2010 Penfolds Grange (and other 2014 releases)

[felixp]

I agree..that is unfortunate....WET and GST is a killer...

You only see that for larger producers though...smaller ones tend to be a bit more expensive overseas...

true that… Giaconda Chard is selling in some outlets for $1450HKD, or about $220AUD but it does vary wildly, Clonakilla is often cheaper here, although the difference is minuscule.

[Mark Carrington]

Not sure why I started reading this thread.

Though the Halliday score for St. Henri was an eye opener.

[Phil H]

Just visited my local Dans. On tasting :
Bin 28 - Very Good
Bin 407- Nothing special and not worth the money
Bin 389- Okay, almost a mix of the 28 with the 407 (i know its a shiraz/cab),
Value for money I would choose the 28 at just under $30, however in that price bracket there is a lot of competition, and walked away with 2 Grant Burge Filsell (2012).
However I could not resist the RWT, at just under $130.

Driving past my local Dan's this afternoon so decided to reassess:
Fortunately they still were tasting on the first bottle opened on the previous day (which I was the first to try) and it's amazing what 24hrs can make. (I should have known better and prefaced my notes).
In summary:
Bin 28: Very Very Good
Bin 407: Very Good, I have never been a fan of the 407, however this one had me interested, tannins, balance, length & complexity. I am not certain it is worth the money however still a good effort.
Bin 389- I take back what I said about a mix of 28 & 407. Certainly this is a wine for the long term, I am not certain how this will develop, but it is a wine of class and elegance. Perhaps worth the money,
Hopefully I will have an opportunity to taste the RWT tomorrow. At around $130 it can be considered expensive, however compared to the Grange, you can have 5 bottles of RWT to 1 Grange - Bargain! - just need to convince the better half.

[Sean]

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[Phil H]

Thanks Sean for such comprehensive notes. I went to 1st Choice for the RWT tasting , however the serving size was minuscule, and despite having a second "miniscule" tasting it was hard to get a good understanding of the wine (despite one manager of the store helping himself to half a glass and walking away with it). One thing I could tell that this is a serious wine for the long term. I have tasted the 09 & 10, upon release and found them approachable, however I feel that this wine needs some time.

[Polymer]

Initial impression:

2012 707 BIG oak...Good wine though...Always hard to drink so early but it would be hard to buy this over a comparably priced (in a competitive market) CA Cab.....Had everything it should though...Fruit, oak, tannins, acidity..all in ample or more than ample amounts...This will go long and pretty easy to assess this is a well made wine and knowing its pedigree, I'm sure it'll soak up all that oak.
2010 Grange - This should have been BEFORE the 707. Complex but restrained nose, this has really really young fruit which, for me, makes it basically impossible to assess. Young fruit similar to the 2010 St. Henri but deeper...The wine is really tight tough..really light mid palate and finish overall and not light as in elegant..light as in almost missing. I have a feeling the 707 was just too big and oaky and a bit more in your face and I just couldn't get anything from the Grange but I've read a lot of others feeling this was really tight as well. Not sure how anyone is really assessing this...I'm sure based on pedigree, it'll age a LONG LONG time and be fantastic...

2012 Bin 28 - I've actually been disappointed in this probably the last..I dunno how long...but the 2012 is looking pretty decent..and if you can get it for the right price, it is probably the only Bin 28 I've tried in awhile that was worth buying.

2012 Bin 389 - Far more approachable than the 2010. Even though the 2012 has better acidity than the 2010, I think the 2010 will cellar better..just overall better structure....Good wine overall but the feeling I got was they did something different...or maybe even took fruit that might have gone to this but made it into the 707? I don't know if they're trying to change the style and 2012 allowed them to (I generally see better acid across 2012s vs. 2010) or what is going on. Good wine though, I think I'm just having a hard time matching what I had with my expectations of young 389s...

2012 RWT - Pretty surprised by this...I know most people say American oak they get a lot of Vanilla (and I do get that when there is a lot) but a lot of new French oak always makes me think sweet silky vanilla when it is a bit overdone. Most RWTs have always struck me like that (even thought they're often mostly French with some American oak) but this wasn't hitting me like that..definitely not the nose I was expecting from RWT (oak was still there just not like I was expecting). Better acidity than expected... good fruit, good overall structure. Another one I'm confused with (but in a good way). I generally expect a big milky vanilla shake out of these and while it had some of that, it also didn't...

Overall a pretty good lineup....I'd want to try them all again with time...

[Redav]

Has anyone had both 2010 and 2012 Bin 389, can offer their thoughts between the two and if they had to pick one to keep, which one it would be?
(there's only so much I can afford and have space to keep )

[tommyplussunny]

Hey All,

I was lucky enough to tried all the penfolds new releases ( from Bin 28 to 2010 Grange). I was very impressed.

The 2010 grange , which had tons of flavours and really blew me away. I have to say though , the 2010 St henri I tasted several months ago , was even with more class ( another 100 pointer ) for 1/6th of the price of a grange .( all sold out , expect auctions) .

@Redav, I had tasted both 2010 and 2012 Bin 389, they are both exceptional wines ,the 2010 is more powerful, but 2012 is more refined. But both of them are nowhere near the level of the 2010 St henri.

Both 2010 Grange and St Henri would be keep improving for decades to come. The problem is the 2010 Grange with such a high price tag, it will be very difficult to buy a case to lay down.