TN: Penfolds Icon & Luxury Wine Dinner at Auge 10/5/12

[n4sir]

Earlier this month I got a look at the latest Penfolds Icon & Luxury wines at a function arranged for the Penfolds Kalimna Club at Auge Restaurant, presented by Adam Clay with a matching petit degustation menu. The suggested drinking windows are their estimates supplied with the reading material – all of the wines were presented in Reidel restaurant series glassware, and were bottled under screwcap apart from the Grange, Magill Estate and Great Grandfather, which were sealed with natural cork.


ON ARRIVAL:

2010 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Autumn Riesling (Barossa Valley & Eden Valley, 11.5% alc, drink now-2015): Bright straw/green. Light and breezy with lime, mineral water and some fennel, some heavier, residual sugar characters appearing with breathing; the palate’s fresh and mineraly, a little simple but works as a welcome drink for the night.


FIRST FLIGHT - CHARDONNAY:

With pan fried red mullet fillet on Italian cabbage with salsa verde:

2010 Penfolds Reserve Bin 10A Chardonnay (Adelaide Hills, 13.0% alc, drink 2012-2019): Very pale straw/green. Very similar to the 2008 Reserve Bin 08A, opening with lots of spicy oak and malolactic characters, grapefruit and melon, some lanolin, fennel and struck match/durian with breathing; the palate’s just as heavily worked, a soft but tight, melony entry leading to a broader, mineraly/viscous mid-palate with obvious oak and malo, finishing lean with crisp acidity. The bright acidity matched the red mullet dish very well, but overall this isn’t in the same class as last years outstanding Reserve Bin 09A release.

With SA rock lobster medallion with Congo potato mousse & fresh black truffle:

2009 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay (Derwent Valley, Henty, Adelaide Hills, 12.7% alc, drink 2012-2016): Very pale straw/green. The nose is tight and unyielding, only revealing little vague whiffs of citrus blossom and perfume, eventually some peach and cashew with a lot of coaxing; a soft entry leads to a peachy, spicy palate with less viscosity but much more weight and length than the Reserve Bin 10A, finishing with lovely spice and sweet fruit. A perfect match for the lobster, I’m a little surprised Penfolds has estimated a shorter estimated drinking window than the Reserve Bin 10A – there are elements that remind me of benchmark the 2004, 2005 & 2006 vintages, so I think it could be a sleeper.


SECOND FLIGHT - SHIRAZ:

With duck neck sausage filled with oven braised duck leg & pork belly served with quince:

2008 Penfolds St. Henri (91% Shiraz, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon - Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek & Adelaide Hills, 14.5% alc, drink 2012-2038): Dark to very inky red/purple. Appears very ripe and slightly jammy at first with liquorice allsorts, raspberries and chocolate, although with some breathing distinct leafy/vegetal characters appear (the Cabernet/Adelaide Hills components?). A soft entry leads to a dry, tarry palate with plum and tobacco, a spike of heat mid-palate, and a surprisingly viscous finish with earthy tannins. While it did a good job matching the duck sausage I think it’s a very odd St. Henri, rather unconvincing at the moment – it should also be noted it didn’t match the two other dishes in the flight.

With Gawler River quails stuffed with pancetta, Italian herbs & breadcrumbs:

2009 Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz (Magill Estate Vineyard, 14.5% alc, drink 2014-2030): Picked between February 3rd and the 6th, the earliest on record – I remember a Winemaker at the time telling me of the urgent rush to pick to avoid losing the lot, and resorting to sorting tables to pick out the best berries of the miserly crop. Medium to very dark red/purple. Very earthy and plummy nose at first with tarry/herbal characters, almost Coonawarra-like at times, then liquorice and cinnamon, ground coffee and dried dates, red jubes and tobacco. A soft entry is followed by a punch of spicy plum fruit and bright acidity, dropping off to reveal a medium-weight body with black and then red liquorice, finishing thin and mineraly. The structure seems a little odd when tried on its own, but the wine matched every single dish in this flight perfectly, maybe not that big a surprise when the style seems to have been heading down this path the last few years. While this won’t rank up there with the finest Magill Estates ever made, it’s an outstanding result considering the conditions from which it was conceived.

With Hahndorf venison medallion with cherry balsamic and bitter chocolate soil:

2009 Penfolds RWT Shiraz (Barossa Valley, 14.5% alc, drink 2013-2030): Very inky red/purple. Opens with noticeable volatility, both EA and VA matched to ripe cherry fruit, a touch over the top; with breathing coconut and plums appear, becoming inky and sweeter, raspberries, sweet meats and paneforte, bordering porty at times. The palate’s earthy and plummy with quite a build up of minty alcohol heat and fine tannin mid-palate, the finish long and peaty/earthy but again dominated by the minty alcohol heat. This has some resemblances to the western Barossa origins of the Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz but it frankly isn’t as good, the oak and alcohol are comparatively clumsy – it didn’t exactly help that it matched none of the dishes in this course either.


