Tasted double blind. My first encounter with this wine and it certainly did not disappoint. It tasted like a young, wonderful, deep Napa Valley Cab. Highlight was the seductive sweet and pure fruit expression and the complexity. A real treat. Not yet as weightless as the best Napa Cabs but not for away either. Does it deserve the premium price? Not yet fully convinced but the price is not far off either.
TN: Dark fruit, pure cassis and baking spices dominating the very seductive nose. The palate has it all with lots of dark berries, forest berries, herbs, rocks, baking spices, all with good precision and intensity. The tannine structure is impeccable and the acidity is perfectly integrated making this a round, soft and harmonious experience. Medium+ length and a sweet cherry driven finish with some spices.
Decanting: Decanted for roughly 3 hours which seemed to be a good decision.
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Tasted blind. Defining sweet oak and vanilla notes coupled with ripe red, blue and black berries. A bit of herbs too. Convincingly elegant with a fine grained texture. Perfect harmony on the palate. Delineated, precise with steel structure covered in velvet. Combines Bordeaux excellence with New World sexyness. This is a fantastic cab that can keep up with the best Napa has to offer. In a group of 5, this made it unanimously to Wine of the Night against competition that included Chapoutier Le Méal 1998, Clos Erasmus 2013 and Redigaffi 2015 among the reds.
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New York Wine Experience 2018 (New York Marriott Marquis): Every so fresh and lively, this is already showing what a great vintage 2015 was in Australia. You can already taste the purity of fruit, with cherries, blackberries, some vanilla, bittersweet chocolate and coconut. The finish is fresh and velvety. This is already drinking well now, but should improve over the next 10-15 years.
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Wine Spectator newbies; 10/18/2018-10/20/2018 (Marriott Marquis): I was expecting this to be very new world fruit forward and intense and this wasn't quite as far down that path as I might have expected. There's a bit more structure and elegance to it. It's still a very very young wine and needs a lot more time to develop. I like where it's starting from though.
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Big big big wine - not my absolute preference but could appreciate. The positive thing was the everything seemed appropriately framed to hold the power. Not too sweet but very deeply concentrated - lots of acid framing it. Blackberry, blueberry, earthy, tarry, coffee/chocolate and some spice. Excellent but full on.
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4/16/2022 - BrionHammond Likes this wine: 95 Points
Who don't like this kind of Penfolds served doubled blind?
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2/5/2020 - Cailles wrote: 96 Points
Tasted double blind. My first encounter with this wine and it certainly did not disappoint. It tasted like a young, wonderful, deep Napa Valley Cab. Highlight was the seductive sweet and pure fruit expression and the complexity. A real treat. Not yet as weightless as the best Napa Cabs but not for away either. Does it deserve the premium price? Not yet fully convinced but the price is not far off either.
TN: Dark fruit, pure cassis and baking spices dominating the very seductive nose. The palate has it all with lots of dark berries, forest berries, herbs, rocks, baking spices, all with good precision and intensity. The tannine structure is impeccable and the acidity is perfectly integrated making this a round, soft and harmonious experience. Medium+ length and a sweet cherry driven finish with some spices.
Decanting: Decanted for roughly 3 hours which seemed to be a good decision.
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1/31/2020 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Tasted blind. Defining sweet oak and vanilla notes coupled with ripe red, blue and black berries. A bit of herbs too. Convincingly elegant with a fine grained texture. Perfect harmony on the palate. Delineated, precise with steel structure covered in velvet. Combines Bordeaux excellence with New World sexyness. This is a fantastic cab that can keep up with the best Napa has to offer. In a group of 5, this made it unanimously to Wine of the Night against competition that included Chapoutier Le Méal 1998, Clos Erasmus 2013 and Redigaffi 2015 among the reds.
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10/19/2018 - Alexander Smith Likes this wine: 97 Points
New York Wine Experience 2018 (New York Marriott Marquis): Every so fresh and lively, this is already showing what a great vintage 2015 was in Australia. You can already taste the purity of fruit, with cherries, blackberries, some vanilla, bittersweet chocolate and coconut. The finish is fresh and velvety. This is already drinking well now, but should improve over the next 10-15 years.
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10/18/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Wine Spectator newbies; 10/18/2018-10/20/2018 (Marriott Marquis): I was expecting this to be very new world fruit forward and intense and this wasn't quite as far down that path as I might have expected. There's a bit more structure and elegance to it. It's still a very very young wine and needs a lot more time to develop. I like where it's starting from though.
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9/7/2018 - nwebstar Likes this wine: 94 Points
Big big big wine - not my absolute preference but could appreciate. The positive thing was the everything seemed appropriately framed to hold the power. Not too sweet but very deeply concentrated - lots of acid framing it. Blackberry, blueberry, earthy, tarry, coffee/chocolate and some spice. Excellent but full on.
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