02 koununga hill

[Guest]

any thoughts on the 02 koununga hills? it has been a good quaffer in the past, & the 98 is drinking beautifully.

[punter]

your risk is only $12

[tekkyy]

oooh I don't know
there are some good stuff at $12 that you could have had instead

plus, you can pick up some 98 Koonunga Hill from auctions for $13-17 a bottle

[Guest]

yeah but DM have it for $8.70

[Ratcatcher.]

I honestly reckon Penfolds has lost some of the aura and prestige it used to have by expanding the Koonunga Hill brand to 3 different red blends and introducing Rawsons Retreat and Thomas Hyland.

Penfolds used to be a beacon for quality now it is just another wine brand.
If it wasn't for Grange there would be absolutely nothing to differentiate it from every other big producer.

I reckon Southcorp has diminished the prestige Penfolds used to have in it's eagerness to profit from Penfold's good name. Rawson's Retreat is like Jacob's Creek Shiraz in a Penfolds bottle. I would think that 15 years ago Penfolds wouldn't have imagined putting a wine like that in a Penfolds bottle.

If Southcorp wants to produce a $7 wine then why not market it under a different brand?

BTW the only Koonunga Hill I would ever buy is the Shiraz/Cab blend. I wouldn't touch the Cab merlot. (haven't tried the straight Shiraz)

[mphatic]

For the money (sub $10) the 02 Koonunga Shiraz/cab is an excellent quaffing wine. At the same time it has quite concentrated fruit depth, nice acid and length. My only concern is the tannins which slightly overpower the fruit at this stage.

Like someone else wrote, you're not risking much by trying one now. If you think the tannins will soften before the fruit falls away, stock up. It could be a lovely sub $10 wine in 4 or 5 years.