If you're lucky enough to to own a bottle or case of Penfolds red wines over 15 years of age you can get a free and exclusive opportunity to experience the ultimate after-sales service with the Penfolds Re-Corking Clinic, being held on 1 October 2008 at Somerset House, London.

To attend you need to register at penfolds.com

To further investigate the many "bins" I popped over to the Penfolds website.

Max Schubert believed that PENFOLDS needed wines crafted in the image of his legendary Grange. “Not the same,” said Max, “but similar.” PENFOLDS had long maintained a system of numbered ‘bins’ in the cellar where the finest wines, often for the exclusive enjoyment of the company’s directors, were stored. Max happily used this system to give clear and well defined identities to the new wines he was planning, starting with the famous Bin 2 of 1962.

Ah! That makes it a little clearer! Digging a little deeper I found the info I was looking for about the Kalimna Shiraz.

Introduced as one of the first Bin wines within the PENFOLDS portfolio, Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz has become an Australian classic. Indeed this wine style has universal appeal because of its intense fruit definition, ripe fleshy palate structure and generosity of flavour.

A multi-district blend since the late 1970's it has won "Red Wine of the Year" twice, in 1991 and 1995 at the International Wine Challenge, held each year in London.

Interestingly, they provide a downloadable PDF of tasting notes for the 2004 vintage. Who needs those when you have my drunken scribblings to marvel at!!

Okay, these may need some deciphering. Basically the wine starts harsh but has a nice smooth finish, a slight apple/sweetness in the juicy aftertaste. There's a "pluminess" to the wine that makes me thing of purple (!). It's lovely with or without food and seriously is a contender for 5 stars.

I had to have a second bottle of this wine (not on the same night!) as it was such a serious 5 star contender. In the end I feel it doesn't quite make it but it's the best "new" 4 star red wine I've tasted all year.

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2004

Grape: Shiraz
Alcohol: 14.5%
Guide Price: <£11 in-store (Tesco)
I bought this wine at: Tesco's (instore)
ITs Food Rating: Four stars

To further investigate the many "bins" I popped over to the Penfolds website.

Max Schubert believed that PENFOLDS needed wines crafted in the image of his legendary Grange. “Not the same,” said Max, “but similar.” PENFOLDS had long maintained a system of numbered ‘bins’ in the cellar where the finest wines, often for the exclusive enjoyment of the company’s directors, were stored. Max happily used this system to give clear and well defined identities to the new wines he was planning, starting with the famous Bin 2 of 1962.

Ah! That makes it a little clearer!  Digging a little deeper I found the info I was looking for about the Kalimna Shiraz.

Introduced as one of the first Bin wines within the PENFOLDS portfolio, Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz has become an Australian classic. Indeed this wine style has universal appeal because of its intense fruit definition, ripe fleshy palate structure and generosity of flavour.

A multi-district blend since the late 1970's it has won "Red Wine of the Year" twice, in 1991 and 1995 at the International Wine Challenge, held each year in London.

Interestingly, they provide a downloadable PDF of tasting notes for the 2004 vintage.  Who needs those when you have my drunken scribblings to marvel at!!

Okay, these may need some deciphering.  Basically the wine starts harsh but has a nice smooth finish, a slight apple/sweetness in the juicy aftertaste.  There's a "pluminess" to the wine that makes me think of purple (!).  It's lovely with or without food and seriously is a contender for 5 stars.

I had to have a second bottle of this wine (not on the same night!) as it was such a serious 5 star contender.  In the end I feel it doesn't quite make it but it's the best "new" 4 star red wine I've tasted all year.

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2004

Grape: Shiraz
Alcohol: 14.5%
Guide Price: <£11 in-store (Tesco)
I bought this wine at: Tesco's (instore)
ITs Food Rating: Four stars

I love drinking wine and sometimes even too much. I either overdo it a little in the amount I drink, or in the amount I spend.

Yesterday we had Australian wines. One white, one red. Lets start with the latter:

It was an excellent wine.

Colour: Medium crimson red. (I agree fully, lovely colour, not too dark)

Bouquet: Aromas of red currant and summer pudding

fruits with a lift of varietal cabernet, and

appealing spicy shiraz.

