Penfolds is my favorite Australian brand so it was a no-brainer for me to attend the Penfolds Bin Bash at CAV last night. The Enomatic machines had the complete range of Penfolds wines from the humble Koonunga Hill to 4 vintages of Grange. Each attendee was given a card with P 2000.00 worth of credits which could be used to purchase pours. The lower end wines and some of the Bin wines (407, 138) were practically give-aways as a pour was just P 1.00. From Bin 389 up, the prices ranges from just below P 100.00 to P 660.00 for a tasting pour of Grange. I decided to stick to the upper end wines that I had not tried before. The wines were decanted at least an hour before being put in the machine.
Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz 2004 - Roasted meat. Lots of fruit. Tobacco. Bright acidity and soft tannins. Vibrant, juicy, appealing and very easy to drink. Excellent.
Penfolds RWT Shiraz 2005 - Very sweet nose. Chocolate. The oak is obvious but not overwhelming. Dense. Good length and dry finish. Could be enjoyed now and very good but needs time to develop complexity.
Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 - Very dark. Chocolate, cedar, wood. The oak is rather strong. A little bit of mint. Quite tannic. Rich. Refreshing acidity on the finish. Not well integrated at this stage. Needs to be left alone for a couple of years.
Penfolds Grange 2004 - Very dark. Meaty. The oak stands out a bit on the finish but otherwise this has excellent balance. Cocoa powder. Very fine tannins. Sweet fruit. A bit angular. Not giving much. 96% Shiraz 4% Cab.
Penfolds Grange 2005 - Spicy nose. Sweeter and more oaky than the 2004. I kept this in my glass a long time, maybe an hour, but still tight. 95.9% Shiraz 4.1$ Cab.
Penfolds Koonunga Hill Seventy Six Shiraz/Cabernet 2007 - Made in the style of Koonunga Hill 30 plus years ago. Very rich, sweet, soft, lush. A real crowd pleaser. No oak to speak of. The finish was a little short but still, I thought this was a very well-made wine for its style.
Penfolds Grange 2003 - Very ripe, sweet fruit. Well-balanced and already integrated. Dry finish. Soft tannins. Chocolate dipped strawberries. Tremendous length. Excellent wine. and my clear favorite among the Granges. 96.5% Shiraz 3.5% Cab.
Penfolds Grange 2001 - Very complex nose. A little mint. The dominant impression on the palate is all kinds of chocolate. Starts out with milk chocolate and ends up with bittersweet chocolate on the finish. Another impressive Grange. 100% Shiraz.
I asked permission from Eric if I could also bring a couple of bottles of older Penfolds wines to try. He graciously agreed and so we also tried:
Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 - Coffee and cedar with a dusty/musky undertone. Complex. Lots of berry and spice accented by dried herbs. Soft and well-integrated. Still a little chewy on the finish but this is getting very close to peak. Impressive wine. Best '96 707 I've tried yet.
Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet/Shiraz 1998 - Very ripe berries on the nose and palate. Sweet but with great balance and integration. Soft tannins with just a touch of acid to give it structure. Some earthiness. Great complexity. We had Grange 01. 03. 04 and 05 as well but this trumped them all. Just about at peak now and as close to perfect as a wine can get. Even the Penfolds representative at the dinner proclaimed this the wine of the night.
Penfolds RWT Shiraz 2001 - Big wine. Very rich and tight. Not as impressive as previous bottles I've had. Getting wined-out by this time so I didn't make detailed notes on this.
Many thanks to James, Neal and especially Eric for the great wines and company! See you guys at Vinexpo next week.
