NobleRottersSydney - emergency Penfolds

The first Rotters dinner for 2011, and straight away we were in trouble. The organised South African theme collapsed once the importers discovered they weren’t guaranteed a case-per-head automatic sale by dessert. So, that’s cancelled, then. A last minute change of theme proved rather difficult to communicate to everyone in time; the fall-back ‘old Penfolds’ theme. So with just a few exceptions, and some spare bottles brought along by those with enough notice, we managed to have enough to drink.

• 2000 Hardys Sir James Pinot Noir Chardonnay

  Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Tumbarumba

  [cork, 12.5%] {Andrew} A pinot/chardonnay/meunier blend. Mid yellow. Nicely aged nose of strawberries, bread and faint cheese notes. Seems younger than ten years; then I read the back label and find it’s spent 7 years on lees. Explains a lot. The palate is predictably fresh although not too young, rather angular in fact, with vibrant fine bubbles. Complexity of flavours on the palate doesn’t quite match the nose at this stage; it’s medium-full bodied, with a quite long persistent finish, but I think needs more time to develop some multi-dimensional depth. Semi-impressive, but give it another 5 years at least.

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• 1996 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 128

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  [cork, 13.5%] {Geoffrey} Garnet. Looks right. Offers an aged nose of twiggy tobacco and aged raspberry aromas. The flavours are all secondary fruits and spice. It’s an attractive, moderately intense wine with some complexity of flavour, although clearly with nowhere left to go. There are soft residual powdery tannins which fill the mid palate a little; the wine is only just medium-bodied, with a medium length, dry finish. Oak is descreetly handled. Seems like it could easily hold another 5 years, as the bones aren’t showing just yet.

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• 1998 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 407

  Australia, South Australia

  [cork, 13.5%] {Greg} Garnet red, on the darker side, but with a fading rim. There’s enough varietal character remaining here, with developed cassis aromas and flavours short through with a dash of dill and vanila bean oak. The nose also manages some cigar box/leather notes with a dash of chocolate. The palate is a bit mentholly at first, but the cabernet currants soon come through, along with some drying astringent characters, cedar and vanilla flavours. You wouldn’t say it’s overoaked though. Not much richnes towards the back palate. Medium-bodied with a medium length finish. Probably ready to drink, and one of the better 407s in my opinion.

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• 1990 Penfolds Bin 389

  Australia, South Australia

  [cork, 13.7%] {Gordon/Glenn} Just staggeringly good. Every bit as impressive as the bottle tasted in 2009. Developing nose of meat, plums, chocolate, coffee and a whole range of aging red and black berry fruits. On the palate these flavours all meld together into a seamless whole, seasoned with soft vanilla oak. You hardly notice acid or tannin in isolation, so well woven together are all the components. The palate is medium-full bodied, with terrific intensity, achieved by the totally even way in which the wine coats all the tongue. In character it’s more impressive than beguiling, but with an open, all-embracing richness that draws you in. It’s a chorus, not an aria. And the finish lingers on beautifully. I doubt there’s much more development to come, but the integrity of this seems such that it will provide wonderful drinking for another ten years. Certainly the best Bin 389 since the 1971, probably ever.

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• 1996 Penfolds Bin 389

  Australia, South Australia

  [cork, 13.5%] {Andrew} Very dark indeed. Youthful nose, intense, of liquorice, tobacco and vanilla, along with a sullen cocoa/dark chocolate character. Dense palate of chicory, red berries and meaty notes; like an exaggerated version of the 1990. Lots of dusty tannins remain, it’s clearly full-bodied, and covers the tongue evenly and impressively. Still clumsily young, though. Oddly enough, coming back to the remains of the bottle later in the evening, it had developed a very unattractive tarry quality that made me wonder about some possible lingering oxidation question over this bottle, and perhaps explained the rather more feral nature of this wine compared to the 1990. Hmmm. A mystery.

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• 2000 Château de Pez

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe

  [cork, 13%] {Graeme} And something completely different. Soft mulberries and a herb garden character feature in the bouquet, and what is actually a pretty generously flavoured wine isn’t helped by comparison with all these lavish Penfolds colleagues. Relatively restrained ripe cassis fruit, dusty tannins nicely in balance, it’s a decent medium-bodied mainstream Bordeaux that hits all the right spots. Coming back to a glass of this at the end of the night, it showed greater richness and presence; clearly some air (ie. decanting) would have benefited this wine considerably.

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• 2001 Taltarni Cephas Flawed

  Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Pyrenees

  [cork, 14%] {Graeme/Stephen} Thoroughly corked. Not even worth tasting.

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• 1998 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri

  Australia, South Australia

  [cork, 14%] {David} This is still ruby red at thirteen years old. Predictably, the nose is so young, so powerful. It’s fruity too, but they’re dark black fruits, not some sweet red bomb. And the longer you inhale, the deeper and richer the nose becomes. The palate is grandly assertive, with a smoky (non-oaky) richness to the currant/raspberry/blackberry fruit with its meaty overtones. Ludicrously undeveloped, it’s certainly coming together in a beautifully integrated way, with medium powdery tannins, terrific intensity of flavour and a long finish to its even, tongue-coating palate presence. This is a beautiful wine, with its best drinking still ten years away at least. A privilege to drink.

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• 2000 Penfolds Shiraz Magill Estate

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Plains

  [cork, 14%] {Andrew} Mid garnet colour, with a developing nose of white pepper and spice. Lifted and intense and gradually puts on more weight as it sits in the glass. The palate is quite aged, but surprisingly weighty after the nose, despite the generally savoury and sour cherry /spiced fruits that predominate. With chalky tannins (french oak is quite in the background) and medium-bodied weight on an evenly balanced palate, it finishes dry and savoury, in a slightly lighter style, for a medium length of time. A very different style to the other wines, and probably close to peak drinking. Should hold but I can’t see much improvement left from here.

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• 1983 Penfolds Grange

  Australia, South Australia

  [cork, 12.9%] {Gordon} Double decanted about four hours prior to drinking. Living up to the best of its reputation, the nose is classic aging Grange, with that charcoal, red meat, tar and black fruit mix of seduction and power. There is still a mass of fine powdery tannins present, blueberry fruits, and a full-bodied texture that quite saturates the tongue - but doesn’t overwhelm. Balance is impeccable. On this triumphant form, its future will be fascinating; there’s some development now, but no sign of it drying out, or the fruit not keeping up. I get the impression the next 10-15 years will reveal even greater glories.

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• 1993 Tollana Riesling Botrytis Flawed

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  [375ml, 11%, cork] {Andrew} Very brown indeed – there’s no other word for it. Smells of burnt fig jam with a stale molasses note. You wouldn’t say it’s recognisably riesling in any form. The palate is rich but short; clearly oxidised, and on the evidence of a bottle tasted last year which was in cracking form, this is prematurely so.

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• 1992 Wilton Estate Sémillon Botrytis

  Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina

  [375ml, cork, 10.5%] {Andrew} Disturbingly similar in colour to the oxidised Tollana, this has a tokay-like nose with some odd green tea aromas. The palate is relatively light, with decayed honeyed fruits, quite sweet at its core but really beginning to now dry out round the edges. Doubtless the finish was longer in its youth; this is well on the downward slope to oblivion.

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Turned out to be a pretty good save after all…