TN: 1994 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 407

1994 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 407 - this cab was in excellent shape - still a dark colour though getting pale at the edges, and the expected/remembered fairly heavy American oak overlay, but surprisingly good fruit levels and clean acidity on the medium length finish. An excellent showing. I likely paid around $30 for it back in the day; it now lists in my market for $110.

I have four vintages of the 707 and thought I might pick up a more current bottle to add to the vertical - until I saw that it now sells for around $500 Can. Gack!

[David M. Bueker]

Yeah, the 707 has exploded in price. I'm glad I have the bottles from my dad's cellar because I sure as hell am not buying any!

A lot of the higher ticket Aussie wines have soared in price. A couple of friends and I had some Grange which rose well before the bump I mentioned - we sold it years ago when it was worth 'only' $500 a bottle or so, and put the money back into claret - first and second growths mostly, and at around the ratio of 2-3 bought per Grange sold.

The Australians have some excellent cabs but few see fit to use French oak instead of American. The few that do (Brokenwood, Kaesler, Mt. Langi Ghiran etc.) tend not to go over to French oak completely but just use it in some wines and the only ones I still cellar tend to be shiraz, which tends to get exclusively American oak.

thanks, only had this once, but have fond memories of '94 389.

I find that I still have a half case of 2000 Bin 389 - and the current prices on 389 are (believe it or not) $100 a bottle.

I backed off on Aussie wines after around 2003 or so as they had become ill-structured fruit bombs with little breeding. Obviously others continued to value them - and highly, too!

I'd best get drinking - I have 14 cases of Oz-wine, almost all 2003 or before except for a few producers (Voyager, Montalto, Soumah, Pewsey Vale) that I continued to cellar. Time to put on the barbie!