Fully resolved and drinking well -- Peppery like a Zinfandel, bright plummy fruit notes, mildly tannic, completely ready to enjoy and will mellow and fade from here. Bit of a bargain at USD 15 or so.
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Dark inky red in the glass. full bodied or near it, heavy alcohol prune on the nose. Dark fruits on the front and mid palate with hints of floral and spice. tight acid and tannin early on, it still tastes raw/young to me even at 1hr after opening.
softening nicely with more time, at 2 hours still improving fast, but the bottle is now empty.. Think this has many years ahead of it.. like 7 or more
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Medium+ bodied, modern style. 3.5 years ago here I called this wine "young...confused" but a good value. My has that changed, except the value. Peppermint and eucalyptus still dominate nose and palate, with accompaniment of rich dark red fruit, char, soft pepper, and rich chocolate mocha through a strong, long- finish. Low+ complexity, but it's palate is powerful and balanced* (heavy on menthol for my taste) and uplifting.
It's a lot of wine for $20-$25 USD.
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At pnp it was raspy, bitey, with a hit of burnt toast. Dark, concentrated, almost rich. Had we scored it here, it'd be an 87 or so... But we know & LOVE this Aussie style. We have confidence in Penfolds, so we give it an hour. We also break out the White Stilton with Mango & Ginger cheese, pesto and toasted baguette…
We decant. An hour in,... YEAH, THAT’s more like it!
We drank it after a funeral of a Groomsman’s father, so we were trying to punch above our mood, and at first it failed to take us there. By some air time in, we were up with this Penfolds Cab.
Up, not in rarified air, but an “A-“ space. The vin became cohesive, coming together as we expected. No more jagged edges, just smooth juice, fruity with an acidic backbone to balance. Short finish, simply failed to linger much. Not complex, no Bin 389 here. But another nice, big, med-full bodied Down Under red. But darn if it isn't still getting better, now 1.5 hours in. We might finish this bottle tonight.
This stuff is strong. It's got many years left. If you're holding, take your time. As of this writing we see over 400 in cellars. Enjoy!
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I'm not quite in the Penfolds cult; however this is quite a young, dense, confused green-ish cab and its prospects are good at the price point. Certainly needs some decanting to be powered through today, but better 3-5+ years in the cellar.
The nose contained serious hits of peppermint, backed by dark cherry, under-ripe strawberry, tobacco, and spice. Palate begins with cherry, plum, oak, plant stems, and finally when it seems terribly boring it explodes with bell peppers, cacao, and additional dense notes difficult to pick apart today. The tart & tannin structure hits hard through a short-ish finish.
Reasonable QPR $10 USD. Good in 2017; perhaps good+ in 2020.
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Opened the bottle 2 hours before consumption to decant as recommended by others. First pour immediate after opening displayed a nose of dark fruits behind a wall of alcohol. Concentrated. Pepperish bit this could be just the veil of alcohol. That is, not really sure if it belongs to the taste profile. Oak comes and leaves on the nose with strawberries and little of cherry showing through. There is a bit of herbs or greens. Not really sure what it is but its helps draw a picture of strawberry fields although not in the way of pinot noir. More wooded fields. As for taste, totally wrapped up to a point where it is undiscernable. Definitely need to decant. Tannins are there. Acidic. Yup, wrapped up and need decanting. Will update later.
Update: after two hours, it still was wrapped up. Thus, I feel that this is still too early to be drunk. It should be drunk maybe couple years later. There was dark fruit and oak but wasn't the most enjoyable to drink. It just felt I was drinking something concentrated and complicated but not something that didn't come to age yet. Way too early to drink.
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PnVnD let air for 2hrs. Deep garnet purple with violet to clear rim. Plum cassis sage tobacco and cola on the nose. Medium weight with polished but slightly stemmy tannins. Plum cassis and sage on the palate. Hollow in the middle and short and sharp on the finish. Not going to jump back in the Aussie lake based on this one.
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The first hour is reflecting a strong of black fruit,very strong of sunlight reflecting,but the tannin of it is still firm,after a hour (bottle breath)the covering fruit gone,only most of spica on it,with some of licorice and the bitterness of the pure coco,and another are the greens plum,it is still need 3-5year storage if it need to be the peak...(it let me think about the Lagrange so sad...) Advise decant 2hour
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I think this is a solid Cab. Molasses, fig, hints of cedar, and loads of dark fruits. Approachable and perfect for the whole table of friends at dinner.
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1/17/2024 - CO Cork Collectors Likes this wine:
Still good
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6/17/2022 - Ozsnapper wrote:
Quite enjoyable. Big. Still quite young for my taste.
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7/20/2021 - rchen Likes this wine: 85 Points
Fully resolved and drinking well -- Peppery like a Zinfandel, bright plummy fruit notes, mildly tannic, completely ready to enjoy and will mellow and fade from here. Bit of a bargain at USD 15 or so.
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5/4/2021 - AussieRoddy Likes this wine: 90 Points
Dark inky red in the glass. full bodied or near it, heavy alcohol prune on the nose. Dark fruits on the front and mid palate with hints of floral and spice. tight acid and tannin early on, it still tastes raw/young to me even at 1hr after opening.
softening nicely with more time, at 2 hours still improving fast, but the bottle is now empty.. Think this has many years ahead of it.. like 7 or more
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3/21/2021 - Vailman wrote: 88 Points
About what you would expect from a $20 cab.
