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2023 Birthday lunch

Aquitaine Brasserie

Tasted July 1, 2023 by colinscellar with 125 views

Flight 1 (1 note)

White - Sparkling
2008 A. R. Lenoble Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Millésimé France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
88 points
Not bad but showing it's age. Fine bead but has lost some of its fizz. Quite a strong yeasty nose, lacking a bit of fruit and freshness.

Flight 2 (3 notes)

White
2017 Penfolds Chardonnay Reserve Bin 17A Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills
93 points
My favourite tasted alongside Bin 311 and Yattarna. A slightly bigger wine than Yattarna with more new oak and spice. Citrus, stonefruit, vanilla, lots to love here. Still many years to go.
White
2015 Penfolds Chardonnay Bin 311 Australia, South Eastern
89 points
Not a bad wine but tasted next to Bin A and Yattarna and this looked a bit clumsy in comparison. Nice stonefruit, oak seemed a bit rough.
White
2016 Penfolds Chardonnay Yattarna Bin 144 Australia, South Australia
92 points
Double-decanted but still needed quite a while to open up, citrusy to start but lovely stonefruit and spice emerged with time. Lots of years to go. Penfolds' flagship Chardonnay but not in the normal flagship mould of coming with the most oak and malo, more in the modern style of less winemaking influence and cleaner, crisper fruit. Very good but I would prefer a slightly heavier hand and bigger wine.

Flight 3 (3 notes)

Red
2012 Penfolds Shiraz RWT Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
92 points
Classic Barossa. Blackberry, black cherry, hints of cocoa, vanilla, some warm earthy spices. In excellent shape but should go another decade pretty effortlessly.
Red
2009 Penfolds Grange Australia, South Australia
93 points
Blackberry, black cherry, chocolate, graphite. Some warm woody notes. More tannin than the RWT or Bin 150, probably from the splash of Cab Sauv. In really good condition.
Red
2013 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 150 Marananga Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
92 points
Tasted alongside RWT and Grange and was not disgraced or seem out of place.
Classic Barossa characters of ripe blackberry, black cherry, vanilla, some warm spices. 2013 ripeness showing but this still has time to go.

Flight 4 (3 notes)

Red
1998 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri Australia, South Australia
94 points
Tasted alongside 2008 and 2018. This was in immaculate condition. Double-decanted back into bottle ~4hrs before lunch, good on service and continued to evolve in glass.
Primary dark fruits still very evident along with dark chocolate and some spice. Most popular of the three vintages.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2008 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri Australia, South Australia
91 points
Tasted alongside 1998 and 2018. No notes on this one, probbaly the least impressive. Still in very good condition and quite primary but I think 98 and 18 just both superior vintages.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2018 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri Australia, South Australia
92 points
Tasted alongside 98 and 08 St Henris. Still looking immaculately young, though with enough age that it's not aggressive in the mouth. Very nice primary fruit and tannin, should be very long-lasting.
1 person found this helpful Comment

Flight 5 (2 notes)

Red - Fortified
1981 Wyndham Estate Prime Ministers Port Australia Australia
90 points
Initial whiff a bit oxidised but it blew off and opened up to show very enjoyable VP character. Impressively long-lasting given it looks like a bit of a marketing gimmick wine.
Red - Fortified
1981 Chateau Reynella Vintage Port Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
91 points
Crumbly cork had to be pushed in but wine seemed unaffected. Still lots of lovely sweet raspberry cordial and cherry fruit. Fortified a touch too heavily, a slight chemical whiff that I think was just a bit too much alcohop potency, it's no doubt assisting in the preservation. Wine seemed like it could have gone a couple more decades if the cork would allow it.
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