Palate: Youthful and lively fruit flavours of

strawberry, raspberry, and loganberry follow

from the nose. A medium bodied wine with

a sweet-fruited mid-palate and great balance.

Fine tannins ensure a soft and rounded

mouthfeel.

For an affordable wine like that, it was just excellent. Price was 5.99 Euro and I would give it 4/5 stars. Still comes with a cork!

The white wine was from the famous Barossa Valley in Australia. A Peter Lehmann, of course. The wine is from the international range, which is sold predominantly in the UK and Continental Europe.

Unoaked or unwooded Chardonnay

Colour: Brilliant straw with green tints.

Bouquet: Redolent of freshly picked, sun-ripened

white peach.

Palate: Soft fruit giving a generous middle palate,

balanced by a delightfully crisp acidity and

finishing long with lingering peach flavours.

Affordable, I think it was 5.49 Euro or 5.99 Euro. Excellent on a nice summer evening, went well with my Indian dinner. Would work well as an aperitif or with pasta. 

I would give this 4/5 stars as well. Comes with a twist-off cap, like most wines from Australia and New Zealand these days!

For those interested in the story behind UNOAKED wines, please read When Oak Gets In The Way.

I have in the past liked a Private Bin, 389, 407, RWT or St Henri in an expansive mood. A Rawsons Retreat is a good cheap drop. And at the other end a Grange on someone else's tab is marvellous.

Koonunga Hill and Rawsons are perhaps the most widely sold Penfolds wines. I enjoy both. But...

Maybe I'm cranky, maybe they lose the ability to surprise me. Maybe I prefer d'Arenberg or Blackwell.

A 2006 Shiraz tastes like it should. Great deep colour as well. Plummy, fragrant, dark chocolate and a little liqueur. Smooth, with legs, and built to last. From what I have heard the Shiraz Cabernet would have been more to my taste.

It was shamefully, a pickup on the way through a limited choice mini-bottleshop, so I guess it was the safest choice. Yet... it's boring.

You will probably like it. I didn't. It tasted boring, perhaps I have simply quaffed too much Penfolds.

I know up to 10 years cellaring would develop this, and it is well structured... but it's unsurprising. Safe even. i'm at that stage I don't want a safe wine.

Sorry koonunga, I thought I could return. I cannot. My quest to find interesting small producers continues, and that is perhaps what colours my judgment.

So i guess the moral is rather than the safe choice of Penfolds, why not try a small producer? Chance it on the strength of the label.

Of course if a nicely cellared Penfolds comes by, on someone else's dime preferably, grab it with both hands! Penfolds still makes many of Australia's finest wines.

And Koonunga is good, just not a surprising Shiraz, even after it's aged.

I'm becoming a grumpy old (young) man with spoilt tastes buds.

Closure: Screwcap

Grape variety: Riesling

Appearance: Pale straw, with a silver rim

Nose: Limey, citrus aroma, with a subtle hint of petrol

Palate: Gently honeyed, slightly spicy, with a metallic finish

Overall: Soft (a bit flabby on the palate) and easy-drinking

http://www.penfolds.com.au/

Va spuneam ca acest eveniment a fost prilejuit de prezentarea unor vinuri "de clasa", importate de la unul dintre cei mai importanti producatori mondiali: FOSTER'S. Brand-urile invitate de onoare la acest rendez-vous au fost Beringer, Lindemans, Penfolds si Rosemount. Nu va voi spune care dintre ele mi-au placut cel mai mult (va las sa descoperiti singuri farmecul fiecaruia)!  ;)  Atat va spun, ca am o slabiciune ciudata pentru Shiraz (va re-amintesc, in cazul in care ati uitat: nu ma omor dupa bautura!  :)  ; dar, cu un strop de "ceva de calitate", merita sa ne rasfatam, macar din cand in cand  ;)  ); are un parfum aparte, cu arome de mirodenii picante, si un gust pe care am reusit sa il retin de la primul strop (si, credeti-ma, nu e putin lucru pentru mine, sa retin gustul unui vin! Altfel se punea problema daca era vorba despre mancare!  ;  )  ) Cred ca merita sa experimentati degustarea acestor vinuri! Din cate am inteles (de la winemaker-ul australian care a sustinut prezentarea), vitele care au produs strugurii din care se fac vinurile australiene sunt de origine franceza, aduse "de la mama lor"... Iar solul australian, precum si conditiile climatice, confera "sucului de struguri" proprietati savuroase... ;)

Enjoy them! Vorba unei reclame la cosmetice: "Pentru ca meritati!"  ;)

Das Thema kommt mir wie gerufen, haben wir nicht vor drei Wochen im Rahmen der Lehrveranstaltung "Projekt Neue Welt" des Studiengangs Internationale Weinwirtschaft vier "Super Premium Weine" verkostet.

