

(Source: Prestige Thailand)

You're right, it makes for a very busy calendar, but it means you're not standing still. I think as part of Penfolds’ future, we will continue to work on making our wines more glossy and polished and approachable in their youth, but not shave life expectancy off at the other end. We've always built for longevity and long-term, and I think we've made great progress in that space - I think we'll continue to.

We'll continue to unlock how best to farm our land for quality, but also be responsible so that you're handing over the land to the next generation of growers in a better condition than what you received it in. Australia is a large country. We have a lot of land. Agriculture and viticulture are incredibly important to our country. So you always want to make sure that the next generation is thriving in this space and that we're using the land responsibly. And I also think that we'll continue to want to look at the things outside of the wine itself.

Treasury Wine Estates (Penfolds' parent company) has invested in sustainable viticulture, including installing a new enclosed nylon vineyard canopy over 14 hectares of vineyard in Koonunga Hill to mitigate intense temperature fluctuations and reduce watering requirements.

Also, closure types for wine and what is the best vessel to bottle into? What is the best closure to have at the top of your bottle? We're no longer just interested as winemakers in getting the wine into a bottle. We also want to design how the wine shows up to mark milestones and occasions and elevate experiences. So I think all of these things will be part of our future. We've made some really good progress with a lot of them already, but the job isn't finished. So I’m looking forward to continuing to work on those themes.

“We're no longer just interested as winemakers in getting the wine into a bottle. We also want to design how the wine shows up to mark milestones and occasions and elevate experiences.”

[88B]: I’m no wine scientist, but the idea of making your wines glossier and more approachable at a young age while allowing them to have great longevity sounds like having your cake and eating it too. Could you explain how this is possible?

[Steph]: I think with every single winemaking decision that you make—for example, how you work the fermentation, what oak you're selecting to mature your wine—all of those variables, such as your picking date, your variety, your vineyards, and your sourcing, add up to make about a thousand, or thousands and thousands, of different combinations for how your wine will look.

We continue to trial each and every one of them to understand how we can get that polish in its youth. A lot of people are drinking young wines. Not everybody has the correct storage conditions to store wines for 30 years. Some people simply don't want to go for 30 years. So, we are trying to work out how we can make our wines more approachable in their youth, but still have them as generational heirlooms that people pass down.

[88B]: What is one big theme in wine that you think needs to be talked about more?

[Steph]: I think making wine appealing to the new generation is really important. We need to talk about the fact that wine is something that exists not just within the alcohol industry, but outside the alcohol industry. It exists as a creative outlet. It is almost an art in itself. I think making sure that we talk about wine so that it is appealing for the next generation of drinkers to want to experience it is really important as well. How do we get that recruitment for our industry? How do we create more occasions where people want to tap into or reach for a bottle of wine?

Penfolds recently collaborated with Nigo, Creative Director of Human Made and Artistic Director of KENZO to launch the One by Penfolds collection of wines with Nigo's signature style.

[88B]: Now just to give wine lovers of every kind no excuses but to pick up something from the Penfolds 2024 Collection, could we have some wine recommendations?

[Steph]: For someone new to the collection, I would suggest that you start with the 2024 Bin 51 Riesling. It is crisp, and it is crunchy. It's probably the most refreshing style that we have in the collection. But it's also a wine that can be had on its own, without food. It's also very versatile and pairs well with some lovely fresh seafood or lighter flavours.

If you're looking for a wine for the seasoned drinker or collector, the 2021 St Henri Shiraz is from an incredibly strong vintage, and St Henri is one of those beautifully elegant but saturated wines.

A wine that is totally underrated would be the 2023 Bin 311 Chardonnay —a multi-regional but cool climate Chardonnay blend. Australian Chardonnay is reaching great heights at the moment, and I think that is one that we often forget to put in the spotlight.

As a gift for someone—two wines. First, Bin 389 because Bin 389 is probably one of Australia's most renowned and collected wines, with the biggest following behind it. Someone once said to me, Bin 389 is almost a currency in its own right because people know what Bin 389 stands for. My dad, for example, he doesn't know a lot about the wine industry, he doesn't drink a lot of wine, but he's always asking me for Bin 389 because he knows that when he gifts it to somebody, they know what it stands for, they know what it means.

The luxury gift option is Bin 180 . Being able to collect a piece of our history and our heritage with these pedigreed vineyards for an anniversary wine that marks a milestone for us is like the ultimate in luxury gifting!

For food pairing, Bin 138, which is a Grenache-Shiraz-Mourvèdre blend. It's a softer style, it's more approachable, and it's an incredibly versatile wine. It can go with some big seafood flavours, and it can also go with some heavy red meat flavours. I often say it's a crowd pleaser. If I was selecting wine for a table of 20 people, Bin 138 is what I'd put down, because I think it will appeal to most people.

[88B]: Thank you so much for this incredibly fascinating behind the scenes peek into your work at Penfolds, Steph!

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The 26-bottle Penfolds 2024 Collection is now available globally and will be made available in Singapore in late 2024. More information is available at Penfolds.com.

@CharsiuCharlie