Penfolds 2014 release - any takers?

[vovo]

Well the price has just gone up again.

[catchnrelease]

Also completely sold out!!! None of the stores near me had any stock left. Given the price has dropped below $70 I was up for a few bottles, but am now on the waiting list.

Where are you based?

Inner western Sydney.

Also I did some more searching and found the last few dribs and drabs that were still on the floor at a DMs a little while away from me (not too far though). I bought four bottles online (at $69.90 each!) to pick up and saw the last two they had in stock get bought when I was there. After chatting to DMs customer service earlier in the day and persisting through their glitchy system (to their credit, the person I was talking to was very helpful) I think I may have grabbed the last of the Sydney stock at least from DMs.

So hooray for me, three for me (long sleep) and one to gift away.

[Diddy]

Just attended an advertised tasting at a location that did not know they were tasting it. After a quick chat with the manager, a bottle was opened, needless to say there wasn't a queue.
Unfortunately the wine had no time to open up and as expected was very closed. Very dark inkish color, dark fruits - mainly blackcurrent, with oak in the background being very subdued. Tanins were prominent, with the wine having good length and balance. A classy wine showing plenty of potential.
In summary worth a go with the price down to $69.90 in single bottle buy. Needless to say just purchased 1 bottle to revisit in about 10years time.

I suspect I visited the same large retailer as you this afternoon! I sauntered over to the tasting bench they had setup and there wasn't a St Henri in sight!

I was in a bit of a rush so didn't bother pushing the point.

Luckily I managed to get the last bottle there, so it was worth the trek!

Interestingly, I asked them to look up & see if there was anything else available state-wide (there wasn't)!

However, the salesman did say he'd heard rumours that there could be more available soon, which confirms my earlier suspicions.

Have we just witnessed a clever exercise in controlled supply to create a frenzy and raise demand through the roof?

[Phil H]

My tasting/purchase was at DM's Menai. I believe their allocation was about 2 cases ( cases of 6 or 12 - i am uncertain) however there were only 2 bottles left at around 4.40pm when I left

[Diddy]

My tasting/purchase was at DM's Menai. I believe their allocation was about 2 cases ( cases of 6 or 12 - i am uncertain) however there were only 2 bottles left at around 4.40pm when I left

I visited a Dan Murphy's in Melbourne. Seems as though there was a pretty systematic failure on their behalf.

I'm going to flick them an email to see their response.

[ticklenow1]

I very rarely venture into Penfolds anymore (and hate going to DD's), but after all the comments on here and other forums I thought I might grab 3 for burying in the cellar. But sold out all over the Gold Coast at the reasonable price. Makes me wonder if Penfolds only released a small amount now and hope demand pushes prices up again.

Cheers
Ian

[Redwine&Rum]

yeah wouldn't be surprised if a lot are held back for their cellar release program.
TWE seems to be holding a lot of their more valuable wine long term, for release in a few years time at inflated prices. You can see it plain as day in their financial accounts of Non-Current Stock, which is essentially all the wine they intend to hold longer than 12 months. And it has gone up a fair amount over the last few years.

[phillisc]

I would like to know how this lot can afford to have millions of stock sitting in a warehouse.
I hope it bites them on the arse, i hope the 2011 St H. gets 80 points and then they might do something.

Will have a bit of a look next week, after tasting it last night, its a very impressive red.

Cheers craig.

[rens]

I'm a bit like you Ian. Don't venture near pennys anymore, but gave in to the hype.
The wine was pretty good and I got 2 for an offline in 2025 or 2035.
The guys at Uncle Dans did say they were popular, but yesterday there were easily 7 cases(6 bottles) still on the floor at my local DM's at around 5pm.

[Diddy]

yeah wouldn't be surprised if a lot are held back for their cellar release program.
TWE seems to be holding a lot of their more valuable wine long term, for release in a few years time at inflated prices. You can see it plain as day in their financial accounts of Non-Current Stock, which is essentially all the wine they intend to hold longer than 12 months. And it has gone up a fair amount over the last few years.

Had a quick look at the TWE Annual Report 2013...

$446m of non-current inventory assets - almost a 25% increase on the prior year - and that would presumably be after the write-down of all that US stock they had to destroy?

[Teisto]

I went last night - got a taste but none left - they received 6 cases of 6 packs. Said they may be getting more next week.

[Michael McNally]

I posted 5000 notes, nary a score among them...
GG

Nary is a word that should be used more!

And congratulations on the number of "pointless" notes Graeme! (this is a play on words and not a comment on your notes which are excellent thank you Graeme).

Cheers

Michael

[daver6]

I attended the Penfolds Kalimna Club Icon and Luxury Collection release dinner on Wed night. It was held at the Old Swan Brewery.

Upon arrival were had canapés and were given an extremely cold glass of the Cellar Reserve Chardonnay. I don't have notes on it and unsure what year, but was less than impressed with the wine. Even after warming up, the nose was quite closed and had a rather astringent finish. I didn't finish my glass.

First two wines matched to marron were the 2012 Reserve Bin Chardonnay. This is all Adelaide Hills fruit and a wild yeast ferment. Expressive nose of green melon, white peach, cashew and river pebbles. Weighty palette, high acid. Heaps of stone fruit, nuttiness and white grapefruit with a long finish. This wine is only made in good years and I really enjoyed this. 94 pts

2011 Yattarna. Mainly Tasmanian fruit.Rather delicate nose. white peach, grapefruit and lemon pith. Really balanced in the mouth, with lemon, white grapefruit and stone fruit. Good length. Just didnt amaze me. 91 pts.

2010 St Henri. Dark fruits, plum, tar, dark chocolate on a really intense nose. Some white pepper too. Quite tannic in the mouth with high acid and heaps of juicy fruit. Mainly darker berries in the mouth. This is a huge wine with a long life ahead of it. Really balanced and a long finish. I loved it. 94 points.

2011 Magill Estate. This was from an average vintage, single vineyard and it showed. The best fruit from the vineyard goes to Grange. This was disappointing. Med nose, Dark berries, chocolate ad hints of red berries. Med palate, med+ acid. Dark fruits and some sweet vanilla. med- finish. Just a bit thin really. 88 pts.

2011 RWT. This wine surprised me and was a lot better than I was expecting. Tight nose initially. white pepper, mint leaf, plus the expected dark fruits and plum here. Chalky tannins. High- acid with well balanced oak. The palette exceeds the nose here and finishes long. 92 pts.

2009 Grange. Med nose of chocolate, dark fruits, coconut, aniseed and even a hint of brine! Super elegant in the mouth. Just so balanced really. Massive fruits, high acid and mouth coating tannins with a long finish. 94 points. Good wine...sure is. Worth it...no way.

NV Great Grandfather Port (30 years) Intense nose with nuttiness (hazelnut), some sheery like aromas as well as raisin. Good palette wieght, med+ acid, low tannins and med+ sweetness. Super nutty and a long finish. 93 pts. Not sure if this is worth the money over the Grandfather Port (20 years).

All in all a good night and a great opportunity to try the wines. The speaker was a little disappointing and to some extent just trots out the company spiel.

[Andrew Jordan]

2011 RWT. This wine surprised me and was a lot better than I was expecting. Tight nose initially. white pepper, mint leaf, plus the expected dark fruits and plum here. Chalky tannins. High- acid with well balanced oak. The palette exceeds the nose here and finishes long. 92 pts.

Agree with you on the RWT, a nice surprise considering the vintage. Well balanced and I am sure it will get better with some time under it's belt.