TN: Penfolds Masterclass 12/3/05
Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:51 pm
Last month I showed up to the Penfolds Magill Estate wine and food experience, and attended the Masterclass at the Restaurant. I had tried the 2002 Bin range for the first time the previous Thursday night where I honestly wasn’t that impressed – for that particular tasting the weather was hot and despite a relatively small number of people, badly organized which is why I didn’t post any notes for that tasting.
The weather was even hotter again the following Saturday – 35 degrees outdoors, although mercifully the tasting room was air conditioned and a reasonable temperature for our tasting conducted by Jamie Sach. The 3pm session was the last Masterclass for the day, and it was a small, quiet group with about a third of the seats empty. I feel the session was rushed to clear room for the Restaurant, although being the pain that I am I stuck around after everyone had left to finish my glasses and these tasting notes! In all fairness the Restaurant staff were great, and didn’t pressure me to leave while they worked around me, but the session still appeared to be cut very short compared to the previous one.
1988 Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz: Dark to inky brick red colour. The nose reflects the aged development of the wine; old leather with hints of brandy, chocolate, raspberry jam, wheat/earth, lanolin/wool carpet, violets, old book paper and tomato. The elegant palate had surprisingly ripe fruit, with sweet raspberry and a hint of vanilla, and the tannins providing structure without being too obvious. Jamie said this was the best bottle of the day, and for the label it was excellent, like a fresher version of my final 1990 last year. Drink now.
1994 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz: Great dark to inky red/purple colour. The nose is classic Coonawarra Shiraz with all the aromas associated with great vintages; chalk, tar, capsicum, chocolate, coffee, and with breathing some lemon sherbet. The mid-weight palate is again true to the region, with concentrated blackberry, some mint, tomato, tobacco, and great length. A superb bottle that’s true to the vintage, label and the region as a whole. Great drinking now, but will cellar.
1998 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz: Inky red/purple colour with a glowing purple rim. The nose was exceptionally dumb in this group, only releasing some chocolate, earth, and star anise with extreme coaxing. The palate is deep and tight-knit, with concentrated plum/blackberry fruit, licorice/star anise, and powerful, powdery tannins providing an imposing structure and great length. A great one to cellar.
2001 Penfolds 2001 Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz: Dark to inky red/purple colour, a big step down on the 1998 despite being three years younger. The nose is regional but very much on the ripe/extracted side with a huge mesh of ripe fruit, oak and VA; very tangy with chocolate, jammy blackberry and insecticide. The palate is likewise ripe, spicy and already slightly porty, with jammy blackberry fruit and wild tannins running the full length. Not surprisingly this was my least favourite wine of the tasting, a major disappointment.
1993 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz: Dark red/brick colour. At first the nose is dominated by banana/vanillan and then smoky oak, opening up to reveal slightly green fruit with tomato leaf, and some soy sauce. The palate is relatively simple compared to the better Bin 128s and the other 389s, with an even, mid-weight structure, concentrated tomato and raspberry characters, finishing with some coffee/vanilla. Not offensive, but not a great wine either, and I doubt it will improve – drink now.
1998 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz: Inky red/purple colour. A smoky, complex and constantly evolving bouquet of burnt rubber and formic acid (VA), concentrated blackberry, briar, star anise, sweet cedar, raspberry, blackberry and mint. The palate is elemental and massive, with raspberry, concentrated tomato, smoky chocolate and mint characters set in a massive, powerful tannin structure. This wine is still a baby, and yet is already complex and enticing – my best wine of the tasting.
2002 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz: Inky purple with an intimidating, glowing purple hue. The nose is massive ball of fresh blackberry and blueberry fruit at first, like a big fruit bomb before closing up. After some breathing, it opens again to reveal some gorgeous chocolate, vanilla, toffee/butterscotch, then briar/blackberry and aniseed with a hint of VA. The smoky palate opens with vanilla oak, then chocolate, toffee and licorice, finishing long with green tannins. This bottle was very different to the bottle on Thursday night, which had unattractive toasted oak dominating the nose, and a giant spike of hot alcohol mid-palate. This one seem to greatly benefit from the half hour breathing time before serving, and while the 14.5% alcohol was still slightly noticeable, it was in far better balance on the day.
