2/4/23, 12:35 PM - Excellent review and thank you. I’m a couple of years older than you and have a case of six. I shall make sure I finish them over the next few years as I would hate to have to leave them to the children!
11/26/22, 4:56 AM - Good man! Really glad It showed better and on the strength of that, I may well pop one open over Christmas and the New Year and see what we have got.
11/23/22, 11:02 AM - Great note thanks. I have an unopened case of this which I will try a bottle from in a few years.
11/23/22, 10:58 AM - You popped and poured this? Well each to their own I suppose. I think I’ll leave my case for another five years or so and then I’ll give it a couple of hours in the decanter. Hopefully then I won’t have to deal with the savage tannins :-)
10/9/22, 12:33 PM - Great review. I also have a case of six and fully intend to enjoy them over the next decade or so. Taking the first one to Chicago to drink with my son next week. Let see how it copes with a 4000 mile journey. Also delighted to have paid under £40 a bottle looking at the auction price!
11/15/22, 3:16 PM - I can report that the bottle survived the journey…………..and was awesome! One down, five to go!
10/14/22, 1:25 PM - Really good tasting note thank you. I have a case of six of these so will leave for a couple of years before the first exploration.
10/3/22, 9:37 AM - I’ve got three of these so will leave for a bit. 5 years is a bit young for a NSG in my experience so a very helpful review.
7/3/22, 8:49 PM - Not very helpful and a bit of a pointless review frankly. The only reason for drinking this so early would be to give us all an indication of how this might develop and/or at what stage it is at the moment. Sorry if I’m being a bit blunt but is how I feel.
6/12/22, 11:58 AM - You will only drink them!
6/13/22, 5:42 AM - To be honest I've not tried much as still working my way through my 2014's (awesome) and 2015's (average). I'm expecting it to be good however as although yields were down it seems to be generally well rated.
6/12/22, 12:06 PM - Bin 28 for cooking. Words fail me………..
6/12/22, 12:05 PM - I’ll leave mine for another 5 years at least and want to see what they are like in 15! This is Australia’s most cellared wine and there is a very good reason for that. Sorry but sounds like a waste.
6/12/22, 12:01 PM - If you really want to enjoy your SM, add a one before your recommendation! I go back quite a few years with Jean G bless him.
6/12/22, 12:01 PM - Shame. My 1998’s are great at the moment.
5/17/22, 7:33 PM - Sounds like a faulty bottle tbh. I’ve had several dozen of these over the past twenty years and never had anything other than a great experience
5/3/22, 1:21 PM - We all have opinions but you rarely see a score of 18.5 from Jancis Robinson so I am curious as to why you are so disappointed with the 2010.The first bottle out of my case of six was magnificent.But only in my opinion of course!
4/20/22, 2:57 PM - Love that you opened this early and great to see a progress report!This all helps enormously in the decision to not open my case of six for a few years yet.Thanks R
2/11/22, 9:02 PM - I second that comment. I try to never open a ‘Baby Grange’ until at least a decade has passed. 44 bottles in the cellar at the moment going back to 2011. I used to get a case of six every year but have stopped buying it now. Getting too long in the tooth to lay down something like that and the St Henri collection is larger and goes back to 2005. So I’d better get drinking!
2/12/22, 5:49 AM - St Henri without a doubt. It’s made without an oak influence which is pretty unique for a Shiraz. All the bin collection Penfolds age well. Had a look at your cellar and there seems to be a thing going on with Pinot Noir! Can’t fault you btw and I have recently discovered some beautiful examples from Oregon (and Willamette Valley in particular). Any recommendations as I’m in Chicago at the moment visiting my son.
2/11/22, 8:58 PM - A victim of a poor vintage I’m afraid. 2011 was awful.
11/16/21, 11:23 AM - I have no problem with critical reviews. It’s the smug and conceited ‘I rescued the night with by massive magnums’ comment that made me cringe.
10/14/21, 10:51 AM - I am only just getting round to my 2009's so I'm not surprised you were not impressed. Jean makes his wines to age and most vintages need a decade (one exception being the 2011's which need drinking up as it was a poor vintage).
3/31/21, 1:44 AM - Opps! And yes!
3/3/21, 2:23 PM - I so agree with that comment. No downsides to aging NV Champagne in my opinion.
3/2/21, 11:51 AM - I’m really sorry but I don’t get it. Why would you open a bottle of MB even before the 23 year (conservative btw) drinking window? I’m not even sure why you gave it 90 points given your comments. Still, each to his own.
3/2/21, 1:03 PM - That a good point. I think I've learned since then (hopefully!).
3/2/21, 1:07 PM - Fabulous cellar btw, if a fraction biased towards a particular region maybe?
3/1/21, 12:21 PM - So as I have 8 of these left in the cellar, I'm guessing I should be a very happy bunny!
