I bought this upon release in the early 90's, when, to put this purchase in perspective with the rest of the Penfolds lineup, a bottle cost $120 vs. $110 for the Grange. It's a blend of Barossa shiraz and Coonawarra cabernet, and this combination has appeared sporadically over the years under other bin names (60A in 62, 7 in 1967, X-something in two others) until being somewhat recently given the permanent name of the original, 60A.
This was my only bottle, and we took it along to a restaurant to enjoy with a thick slab of prime rib last week. The sommelier, Chet, who is also a personal friend, took a corkscrew to it and upon finding the lower half of the cork unmovable, got excited. He'd been waiting for just such a bottle to try a new procedure on. With our permission, out came the flambe cart, a copper wire and a full ice bucket with a napkin soaking inside. Another waiter was summoned to help. The copper wire was folded in half and criss-crossed to make a large loop at one end, which the waiter held over the flame until it was glowing red, then placed over the neck and close to the shoulder, pulling tight in a strangle hold until it cooled, about ten seconds. Chet then grabbed the ice cold napkin and placed it in the same place where minimal pressure produced a light chink! sound and the neck snapped cleanly off. Here's a pic of the bottle, which we brought home. Very cool procedure, and a whole lot more fun than straining out cork bits. Bob, who photobombed the pic below, can't wait to re-enact this at home.
About the wine: At first, black currant and black raspberry on the nose with a bit of baked yam, and on the palate raw beets, brown paper bag and iron-rich clay. In waves, the wine padded on sweeter red fruit like raspberries and strawberry licorice, as well as eucalyptus, baked red apples with cinnamon, and a rather essential and unmistakeable Aussie-ness. Chet called it one of the dozen most complex wines he had ever tasted.
Though far from spineless, the tannins are at this point pure silk. As a package, the wine is elegantly and seamlessly powerful, and not so much in density as it's flawlessness, as from every possible perspective it was that rarest of things: perfect, and perfect NOW. My WOTY, and not likely to be unseated.