The Auswine Forum

Thought I would start a thread so we can put any tasting notes/ complaints/ pricing comparisons/ general laughter together...

As a comparison for you, this is the pricing I have just been emailed from a blue chip UK firm ... prices in bond... so add £12.99 in Duty and 20% VAT to get a price in your hand. So that makes Grange about ~$680/bottle in current AUD after tax. Bin 707 is about $410.

2015 Yattarna, Chardonnay 6x75cl £485.00

2014 St Henri, Shiraz 6x75cl £315.00

2015 Bin 798, RWT, Barossa, Shiraz 6x75cl £435.00

2015 Magill Estate, Shiraz 6x75cl £450.00

2015 Bin 707 6x75cl £1195.00

2013 Grange 6x75cl £2000.00

Tried the 389 last week at The Great Australian Red tasting in Adelaide.
Completely agree with Matthew Jukes comments, to the point he asked me what could I taste, my first thoughts were where is the fruit...simply has no profile.
He agreed and said he looked at the wine over several days and it remains a mystery and in his opinion ( he looks at 30 000 wines a year, so far more educated than my horses arse palate), is unlikely to ever come round.
I had a whole glass at the end and yes not much joy here.
You would want more than mystery for $75.
Interestingly there were 20 cab/shirazes that I rated, that were in front of the 389, from Barossa, LH, MV, Coonawarra.

Cheers Craig

I would love to hear what some of those are please

How about the trophy winner [edit: Pepperjack shira-cabernet or vice versa]? Amazing VFM or amazing TWE marketing for their new wine?

Attended my local DM's, despite seriously lacking customer service and being served minimal amount making it hard to properly assess the wines in clouded glasses. Tasted Bin 28, 389 & St Henri.
I preferred the 28 as for VFM, St Henri & 389 were okay - and my sample certainly had plenty of fruit but could not see the quality or potential. Needless to say did not beg for another tasting, and did not purchase any Penfolds, but did stumble upon a 2012 Seppelt Drumborg Chardonnay which could be interesting.
Not that I am anti Penfolds - as I can still remember attending a previous Penfolds tasting, not expecting to purchase any but walking out with five 2010 St Henri. However this release just doesn't interest me (maybe if the Bin 28 is under $25 - could be tempted).

I dropped into the local VC tonight which had the range on tasting (other than Grange). I only wanted to try the Bin 389 and the St Henri and took my own Riedel Magnum rather than rely on their glasses. The Bin 389 is a joke for the price - some vague blackcurrant character but little mid-palate fruit and rasping bitter tannin on the finish. Not for me. The St Henri was better but not a patch on the 2010 or the 2012, which are the only Penfolds wines I have bought in the last 10 years. TWE are geniuses to sell these wines at the prices they do.

Come on..you guys didn't enjoy the chestnut tannin (or Chestnutty flavor) they add to all of their wines to give them structure?

Polymer wrote:Come on..you guys didn't enjoy the chestnut tannin (or Chestnutty flavor) they add to all of their wines to give them structure?

Is that the commercially predictable oak?
Seriously can’t recall the last Penfolds I tried...

I see JH gave the '15 389 a 97 rating plus a red star for great value with a price of $95. Clearly I'm missing something.

Carl

I'm sure all of the reviewers were tasting double blind and had no idea they were even tasting Penfolds wines until after finalising their comments / scores.

Gary (Walsh), is that how you and Campbell do all of your reviews?

the new release brochure is very flashy indeed. nice photos of floating truffles and pumpkins.

Chuck wrote:I see JH gave the '15 389 a 97 rating plus a red star for great value with a price of $95. Clearly I'm missing something.

Carl

That you are Carl...its called the gravy train...it left a couple of minutes ago

Cheers Craig

Carl, if you lived on someone else's land and got a pension from them, you'd err on the side of generosity

All wine journalists do it to some degreeor they'd have little to review.

It reminds me of the lyrics to a Bob Dylan song - Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth

I think trying these wines at an in-store tasting like Dans just reinforces negativity to the wines, so over the weekend I tried the three Bins I often buy - 28, 128 and 138. To my mind they are all good wines, clearly in the Penfolds style, but very approachable and I think they will age over the medium term.

Kalimna Bin 28. Impenetrable colour. Dark purple some red round the edges. Classic Bin 28 nose of black currant, vanillan oak, boot polish and hazelnut. Solid fruit and good tannin. Oak in check though vanilla a touch prominent. However, this often settles. Question mark for me is on the length. Being picky but seems a bit short (this on night two). Not sure if it's a buy or not at $32.

Bin 128. Similarly strong colour. Black cherry, French oak, violets and tar. Far more power and tannin in the mouth than the 28. Better length as well. This is very good. Better again on night 2. Would buy this over the Bin 28 at this stage of its life.

Bin 138. Again, dark black/red. Definitely Barossan GSM in style. On the nose plum/fruit cake with milk chocolate hints. Nice complexity and a clear raspberry streak in the acid that was very moreish. Length was okay and better on the second night.

For me the question isn't quality, but style and to a lesser extent price. At full tote they are well over-priced. At the $30 mark I am kind of interested because I quite like the Bin 28 style and don't mind the broader Pennies style. Problem is there is so much competition at this price ($30 not $45) that I am looking for something with more "interest" than these wines and if I purchase it will be a couple and mainly for the nostalgia value.

Cheers

Michael

The Penfolds train left my station long ago.
The naked greed reflected in the pricing trends over the last 20 years is well into the 'offensive' category.
Graeme

GraemeG wrote:The Penfolds train left my station long ago.
The naked greed reflected in the pricing trends over the last 20 years is well into the 'offensive' category.
Graeme

+1. The Bin 389 has increased around 900% since 1992. It could be bought for around $10 if my memory serves me well. I don't understand why the RRP is $95 yet it can be easily obtained for much lower prices.

Carl

And....
"Robert Parker's Wine Advocate has just awarded 2013 Penfolds Grange a perfect score — 100 points"

Here we go, another excuse for a price rise? I think so.

rens wrote:And....
"Robert Parker's Wine Advocate has just awarded 2013 Penfolds Grange a perfect score — 100 points".

Meanwhile, looking at Jeremy Oliver's 2016 wine guide, between 1983 and 2010, the highest scoring Grange are the 1996, 2004, and 2010, all three earning 98 points ...

The scores for Penfolds got screwed up once the 2010 St Henri was given 98-99pts or thereabouts by so many commentators... left the critics nowhere to go when it came time to score Grange in a decent vintage.....