3/1/21, 12:44 PM - Absolutely. I bought 6 initially as they were reduced to clear at my local Majestic (UK) in May 2019 and was so blown away that I went back and got another case. I’ve given one away and drunk another two since. The plan is to drink one every one to two years and see what happens. I agree totally with your view that this is a truly exceptional wine.
3/1/21, 12:26 PM - I'm not trying to be funny (honestly) but this is the most cellared wine in Australia for a reason.This has a cellar tracker window of 2022 to 2032 and I will be giving my case 6 to 12 years, not 6 to 12 months!
2/24/21, 12:10 PM - Yes you certainly do! One of the things that I love about Musar is that every vintage is different in that some years you think you have a Bordeaux type wine, and then it leans towards the Rhone, and then you wonder if they haven't blended in some Burgundy (or was it Carmenere?).I love Musar for its sheer Bloody mindedness and mystique!
2/21/21, 1:38 PM - 92 is not a low score. I think the problem on CT is that many people tend to over score.
2/21/21, 1:37 PM - It was a terrible vintage for the left bank as a whole. That is reflected in this years offering from SM as well as plenty of other estates.
2/21/21, 1:33 PM - I’m not surprised. Personally I would leave the 2017 for at least another 3 years before considering opening one. My 13’s and 14’s are great at the moment.
2/9/21, 9:36 AM - Last bottle, that’s a shame. Only just started drinking mine as this has the stuffing for another 10 years at least. 2010 is still a baby in my opinion. Most SM’s are built by Jean for the long haul.
2/19/21, 1:28 AM - Whole-heartily agree folks! Drink it when YOU like it. Also (teaching you to suck eggs of course!), the vintage is particularly important with SM. I've actually got through half of my 2011's, not touched the 2012's and drunk/given away a few of the 2013's. My Coravin is a wonderful tool for seeing "How we are doing!"
2/3/21, 2:02 PM - I opened one of these this weekend as well. Nice review. I gave mine a 5 hour decant and saved half the decanter in the cellar for the following day. Guess which was the better glass of wine! I’d score my bottle 93/94 and the best bit? Got a few left.
1/26/21, 1:33 PM - That’s a baby! I’m on the 1998’s and 99’s at the moment. Anyway, enjoy but give them at least 15 years IMO.
1/9/21, 3:54 PM - You popped and poured a Sociando Mallet? Well, I'm lost for words but each to his own of course. I would be giving that at least a 4 hour decant and enjoying the other half of the decanter after 24 hours. I really do hope your second go at it is a more pleasurable experience!I'm a few bottles into my case of 12 for that year and none of them have rated less than a 92 so far. SM is a bit of a unique Chateau and Jean has never made a vintage other than in the old school style for aging and airing. The 2010 is a lot more forward than the 2009 btw and I'm going to leave my remaining 2009's for another five years. I have been collecting SM for many years and it has never failed to deliver for me but does require patience in my experience.
12/29/20, 1:13 PM - Far to early for the 2006 at the moment IMO. I got one out of the cellar for Christmas, read some reviews and put it back, replacing it with a 2004. It would seem to be a particularly slow developer for that year.
12/29/20, 1:09 PM - It depends on what you paid for it. I was really lucky and got two cases in a promotion. I’m really happy!
12/13/20, 10:04 AM - 'Thankfully the oak is well controlled". I think you had better read how they make it. Extract from the Penfolds website below :-)THE PENFOLDS COLLECTIONSt Henri Shiraz 2017St Henri is a time-honoured and alternative expression of shiraz, and an intriguing counterpoint to Grange. It is unusual amongst high quality Australian red wines as it does not rely on any new oak. Released for the first time by Penfolds in the early 1950s (first commercial vintage 1957), it gained a new lease of life in the 1990s as its quality and distinctive style became better understood. Proudly, a wine style that hasn’t succumbed to the dictates of fashion or commerce.St Henri is rich and plush when young, gaining soft, earthy, mocha-like characters with age. It is matured in an assortment of old large vats that allow the wine to develop, imparting minimal, if any oak character. Although a small proportion of cabernet may sneak into the blend, the focal point for St Henri remains shiraz.
