I compiled these tasting notes a while ago from an evening at Penfolds Magill Estate where you could bring along your favourite Penfolds wine to try with their a la carte menu. I hadn’t tried the 1996 St Henri for a few years, and while it’s always been my favourite, I wasn’t expecting the 7 pages of descriptions that popped out drinking this with the superb three course meal. I had some reservations that what I’ve written below may be repetitious drivel, but after agonizing for some time I decided not to edit it further; I guess the indulgent tasting note ties in with the theme of food and wine indulgence!
1996 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz: The wine is a glowing, glass-staining, dark to inky deep red with a tiny flash of purple on the rim. It was double decanted prior to serving, so the was nose open right from the beginning. The first glass threw an intoxicating bouquet of sweet violets, beef stock, and lanolin, which intensified with air. The palate opens wonderfully soft, slippery and smoky with a core of beautiful, ripe berry fruit, sweet chocolate & tobacco, deceptively powerful and delicately poised with stunning length and choc-mint on the aftertaste.
After a brief period of being overwhelmed by a bystander’s perfume, it was time to try it with the Venison entrée. A sweet nose of sweet chocolate and cigar box matched by an equally hedonistic palate of rich, smoky chocolate and truffle on entry, followed by the sweet and spicy tang of nectarine/crushed raspberries mid-palate.
Between courses during which a palate cleanser had been served, the wine bounced between sweet and savoury notes. The nose was again smoky and this time brambly, again with those beef stock nuances. The palate was smoky on entry, with tobacco-spit, a hint of mint, and oyster mid-palate. The finish was again sweet and smoky, with chocolate, tobacco, and a surprising amount of mint of the aftertaste.
With the main course of Angas Beef, the wine constantly changed between the stocky/smoky and the green/minty aspects of the bouquet, giving that wonderful sensation that I’ve struck with a couple of St Henris – it’s like the wine is breathing in and out like a living, breathing creature. It’s also shedding layers along the way, with sweet cassis fruit, tobacco and violets on the nose, and crème de cassis and mushroom on the palate.
I finished the last of the bottle with my platter featuring Woodside Edith cheese rolled in ash. The nose was again gorgeous and fresh, with camphor, cedar, sweet red-fruits, lanolin, chocolate and some mushroom. The palate was still as breathtakingly young, spicy and complex as when it was opened, with a wonderful velvety structure that signals it still has decades in hand.
In closing the wine was simply about everything I hoped it would be. My official rating – better than sex. Megan Gale could walk in with a bottle, I’d ask her to kindly open it to check it wasn’t corked, and then to leave so I could enjoy it all for myself!
Ps. During the evening I was conversing with the table behind me, and we exchanged glasses from our bottles, hence I was able to make an interesting comparison with an esteemed predecessor:
1986 Penfolds St Henri Claret (Magnum): Deep red/brick colour. The bouquet like the 1996 is smoky and meaty with leathery accents, and hints of vanilla, mint and mushroom. The palate has a smoky entry, with a prominent cut of acid and tannin mid-palate, finishing with mineral characters and some mint. While the wine is ten years older I found it rather simple and lighter in weight when compared to the 1996 – by my own admission something totally unfair to do. It’s probably also important to note while the wine was in a magnum format, it was originally sourced from the Gold Coast which may explain why it was more advanced than I would have guessed.
Cheers
Ian
TN: 1996 St Henri - Pure Indulgence
TN: 1996 St Henri - Pure Indulgence
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
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JamieBahrain
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- Location: Fragrant Harbour.
I checked my previous tasting note - it's been almost five years since then! Time really does fly as you get older. 
I can't believe James Halliday said in the last Rewards of Patience 5 "I'm not entirely convinced this is a great St Henri vintage,"
A belated congratulations to Campbell on taking out the Saltram Wine Writer/Communicator of the year award - it was thoroughly deserved.
Cheers
Ian
Daryl Douglas wrote::oops: last post was mine. And yeah, the St Henri 96 is a classic, could outlive the 389 98 that Halliday awarded similar high praise. Southmount beancounters be damned!
daz
I can't believe James Halliday said in the last Rewards of Patience 5 "I'm not entirely convinced this is a great St Henri vintage,"
A belated congratulations to Campbell on taking out the Saltram Wine Writer/Communicator of the year award - it was thoroughly deserved.
Cheers
Ian
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
