TN: 98 Penfolds Bin 28, 00 Pipers Brook Opimian
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:24 pm
Penfolds Bin 28 'Kalmina' (mostly Barossa)
Still a very deep red, the nose has lovely aromas of rich fruit cake, spice, blackcurrants and charry chocolatey oak. Some lessening of the primary fruit has occurred, but true secondary notes are yet to develop. The palate is warm (14.0%) and full, very much in Penfolds meaty house style. Palate coverage is terrific and quite even; tannins have softened out somewhat, and acid appears nicely integrated. Long finish. Just lacks a little in complexity at this stage, but nothing a few more years won't fix. This is the first bottle of my stash, another one around the 10-year mark (2008) might be about right.
2000 Pipers Brook Opimian [cab s/merlot/cab f] (Pipers River)
Slightly paler than brick red. A cool nose of asparagus, capsicum and generally herbaceous notes. Smells sort of dark green. The palate is cool and mentholated, with subtle tannins and a moderate weight palate exhibiting a slight mid-palate hole. Acid is not excessive, and it doesn't really taste unripe, just very cool climate. It does finish a bit short, however. The back label boasts a drinking window of 2001-2010 - it will be interesting to see whether this just becomes thinner and more angular with age, or develops some more secondary characters to replace what is an easing of primary flavours. Good interesting wine at the auction price of <$20; at the RRP of $40+ it's not in the hunt...
(after writing the above, I found Jeremy Oliver's note in his 05 Annual. I think he's pretty harsh, even though his score wasn't all that low.)
cheers,
Graeme
Still a very deep red, the nose has lovely aromas of rich fruit cake, spice, blackcurrants and charry chocolatey oak. Some lessening of the primary fruit has occurred, but true secondary notes are yet to develop. The palate is warm (14.0%) and full, very much in Penfolds meaty house style. Palate coverage is terrific and quite even; tannins have softened out somewhat, and acid appears nicely integrated. Long finish. Just lacks a little in complexity at this stage, but nothing a few more years won't fix. This is the first bottle of my stash, another one around the 10-year mark (2008) might be about right.
2000 Pipers Brook Opimian [cab s/merlot/cab f] (Pipers River)
Slightly paler than brick red. A cool nose of asparagus, capsicum and generally herbaceous notes. Smells sort of dark green. The palate is cool and mentholated, with subtle tannins and a moderate weight palate exhibiting a slight mid-palate hole. Acid is not excessive, and it doesn't really taste unripe, just very cool climate. It does finish a bit short, however. The back label boasts a drinking window of 2001-2010 - it will be interesting to see whether this just becomes thinner and more angular with age, or develops some more secondary characters to replace what is an easing of primary flavours. Good interesting wine at the auction price of <$20; at the RRP of $40+ it's not in the hunt...
(after writing the above, I found Jeremy Oliver's note in his 05 Annual. I think he's pretty harsh, even though his score wasn't all that low.)
cheers,
Graeme