Steeped in Penfolds winemaking tradition yet still embracing modernity, Bin 704 seeks to redefine Napa Valley cabernet through a Penfolds lens. Being mindful of varietal nuances, regional essence and silk-like textural definition, the wine is nurtured in French barriques for maturation. Impressive is the cyclical nature of viticulture and winemaking, and Penfolds recognises that different hemispheres often end up being the mirror image of the other. The name Bin 704 draws inspiration from the “mirror” or “reverse” image of its Australian Bin 407 stablemate, a wine which also respects varietal expression.

Medium deep colour. Intense blackcurrant dark chocolate box cedar aromas with roasted chestnut, dukkha notes. Well-concentrated blackcurrant elderberry dark chocolate cedar flavours, fine grainy touch granular textures, underlying roasted chestnut/ vanilla oak notes, finishes chocolaty firm and long. Lovely balanced and supple-textured wine with superb fruit definition and elemental structure. Will need some years to unfold and hum. References Bin 707 and 407 and sits somewhere between in shape and volume. Distinctly Penfolds in style with Napa Valley's hallmark tannin richness. Drink: 2024-2035+; Rating: 97 Points; Andrew Caillard MW

Matured 16 months in 60/40% 1yo/new French oak barrels. In what Peter Gago describes in his inimitable fashion as 'the hemispherical inverse of Bin 407' this is a magnificently crafted Napa cabernet that offers allure from day one, yet great promise in years to come. Napa provenance is avowed confidently in a rich, ripe and succulent core of generous blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, even a hint of licorice. Fruit and high-class French oak tannins unite to wonderful effect in a refined and confident structure, meshing harmoniously with fruit and drawing out a very long finish. Date Tasted: Feb 2021; Alcohol: 14.5%; Rating: 95 Points; James Halliday Wine Companion

This new Bin 704 is meant as a “mirror image” of its Australian Bin 407 stablemate. This wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley, matured for 16 months in all-French oak, 40% new, 60% 1-year-old. There’s authority here. It’s floral and generally seductive but it’s a powerhouse of flavour and tannin; it doesn’t just add to the record, it sets it straight. Roasted nuts, pure blackcurrant, blackberries dripping with juice, cocoa. It’s sheer, strong, substantial and soft at once. This is a wine that leaves no room for doubt. It’s gorgeous. It throws light, fragrant flowers into a gale force of ripe, fresh, succulent fruit. And then the surge of tannin rockets through; rugged; majestic; uncompromised. It’s big, sir. Cabernet is the coastline of wine. Bin 704 from 2018. Witness. Tasted: Feb 2021; Alcohol: 14.5%; Closure: Cork; Drink: 2023-2040; Rated: 96 Points; Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front