Was supposed to be a Grange theme, but after so many years most of us haven’t got much of the stuff left, and little of that ready to drink. At current prices back-filling vintages is a serious storage gamble, so you do the best you can. Which was still a night of nice wines…
- [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005798]NV Charles Orban Champagne[/url] - France, Champagne
[Glenn] {12%, cork} Smoky nose. A touch of cheese – somewhat developing. Then some custard, butter perhaps? Rich palate, with a lemon twist to the flavours. Not much yeast apparent here, despite the fleshy and maturing character. Seductive, fine texture; medium weight, dry, with small/medium creamy bubbles. Medium long finish. Decent but doesn’t quite prompt you to rush and buy more at the $50+ price. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005799]2018 Penfolds Chardonnay Bin 311[/url] - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Tumbarumba
[Sian] {screwcap, 13%} After Yattarna and Bin A take their cut, the best of Penfolds chardy fruit ends up here. This has plenty of house oak, with vanilla and sandalwood aromas, some figs and cashews too (but that could be the oak too!) The palate is dry, with soft flowery flavours, a malo influence, lemon butter as well. Medium weight, low/medium acidity, but even though the finish is a little on the short side, the balance along the tongue is nice and even. Nice wine, but overshadowed by the following Bin A. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005800]2012 Penfolds Chardonnay Reserve Bin 12A[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills
[Aaron] {screwcap, 12.5%} Very light colour still even at seven years. Polished oak nose, a touch of matchstick, grapefruit, cool mango. The palate tastes of classy French oak-laced fruit, all wearing cool-climate clothes. Cedar grain adds tightness to the texture, with medium acid, medium/full weight; the structure dominates the fruit, even after seven years. Medium length finish, even palate; promises much development to come. Has an aura of quality about it. But wait a while. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005802]1980 Penfolds BIN 80A Coonawarra[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
[Graeme] {cork, 12%} Half-soaked cork, which broke on extraction; double decant two hours before consumption. Level was just at the bottom of the neck. Penfolds’ first remake of the famous 1962 bottling: Coonawarra cabernet and Barossa shiraz. Fragrant, aged nose of soft old leather, with a bit of a cabernet accent, but never quite the cigar of Bordeaux. Seductive though. The palate is classic smeary old Australian red, in the Penfolds mould; leather and spice flavours, all tertiary, a mix of currant and spice, polished, smooth and lovely. I feared for some mustiness at first but it cleaned up with a bit of air; there are still medium powdery tannins, medium acid, with perhaps barely a touch of volatility. Silky medium weight, even if it is drying out just a little. The longer you tasted it, the better it got. As impressive as the old Granges, but with a slightly different accent. Can hold a while – with some risk – on this showing. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005803]1983 Penfolds Grange[/url] - Australia, South Australia
[Gordon] {cork, 12.9%} What a lovely nose; roses, violets, gentle strawberries, with malt and chocolate. The palate is the perfect balance of fruit and power, in multiple dimensions. Sweet twist of shiraz fruit, with gentle spicy vanilla oak, but not intrusive. Medium-full weight, with medium powdery tannins. Medium acid. Could easily be mistaken for something half its age. Even palate, and long, long finish. Really, good bottles of this are nowhere near falling over. Had a double decant two hours earlier. Every bit as good as the Bin 80A, but with a more robust, exotic character. Fabulous wine. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005804]1989 Penfolds Grange[/url] - Australia, South Australia
[Kim] {cork, 13.5%} The 89 SA vintage gets a lot of stick and deserves it, but here’s the thing; the 89 Grange is a great wine. Not typically Grange, but great in its own right. Yet again, this is brilliant, with wild red, almost tropical jammy fruit. Exotic spice, integrated oak (amongst the least oaky Granges, surely), plummy sweetness, low powdery tannins, medium/high acidity giving it a lively presence. Medium long finish, a tour-de-force of spiced ripe fruits and tangy structure of sweet oak remnants. Always a treat and as good as ever, despite the vintage. Drink up and enjoy! - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005805]1990 Penfolds Grange[/url] - Australia, South Australia
[Greg] {cork, 13.5%} Relatively closed after the 80s examples, this is almost surly through its barrier of malt, dark chocolate, black fruit and plums. At almost thirty years old this remains vast and monolithic, with great balance of black fruit, medium dusty tannins, medium acid. Full-bodied but balanced, even and long; a huge wine with so many years ahead of it; seriously, this needs another decade. We decanted at the start of the meal; seems like it could take many hours in the glass jar. Still more promise than delivery, but at stratospheric levels! - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005807]1997 Penfolds Grange[/url] - Australia, South Australia
[DavidH] {cork, 14%} A bit muted. Malt, earth and blueberries. Almost a touch anonymous – kind of silly that a 20-year-old could still be closed but there you go. This is nicely balanced on the palate, medium weight but still fairly blocky – it seems stuck in a kind of dumb phase somehow. Medium length finish. Hard to get hold of; seems like a long decant or more cellaring (or both) is in order. Although still I feel it’s not quite of a piece like the 90 is. Hold with some confidence I guess. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005808]2006 Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
[Aaron] {screwcap, 14%} Again! But always a pleasure to drink. Lots of spice. Violets, roses, raspberry. But spice, especially after the Granges. Silky-soft texture, low/medium powdery oak, medium acid, spicy fruit, lacey and even along the palate. Becomes quite peppery too after the dense Granges. Medium length finish. Cut from a different cloth than the preceding wines; this is lighter but deserving of more cellaring still. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005809]2007 Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
[DavidM] {screwcap, 14%} A shocking nose beside the 06; quite bretty and metallic. But also rotten somehow, like the inside of Jeffrey Dahmer’s refrigerator. On the palate is raw meat, and spice, and most of the transitory metallic elements of the periodic table. Hollow feel, with little mid-palate presence, low gritty tannins, medium weight, but in a patchy way. Very short finish. Very strange bottle indeed, but surely faulty in some way that’s beyond my skills to diagnose. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005810]2001 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707[/url] - Australia, South Australia
[Geoffrey] {cork, 13.5%} Bottle 00951. Currant nose, with olives, tight coconut oak and a british racing green kind of aura. The palate is partly-developed, with some asparagus and glue, soft acid, but also sour and assertive fruit. A bit raw and disjointed. Medium-full weight, but offset by a real dip in the mid-palate. Medium powdery tannins. Seems like it will keep – almost forever – but will it come together and blossom? Feels like the fruit has had everything thrown at it in the winery in an attempt to overcome the odd-year-vintage-curse that lies on South Australia most of the time. Just not quite convincing by the standards of the label, although more time won’t hurt. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005811]NV Seppelt Shiraz Original Sparkling Great Western[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Great Western
[Glenn] {cork, 13.5%} Blackberry aromas, resin and pine; odd sort of nose. Medium-large aggressive bubbles, medium weight, not sweet but lacks depth of flavour, despite obvious ripeness. All front-palate too. Feels like it’s made down to a price; it’s hardly likely to convert sceptics to the style. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8005812]2017 Heggies Vineyard Riesling Botrytis[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
[Glenn] {375ml, screwcap, 10%} Just as lovely as a recent bottle (last month?); this has a youthful nose of sweet lime juice, a steely character and a faint but generous apricot/botrytis aroma. The palate is all limpid limes and apples, botrytis just a subtle component adding an extra dimension to the watery texture, giving it a dancing sort of quality to its light/medium weight. About medium-dry for sweetness. Very riesling in character, and quite primary; it’s nicely balanced along the tongue, with a medium-length finish, but I doubt it has the acid to support long-term cellaring particularly. Enjoy soon.
Graeme
