TN: Penfolds Bin 707 1996

[Croquet King]

Opened and decanted for 4 hours.

Upon opening had notes of slightly stewed fruits and pencil shavings.
Colour was brick red with a hint of browning on the rim.

It transformed into an absolute beauty.

The nose was gentle black fruit, cassis, some old sawdust and almost aged cut wood.

Palate was perfectly balanced. Tannins still gently holding it together with that slight cabernet pucker. no vibrant fruit but subtle and elegant black fruit turning into almost barnyard/earthiness/aged leather.

For a 24 year old wine it is in a great state and I'd say peak drinking.
Maybe another 5-6 years but I can't see it getting much better.

To this day the greatest Cabernet I've had was the '86 Chateaux Margaux.
I would absolutely put this into the same company.

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These steaks are about 650g each. They look small here.

[Mike Hawkins]

I really like the 96 707 too. And to think the best grapes went into Block 42...

[Ozzie W]

Always a great paring -- cabernet and steak. I haven't tried the '96 707, but an '86 I tried a couple years ago was epic. Also really enjoyed a '90 last year.

[felixp21]

Glad you got a good one.
Last saw this in a 20 year cabernet vertical and IIRC it was decent, finishing mid-field in a flight of 12, mostly Bordeaux and Aussie. Interestingly, it showed better than the Penfolds Block 42, which was one of their special bottlings that year.
Sounds like the four years have done it good, I'll dig one out and give it a shot.
Thanks for the notes.

[Chuck]

Those steaks are scotch fillet on the bone, rib eye or cattleman's cutlet. My favourite cut as it allows the very thick cut to be cooked medium rare and still with some nice charing on the outside. Very hard to do with the normal scotch as they are generally cut too thin to achieve both good char and medium rare. We buy big ones, over 700gm and share one between 2 with a nice bottle of full bodied wine. Add some caramelised onions, dijon mustard and salt and pepper with heavily buttered mashed potatoes and steamed green beans it's pretty close to my perfect meal. Dog usually gets the bone after I've had a good chew on it. Cooking on the bone adds to the flavour.

[Croquet King]

Spot on Chuck - exactly what they are.
We usually get them about 800g and 1 between 2. These were the only size the butcher had so we got 3 between 4.

Salt and pepper onto a hot grill then up onto the rack and lid down for about 20 mins.
Let then rest for about 5 to 7 mins. Medium rare maybe closer to rare but I've trained the family well.

Had it with cooked mushrooms and onions. Instead of potato we had truffled risotto cakes - grilled till the top is crispy.
Also a rocket, parmesan salad.

I got to chew on the bones.

[Chuck]

Yum yum Croquet King. Many complain that scotch fillet and variants have too much fat but I believe in the old adage - no fat no flavour. Not for a regular meal but occasionally it's heaven on a stick. Excuse the pun. There is another similar cut that's gaining popularity, particularly for the BBQ - Tomahawk. Same cut but with the entire 30cm+ rib bone intact. Real cave man stuff. Bone is great chewing after meal. Probably the most tasty part. Like a giant lamb cutlet. Mmmmm.