12/15/20, 1:43 PM - No problem, it's an easy assumption to make. I have seen people complaining that the oak is overdone in St Henri! The only other suggestion that I have is that although the CT window is 2019 to 2035, this one is a baby and the complexity comes with patience with most of Penfolds's top end Reds. I'm drinking some of my 2005's and 2007's at the moment and they are gorgeous. 407 and RWT are long-termers as well. Anyway, hope that helps. Kind regards Brent
12/17/20, 2:51 AM - That's a good question for a Thursday morning and requires more than one cup of coffee!A couple of general comments and then I'll give you my take on 389, St Henri and 407, then I'll give my perception of RWT as I only have three bottles and haven't tried it yet. It is all of course only in my opinion and I'm sure that others will have different takes (but is that not the fascination of wine!).I think you need to be partial to the traditional, 'in your face' style of block-buster Australian wines that these represent in my opinion. I love them, particularly with a nice piece of steak with a home-made black pepper sauce, but they are not everyone's cup of tea. If you are looking for subtlety, then you may be better with a Burgundy (unless you are prepared to wait a few years). My palate has changed since I first started to collect Penfolds, and I view them as old friends now and for when I am in the mood.They all require time to reach their full potential. I made quite a big decision last year that I would not buy anymore Penfolds reds. My last En Primeur purchases were 6 x 2017 St Henri's and 6 x 2018 Bin 389's. These both have Penfolds drinking windows up to 2050 and beyond, and it's a sobering thought that I might run out of time. I am 63 and not planning on leaving it all for my children if I can help it! Anyway, personal thoughts on the individual wines.St Henri first attracted me because of that almost unique minimal oak treatment. It's mostly Shiraz (2017 was 93% but there has been the odd 100% vintage) with literally a splash of CS. Opened early, I think it is just a concentrated fruit bomb personally and its with age that it gets more complex, earthy and dark chocolate, spicy peppery notes typical of Shiraz but it develops even more red and dark berry fruit than it shows when it is younger. I absolutely love giving it a long decant and having it over two nights, as it develops even more after 24 hours open. One of my cases, the 2005, was bought to fill a hole in my flight a couple of years ago. It's previous owner was a gentleman called Sir Richard Dearlove (printed on the bonded warehouse barcode label). I was curious and went for a Google. An interesting character who I could imagine in a previous job saying "Tea in half an hour please Moneypenny".Bin 389 is known as 'Lasagne' wine in our house. Quite a few years ago, I came home to find my daughter cooking a meal. She said "I hope you don't mind, but I've opened one of those Shiraz/Cabernet wines that we had last week to make the sauce". The wine from the previous week (hangs head in shame) a Koonunga Hill. Open on the kitchen worktop was a 'Baby Grange'. I did the only thing that a father can do in those circumstances, got a glass! Bin 389 has been made for 60 years so they have had a lot of practice at blending the two grapes and the oak. It's made in the previous years Grange barrels (which are 100% new) so it's not overtly oak dominated. Whilst I find St Henri fruit-driven, 389 has a lot more going on in terms of more meaty, sometimes nutty and vanilla notes. There is also of course the cassis notes which are totally absent from St Henri.407 is pure Cab Sav from a variety of different regions and vineyards. Compared to St Henri and 389, it is more medium bodied but that is a relative term when compared to other varietal versions from other parts of the New World. It's all about the cassis, the plum and the dark berries and needs time for the oak to integrate. It has big brother 707 which I have only tried a glassful of a couple of times. That is a much more full-bodied number and occasionally not made when the grapes are not considered concentrated or ripe enough (2011 and more recently 2017). When this happens, the 707 grapes are diverted to 407 and I do remember the wine being noticeably more muscular in 2011 when I shared someone else's bottle. I've not opened one of my 2017's but I've made myself curious (might Coravin a glass and compare it with another year a little down the road. Cling film and 24 hours btw). Another Penfolds that needs time! They use about a third new oak and it can be a bit grippy when young.RWT is probably best described as St Henri with Oak! I only have the three bottles of 2014 as I found them at one of my regular merchants (The Wine Society in the UK) for a bargain basement £75 a bottle (gulp). I must admit that I'm not sad from a financial view point that my Penfolds purchases are at an end! Some of my earlier St Henri's were in the region of £40 a bottle and have crept up to the £65 mark. So, all I have to go on is other people's experiences and it's really interesting looking at the 9 or so notes on CT! You folks that scored it in 2016ish, looks like wine infanticide was committed! The latest review scored it a 95. I'll open my first one in a couple of years I think and I rest my case for aging the lot! Hope that helps and if you can find and buy a properly stored case (of any of them) with a few years already on the clock, welcome to what the winemaker intended!
12/14/20, 7:37 AM - It is best kept a secret Stargull. Did you notice the Diam 10 cork as well. Tells me that he expects some of it to be aged so I've tucked one of my two cases. awayWe don't want everyone else finding out about Terra Petra Rapsani! Apostolos does not make enough for us to share it with the rest of the world! Try his young vines pure Ximomavro if you haven't yet. Not quite in the same league but it is half the price.
12/15/20, 1:53 PM - Had a look at your cellar out of interest and we seem to share a few wines. I'm guessing you are a Wine Society Fan! I post on their community a lot with the same user name as here. It's worth searching out if you are not aware of it.
12/14/20, 7:41 AM - It's one that needs some extra bottle age in my experience. I try to give mine about five years before opening but I'm lucky enough to have a proper cellar so the storage is not an issue. (and saves me a fortune in charges).
