I was very impressed with the current Penley wines we tasted at the cellar door last week and so the museum release seemed like a decent punt.
Three waiters spent ten minutes fiddling and tasting which had me thinking that it was either going to be really good or that one of them had dropped a contact lens into the opened bottle. As it turned out, the wine had thrown a huge sediment that required a fair bit of deft decanting.
Still a bit muddy in the glass, but like the lamb brains I had as a starter, it was fine if you didn't look at it. Initially, there was a little bit of a leathery pong to it, but that soon floated away leaving a beautiful, silky, thoroughly integrated wine that was an absolute pleasure to drink. This is my idea of a perfect restaurant wine as it neither competed with the food, nor distracted me from my dining partner. The sort of wine that, before you know it, it's gone. What a treat and what a shame that the current Penleys are structured more along the lines of Shiraz from McLaren Vale rather than the leaner and more stylish '96. Buy one if you're driving by the CD or drink them up if you've got a few in the cellar.