THIRD FLIGHT - CABERNET SAUVIGNON:

Both wines served with 24 hour braised Berkshire pork belly prepared in traditional Italian pochetta style served with lentils and oven roasted pumpkin.

2008 Penfolds Bin 169 Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonawarra, 14.5% alc, drink 2014-2032): A new addition this year, modelled on the 1973 Bin 169 Coonawarra ‘Claret’ (also known as Bin CC), matured 14 months in 100% new French oak hogsheads. Inky red/purple. Opens with a bouquet that reeks Penfolds, lifted/bitey banana/vanillin oak, dried oregano and deep set blackberry/blackcurrant fruit, but settles down quickly to become much more subtle and wonderfully savoury, with whiffs of earth, dried blood and sous bois, paprika, peppermint and truffle. A soft entry leads to a jubey, medium to full weight palate with a slow build up of grippy, powdery/chalky tannin, sweeter, plusher fruit than the nose and the vanillin oak much more restrained, finishing long and chalky. While it’s easy to be initially wowed by the bouquet of the 2009 Bin 707, this has much more flesh, more muscle, it’s a stayer not a sprinter. I love the wine, but cringe at the price.

2009 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully & Padthaway, 14.5% alc, drink 2014-2035): Inky purple/red. Exotic and powerful from the first whiff, crème de cassis liqueur, shoe polish and espresso, cigar box and vanilla bean. The palate’s far more restrained and lighter in weight than usual, but mercifully the malty oak’s in balance; it’s tangy and minty with bright acidity and grippy tannins, but there’s some heat and a distinct green/leafiness on the finish. As much as I love the bouquet, the more this breathed the more I was under whelmed with the palate, especially compared to the 2008 Bin 169 which grew in the glass. Neither of the wines matched the pork belly course.


FOURTH FLIGHT - GRANGE:

Served with wild boar two ways; 12 hour braised led filled tortello & braised belly in red wine with crispy scratching.

2007 Penfolds Grange (97% Shiraz, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon – Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale & Magill Estate, 14.5% alc, drink 2014-2045): Dark to inky red/purple. Opens with a ripeness and volatility rivalling the 2009 RWT but settles down quickly, earth/peat, inky plums, dark chocolate and graphite, tomato skin and mint, the VA present more in bite than an outright varnish/crushed ant character, probably because the oak has been (rightly) wound back. The palate’s earthy and full of surprises, bright acidity contrasting dark plum/jubey fruit, the tannins much finer than the usual bulldozer style, just a touch of minty warmth mid-palate, finishing very long but thin in the context of Grange. It matched the rich wild boar dish perfectly, something the remnants of the previous two Cabernets couldn’t do, and I can see merit in Adam Clay’s comment that in some regards this is more like a St. Henri than Grange. That’s a problem though when it has a Grange label and a $625 price tag – this wine is never going to match the well established blueprint and reputation regular buyers and drinkers of Grange will expect.


FIFTH FLIGHT - FORTIFIED:

With Testun al Barolo cheese served with caramelised figs & saffron poached pear.

NV Penfolds Great Grandfather Rare Tawny (Grenache, Mourvedre, Shiraz - Barossa Valley, 19% alc): Light to medium tawny/amber with an olive rim. Heavy rancio characters and lifted, neutral spirit dominate, walnuts, varnish and thinners, a hint of cayenne pepper and liquorice sticks with breathing; the palate’s fat and caramelised, with a tangy/acidic mid-palate and neutral spirit on the long finish. Still reminds me of the old Seppelt DP90 in style, but not quite as fresh as the series VIII three years ago.


Cheers,
Ian

[Seven]

how was the food, Ian?

Cheers
Seven

[Seven]

a wave of special bin revival in these few years

60A, Block 42, 620, CC... what will be next?

[phillisc]

Ian, thanks for the read.
What is the OTT price for the 169?
Craig.

[rens]

a wave of special bin revival in these few years

60A, Block 42, 620, CC... what will be next?

The question I have is where is the fruit comming from? All these special releases must impact on the quality of the other wines they make. Perhaps that is why a lot of people say there has been a significant decrease in the quality of the penfolds wines since the mid to late nintys.

[n4sir]

how was the food, Ian?

Cheers
Seven

Food was great overall. Right sized portions, pacing was really good, about the only thing I could fault was the lack of a lamb dish to go with the Cabernet flight, maybe they could have had venison there instead (but pork belly, seriously?)