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7/16/2020 - aero Likes this wine: 89 Points
Medium+ bodied, modern style. 3.5 years ago here I called this wine "young...confused" but a good value. My has that changed, except the value. Peppermint and eucalyptus still dominate nose and palate, with accompaniment of rich dark red fruit, char, soft pepper, and rich chocolate mocha through a strong, long- finish. Low+ complexity, but it's palate is powerful and balanced* (heavy on menthol for my taste) and uplifting.
It's a lot of wine for $20-$25 USD.
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11/12/2019 - quaffnov Likes this wine: 90 Points
No formal note, this needs breathing time, a couple of hours minimum, this will allow it to even out and open up. Great QPR!
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2/16/2019 - Bin707LoversDetroit Likes this wine: 91 Points
At pnp it was raspy, bitey, with a hit of burnt toast. Dark, concentrated, almost rich. Had we scored it here, it'd be an 87 or so... But we know & LOVE this Aussie style. We have confidence in Penfolds, so we give it an hour. We also break out the White Stilton with Mango & Ginger cheese, pesto and toasted baguette…
We decant. An hour in,... YEAH, THAT’s more like it!
We drank it after a funeral of a Groomsman’s father, so we were trying to punch above our mood, and at first it failed to take us there. By some air time in, we were up with this Penfolds Cab.
Up, not in rarified air, but an “A-“ space. The vin became cohesive, coming together as we expected. No more jagged edges, just smooth juice, fruity with an acidic backbone to balance. Short finish, simply failed to linger much. Not complex, no Bin 389 here. But another nice, big, med-full bodied Down Under red. But darn if it isn't still getting better, now 1.5 hours in. We might finish this bottle tonight.
This stuff is strong. It's got many years left. If you're holding, take your time. As of this writing we see over 400 in cellars. Enjoy!
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1/8/2017 - aero Likes this wine:
I'm not quite in the Penfolds cult; however this is quite a young, dense, confused green-ish cab and its prospects are good at the price point. Certainly needs some decanting to be powered through today, but better 3-5+ years in the cellar.
The nose contained serious hits of peppermint, backed by dark cherry, under-ripe strawberry, tobacco, and spice. Palate begins with cherry, plum, oak, plant stems, and finally when it seems terribly boring it explodes with bell peppers, cacao, and additional dense notes difficult to pick apart today. The tart & tannin structure hits hard through a short-ish finish.
Reasonable QPR $10 USD. Good in 2017; perhaps good+ in 2020.
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7/9/2016 - Enjoying Wine wrote: 85 Points
Opened the bottle 2 hours before consumption to decant as recommended by others. First pour immediate after opening displayed a nose of dark fruits behind a wall of alcohol. Concentrated. Pepperish bit this could be just the veil of alcohol. That is, not really sure if it belongs to the taste profile. Oak comes and leaves on the nose with strawberries and little of cherry showing through. There is a bit of herbs or greens. Not really sure what it is but its helps draw a picture of strawberry fields although not in the way of pinot noir. More wooded fields. As for taste, totally wrapped up to a point where it is undiscernable. Definitely need to decant. Tannins are there. Acidic. Yup, wrapped up and need decanting. Will update later.
Update: after two hours, it still was wrapped up. Thus, I feel that this is still too early to be drunk. It should be drunk maybe couple years later. There was dark fruit and oak but wasn't the most enjoyable to drink. It just felt I was drinking something concentrated and complicated but not something that didn't come to age yet. Way too early to drink.
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5/11/2016 - df1962 wrote: 87 Points
PnVnD let air for 2hrs. Deep garnet purple with violet to clear rim. Plum cassis sage tobacco and cola on the nose. Medium weight with polished but slightly stemmy tannins. Plum cassis and sage on the palate. Hollow in the middle and short and sharp on the finish. Not going to jump back in the Aussie lake based on this one.
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3/28/2016 - TheWineCop Likes this wine: 90 Points
Black fruit and toasty oak on the nose and palate
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2/2/2016 - yuk1230 Likes this wine:
The first hour is reflecting a strong of black fruit,very strong of sunlight reflecting,but the tannin of it is still firm,after a hour (bottle breath)the covering fruit gone,only most of spica on it,with some of licorice and the bitterness of the pure coco,and another are the greens plum,it is still need 3-5year storage if it need to be the peak...(it let me think about the Lagrange so sad...)
Advise decant 2hour
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1/25/2016 - Ryan.Vento Likes this wine: 90 Points
I think this is a solid Cab. Molasses, fig, hints of cedar, and loads of dark fruits. Approachable and perfect for the whole table of friends at dinner.
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7/14/2015 - Double-A Likes this wine: 90 Points
Currant, chocolate and marmite on the nose. Dark and concentrated, rich and balanced. Good grip and acidity to finish.
4/5
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6/29/2015 - raschwartz22@gmail.com Likes this wine: 92 Points
Exceptional, very nice nose, really good
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