Cheers
Ian
The weather was even hotter again the following Saturday – 35 degrees outdoors, although mercifully the tasting room was air conditioned and a reasonable temperature for our tasting conducted by Jamie Sach. The 3pm session was the last Masterclass for the day, and it was a small, quiet group with about a third of the seats empty. I feel the session was rushed to clear room for the Restaurant, although being the pain that I am I stuck around after everyone had left to finish my glasses and these tasting notes! In all fairness the Restaurant staff were great, and didn’t pressure me to leave while they worked around me, but the session still appeared to be cut very short compared to the previous one.
1988 Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz: Dark to inky brick red colour. The nose reflects the aged development of the wine; old leather with hints of brandy, chocolate, raspberry jam, wheat/earth, lanolin/wool carpet, violets, old book paper and tomato. The elegant palate had surprisingly ripe fruit, with sweet raspberry and a hint of vanilla, and the tannins providing structure without being too obvious. Jamie said this was the best bottle of the day, and for the label it was excellent, like a fresher version of my final 1990 last year. Drink now.
1994 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz: Great dark to inky red/purple colour. The nose is classic Coonawarra Shiraz with all the aromas associated with great vintages; chalk, tar, capsicum, chocolate, coffee, and with breathing some lemon sherbet. The mid-weight palate is again true to the region, with concentrated blackberry, some mint, tomato, tobacco, and great length. A superb bottle that’s true to the vintage, label and the region as a whole. Great drinking now, but will cellar.
1998 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz: Inky red/purple colour with a glowing purple rim. The nose was exceptionally dumb in this group, only releasing some chocolate, earth, and star anise with extreme coaxing. The palate is deep and tight-knit, with concentrated plum/blackberry fruit, licorice/star anise, and powerful, powdery tannins providing an imposing structure and great length. A great one to cellar.
2001 Penfolds 2001 Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz: Dark to inky red/purple colour, a big step down on the 1998 despite being three years younger. The nose is regional but very much on the ripe/extracted side with a huge mesh of ripe fruit, oak and VA; very tangy with chocolate, jammy blackberry and insecticide. The palate is likewise ripe, spicy and already slightly porty, with jammy blackberry fruit and wild tannins running the full length. Not surprisingly this was my least favourite wine of the tasting, a major disappointment.
1993 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz: Dark red/brick colour. At first the nose is dominated by banana/vanillan and then smoky oak, opening up to reveal slightly green fruit with tomato leaf, and some soy sauce. The palate is relatively simple compared to the better Bin 128s and the other 389s, with an even, mid-weight structure, concentrated tomato and raspberry characters, finishing with some coffee/vanilla. Not offensive, but not a great wine either, and I doubt it will improve – drink now.
1998 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz: Inky red/purple colour. A smoky, complex and constantly evolving bouquet of burnt rubber and formic acid (VA), concentrated blackberry, briar, star anise, sweet cedar, raspberry, blackberry and mint. The palate is elemental and massive, with raspberry, concentrated tomato, smoky chocolate and mint characters set in a massive, powerful tannin structure. This wine is still a baby, and yet is already complex and enticing – my best wine of the tasting.
2002 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz: Inky purple with an intimidating, glowing purple hue. The nose is massive ball of fresh blackberry and blueberry fruit at first, like a big fruit bomb before closing up. After some breathing, it opens again to reveal some gorgeous chocolate, vanilla, toffee/butterscotch, then briar/blackberry and aniseed with a hint of VA. The smoky palate opens with vanilla oak, then chocolate, toffee and licorice, finishing long with green tannins. This bottle was very different to the bottle on Thursday night, which had unattractive toasted oak dominating the nose, and a giant spike of hot alcohol mid-palate. This one seem to greatly benefit from the half hour breathing time before serving, and while the 14.5% alcohol was still slightly noticeable, it was in far better balance on the day.
Cheers
Ian
last post was mine. And yeah, the St Henri 96 is a classic, could outlive the 389 98 that Halliday awarded similar high praise. Southmount beancounters be damned!