Service was pretty good too, although at the table they were suggesting different matches to the wines to what were actually on the menu! When the dishes were presented the suggested matches were the Bin 10A with the lobster, the Yattarna with the red mullet, the St. Henri with the quail and the Magill with the duck neck sausage, and after trying them I said they were better matched the other way around - it was only after I got home and read the printed menu that I realised they stuffed up.

Cheers,
Ian

[n4sir]

Ian, thanks for the read.
What is the OTT price for the 169?
Craig.

AUD $250/bottle, cellar door only, no club discount available. Ouch.

[n4sir]

a wave of special bin revival in these few years

60A, Block 42, 620, CC... what will be next?

What are the odds on them releasing a Grange Cabernet in place of a future Block 42?

[Sean]

deleted

[Luke W]

a wave of special bin revival in these few years

60A, Block 42, 620, CC... what will be next?

What are the odds on them releasing a Grange Cabernet in place of a future Block 42?

I thought the 707 really was a Grange cabernet. The reality was that Max tried the Grange cabernet in 53 but couldn't sustain it because cabernet is a wonderfully variable beast. Nor would he get enough fruit from 42 to make a commercial wine in any great quantity. To make a wine from various locations in the quantity and quality of Grange would be to do what Penfolds are already doing with 707 and 169. Who's to say that with the current Asian demand for 707 it's price won't approximate Grange in the next 10 years?

[Mahmoud Ali]

There is always a risk that the introduction of new premium wines and special bins will affect consumer perceptions of the standard bin wines. These are not vineyard wines but multi-regional blends so the consumer has to be wondering if the better grapes and wines are being diverted to the newer wines.

In Chateauneuf-du-Pape the introduction of premium reserve blends has elicited comments about it's effect on the regular bottlings. And this with only two tiers of wines. Meanwhile in Bordeaux the reverse has taken place. The quality of the Grand Vin was improved by the introduction of second wines and in some cases third wines.

I'm reminded of what happened to my perception of Wolf Blass wines when, at least in Canada, they moved from only two red wines, the Yellow and Black Label, to a rainbow of colours. At first it was the Red Label which was okay as it didn't detract from the others but once the market flooded with Blue, Green, Brown, Grey, Gold, something called President's Selection, and finally Platinum, they lost me.

A similar thing happened with Peter Lehmann's Shiraz. There are now multiple tiers of Lehmann Shiraz from the Barossa starting with the regular Shiraz, Futures, Mud Flat, Eight Songs, Stonewell, Special Vineyard bottlings, and premuim Shiraz blends. A consumer who looks for the producer's better Shiraz must move up the price ladder. Why not look elsewhere?

Introducing a less expensive wine may strengthen consumer confidence while new premium wines will usually result in the opposite.

Cheers.........................Mahmoud.

[n4sir]

a wave of special bin revival in these few years

60A, Block 42, 620, CC... what will be next?

What are the odds on them releasing a Grange Cabernet in place of a future Block 42?

I thought the 707 really was a Grange cabernet. The reality was that Max tried the Grange cabernet in 53 but couldn't sustain it because cabernet is a wonderfully variable beast. Nor would he get enough fruit from 42 to make a commercial wine in any great quantity. To make a wine from various locations in the quantity and quality of Grange would be to do what Penfolds are already doing with 707 and 169. Who's to say that with the current Asian demand for 707 it's price won't approximate Grange in the next 10 years?

Well, yes and no... the 1953 Grange Cabernet was all Block 42 fruit. If you check Penfolds the Rewards of Patience, you will see there haven't been many other wines made entirely from Block 42, mainly for the reasons you outlined. While the first Bin 707 in 1964 was (almost entirely) Block 42, it only became a commercial reality after reliable sources from other areas like Coonawarra began making a significant contribution.

While I agree that Bin 707 today is the practical Cabernet equivalent of today's Grange (multiple vineyard sources, made effectively in the same way), it's not the same as that particular 1953 Grange Cabernet which is widely recognised as one of their pedestal wines. Getting back to Seven's original question, it does make for an interesting opportunity for Penfolds considering they have dabbled in their old label history for these expensive new releases. The naming of the 1996 Block 42 was in hindsight a big mistake (I remember magnums being heavily discounted at cellar door because it wouldn't sell) and the 2004 release was also relatively sluggish considering how little was made - if Block 42 had the Grange Cabernet name instead I think they would sell out immediately, even if they were priced well above current Grange. Penfolds major buyers are like that - they like their nostalgia, and are prepared to pay for it.

Cheers,
Ian

[xsorxpire]

Just because of the nature of the thread...

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/06/the-strangest-most-expensive-wine-bottle-in-the-world-is-australian/

[rens]

Just because of the nature of the thread...

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/06/the-strangest-most-expensive-wine-bottle-in-the-world-is-australian/

Just makes me shake my head