Received the email for weekend reading and noticed this
The current Penfolds Collection of over 20 wines, led by 2011 Grange (RRP $785), with a flotilla of the so-called Bin wines from 2013 following in its wake, Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon having reached the dizzy heights of $500 a bottle. (When first released in '96 it was $80.)
Being the pedant I am I was amused and concerned that according to the ROP, Bin 707 started in 1964. And in Shillings and pence.
just noticed that this was written in late 2015. this means either a. no care taken to do any error rectification over the last 6 months or b. nobody reads these things
Speaking of pedant, pretty sure the 96 Block 42 was the first release of a wine properly labelled as "Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet", the others and there were many were either different Bin number, e.g. Bin 58 in '61 or Bin 64 in '63 (JWT), or Bin 707 in '64, or even '53 Grange which was cabernet from Block 42. The Penfolds web-site says '53 was the first vintage of Block 42! Go figure. It's a fascinating period of wine making in Australia.
veni, vidi, bibi also on twitter @m_j_short and instagram m_j_short
mjs wrote:Speaking of pedant, pretty sure the 96 Block 42 was the first release of a wine properly labelled as "Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet", the others and there were many were either different Bin number, e.g. Bin 58 in '61 or Bin 64 in '63 (JWT), or Bin 707 in '64, or even '53 Grange which was cabernet from Block 42. The Penfolds web-site says '53 was the first vintage of Block 42! Go figure. It's a fascinating period of wine making in Australia.
Corrected I am. The early ones were not labelled as "Block 42"
from Langtons
The most famous experimental Penfolds Wines are;
• 1948 Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon • 1962 Bin 60A Kalimna Cabernet Coonawarra Shiraz • 1966 Bin 620 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz • 1967 Bin 7 Kalimna Cabernet Coonawarra Shiraz • 1980 Bin 80A Coonawarra Cabernet Kalimna Shiraz • 1982 Bin 820 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz • 1990 Bin 90A Coonawarra Cabernet Barossa Valley Shiraz • 1990 Bin 920 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz • 1996 Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon • 2004 Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon • 2004 Bin 60A Coonawarra Cabernet Barossa Valley Shiraz
bin 100 62 comp.jpg
bin 64 1963 comp.jpg
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mjs wrote:Sloppy work. Just increases my cynicism as to WC not being any more than a money making exercise
Yes agreed, many inaccuracies as well, with wrong releases in years not made with incorrect vintage details.
I wish the late Mark Shield was still here and Greg K-P (or someone else) would put out a wine guide that actually tells it like it is, not some obtuse reference written from the point of not wanting to offend anyone. The little red wine book by CM was also an excellent read...needs to come back!
WC for me is like AGTW...full of gloss, but when you peel back the layers, much of it is dreadfully superficial. I have not purchased either for 2 years now...the best wine info I get is right here!!
I guess that's the problem when your main claim is how many % more of reviews were done each year...bigger is certainly not better.
Even if it is a typo, so what? The tall poppy syndrome when it comes to Halliday is out of hand.
If you check on wine-searcher.com, you will see 2 outlets are selling 707 at $550. 2012 sells for $500+ at around 8 outlets. A few shops do sell it for less than $400, but they are all out of stock.
If the RRP is $500, you expect the retail price to be a bit less, but often it isn't or if it is, it's not considerably less. The quoted RRP looks pretty accurate.
swirler wrote:If the RRP is $500, you expect the retail price to be a bit less, but often it isn't or if it is, it's not considerably less. The quoted RRP looks pretty accurate.
This Halliday bashing is just getting boring.
swirler,
Halliday was the person who inspired me to seek out and try non SA wines. For that I will be eternally grateful.
The point was that there is a team of people employed these days, behind the legends, who seem to use them as a marketing tool and they allow errors get through, either from lack of care or ignorance. For those of us who have a passion for wine in Australia and it's history it saddens me that these errors are not rectified and I imagine James would be livid that errors like this are allowed to go unfixed for 6 months or more. Imagine if a newbie wanted to buy a 707 for their fathers birthday. Based on this article's errors they could believe that the 1990 Bin 707 they saw at Uncle Dan's was a fake.
It's probably just a bit of sloppy wording, rather than actually confusing 707 and Block 42. I imagine the RRP for 707 is around $500 (although who in their right mind would buy it at that price I don't know). Probably they meant to say "When the '96 was first released it was $80." Which is about right, if the $60-odd I paid for the 1993, and $90 for the 1998 is any guide.
Carelessness/inaccuracy is everywhere. I did a crossword in the SMH on the other day, and there were a bunch of political questions (budget-eve I guess). Anyway, the clues which variously gave the answers Billy Hughes, Helen Clark, Pierre Trudeau, Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill all described the individuals in question as Head of State. By my reckoning, three of those answers should have been Elizabeth II... cheers, Graeme