12/14/20, 7:30 AM - It always amazes me that (with the number of comments that the wine was much better the following day) more people do not cotton on to this.Not every wine would benefit in my opinion but Musar, big Rhones and some Bordeaux definitely do. I even gave a Penfolds Bin 311 a decant over this weekend and kept half overnight. It was sublime! (Penfolds actually recommend decanting their top end Chardonnay anyway).Looking forward to my remaining 1999's now.
12/13/20, 10:18 AM - Absolutely agree! I try to give mine 2 to 3 years and it transforms it. I reckon, when on offer (every year just before Christmas and sometimes New Year, this is the best QPR Champagne in the UK (and I have over 200 bottles of bubbles in my cellar). Made by Gratien for The Wine Society for over 100 years! That's some partnership.
12/13/20, 12:47 PM - Not yet. Keep looking at it but I do have a bit of the Vintage.
12/12/20, 12:08 PM - Just for anyone interested.Disgorgement dates are not stamped on non-vintage bottles (they are on the vintage wines). Labelling occurs shortly after disgorgement, so the labelling date provides a good indication. The first two digits of the labelling code on the neck of Special Cuvée and Rosé are the year and the next three digits are the number of the day of that year, so L1405002 means the 50th day of 2014. The letter on the cork is the month of disgorgement and the number is the year, so 4A is January 2014.
12/10/20, 12:45 PM - Do try the CdR as it is excellent but don’t drink a young one. Even Pataille’s entry level wines need time as he is a fan of whole bunch fermentation. They all become beautiful with patience.
12/10/20, 12:43 PM - Great review thank you. I’ve not popped one yet out of my case as suspected this had the stuffing to develop. Might give it a go off the back of your review over Christmas.
12/8/20, 1:44 PM - Thanks for the review Sean. I think I'll leave mine for a few more years but bodes well.
12/7/20, 1:29 PM - Quite a lot of your reviews are simply how many bottles you have and something along the lines of “note to come”. Then I’m sorry but I can’t find said note. I’m not sure how this helps the community?
12/7/20, 2:29 PM - That's fair enough if all you are doing is using CT for your own purposes. There is an option to keep your notes private I think?However, I (and I'm sure many others) use the comments and reports of others to help me decide when to open longer window wines, particularly when I don't have many bottles of something. It would be a shame if I could not have access to your knowledge and experience.Anyway, thank you for replying and I hope all your bottles are good ones!
12/8/20, 6:40 AM - Very much appreciated. I’m going to tuck my modest 5 bottle collection away for a while but may make an exception if my son can come home for a visit to Nottinghamshire from his home in Chicago. We have not seen him for nearly two years due to Covid.
12/8/20, 8:10 AM - I already have! It was a case of six and we had one when he left for the US. It was just as you described. Getting into Oregon Pinot Noir btw. He tipped me off!
12/7/20, 1:34 PM - It should do with a bit of luck. I’ll be opening mine 2027 at the earliest.
12/2/20, 2:15 PM - I've been drinking Musar for years and the 'cork issue' is part of the charm! I've had a refund on a bottle with a weeping crumbly cork and fill level at half shoulder as I couldn't believe that the wine would be ok. On my way to pour it down the sink, I had a sneaky taste and it was fantastic! Chill my friend and go with the unique experience that is Musar.
12/3/20, 12:04 PM - Opps! What was I doing? Don’t tell my wife, she has got me down as a senile old goat already! That’s worrying on the SM. I’ve got 10 years of that in a flight and I’ve not had a problem so far.
11/26/20, 10:13 AM - This is all very suspicious and I also have suffered from 'missing bottle' syndrome. My wife has pointed out that there may be a correlation between this and 'missing hours' syndrome, usually associated with dinner parties that extend into a late night session with good friends. I can't see it myself but then again, I can't remember :-)
11/25/20, 1:07 PM - Well it’s nice to see a review this early but I think I’ll wait another 8 to 10 years on my case as really enjoying the 2005 at the moment. Sorry, but rather a shame to open now IMO and I really hope it was a tasting or someone else’s bottle (which judging by your other reviews of the same date it was).
11/26/20, 12:04 AM - Phew! :-)
11/21/20, 12:32 PM - I'm a real big fan of Sylvain but his wines do need cellaring IMO. I'd happily leave the Marsannay for at least another two years and when you get to Clos du Roy, I'm enjoying the 2012's at the moment.
11/22/20, 11:31 PM - Hi there. It’s a bit of a how long is a piece of string question as you know but as a very rough ballpark, 3 to 7 year window on the Marsannay and 5 to 10 year s on the Clos du Roy. The specific vintage needs to be considered as well to a degree and this is why I love the reviews on CT as well as my own experiences. My Christmas present this year will be a Coravin which is going to open up a while new angle!
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