Der erste Wein ist der Penfolds Grange Jahrgang 1999. Winemaker bei Penfolds ist Peter Gago. Auf dem Fact Sheet auf der Homepage von Penfolds ist folgendes zu lesen:

Grape Variety: Shiraz

Maturation: 17 months in new American oak

Wine Analysis: Alc. 14.00%, Acidity 7.20 g/L, pH 3.48

Pear Drinking: 2010 - 2035

Wir waren mal so frei und haben den Wein schon 2008 geöffnet. Verkostet haben wir mit ca. 10 Studierenden sowie Herrn Prof. Hoffmann. Der Penfolds gefiel uns hier sehr gut, fruchtig wie man es von Neuen Welt Weinen oftmals kennt, wunderschön strukturiert, sehr komplex. Die 14 vol % Alkohol stehen ihm sehr gut. Einfach ein toller Wein. Gekauft wurde dieser für 179,- Euro bei Weinart, Geisenheim.

Der zweite Wein musste logischerweise aus der Alten Welt kommen. Hier haben wir uns für einen Antonori Solaia, ebenfalls Jahrgang 1999, entschieden. Auf der Homepage von Antinori folgendes Fact Sheet:

Origin: Single-Vineyard, Tuscany

Grapes: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 20% Sangiovese

Vinification: Maceration in 50 hectolitres open wooden fermentors, malolactic fermentation in 225 litres French oak barrels (new Troncais and Alliers), blended after 14 months barrique aging

Alcohol: 13,5% Vol.

Der Name Solaia bedeutet "der Sonnige". Leider konnten wir diesen Namen in der Verkostung nicht so ganz teilen. Auch nach drei Stunden hatte sich der Wein noch nicht völlig entfaltet und war in sich noch verschlossen. Im Vergleich zum Grange deutlich weniger Frucht, dafür aber sehr komplex in der Nase und im Gaumen. Deutlich mehr schmeckbares Tannin. Auf jeden Fall auch ein schöner Wein, aber fast noch zu jung zum Trinken. Gekauft ebenfall bei Weinart, Geisenheim für knapp 130,- Euro (bin mir nicht mehr ganz sicher).

Auf jeden Fall eine schöne Verkostung. Neben diesen beiden haben wir noch einen 1999 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Reserve sowie den 1996 Chateaux Pichon-Longueville (Baron) aus dem Pauillac verkostet. Auch beides sehr schöne Weine, der Mondavi noch fruchtiger als der Grange. Die Verkostung war natürlich blind, von daher war es sehr spannend zu sehen, in welche Ecke der Welt diese Weine gesteckt werden.

Ob ich aufgrund dieser Verkostung gleich zum Etikettentrinker werde, sei stark bezweifelt. Viele dieser Weine werden wohl allein aufgrund ihres Names leicht höher bewertet, als sie es verdient haben. Alle vier Weine waren wirklich herrvorragend, als "Weltklasse" würde ich sie dann aber nicht bezeichnen. Zudem haben diese Weine mit deutlich über hundert Euro die Flasche auch ihren Preis.

Aber wie hat Iris so schön in ihrer Einladung geschrieben, das sind die Weine "die man doch einmal in seinem Leben getrunken haben muss". Schön, dass man das, gerade in Zeiten von Studienbeiträgen, auch schon während seines Studium tun kann. :-)

Euer Christian Wolf

I like Australian Shiraz. Yes, it is a fruit bomb, yes, it is not very sophisticated or elegant but it is damn good. It just tastes good, it invigorates every tastebud in your mouth, it just takes over from the time it enters your mouth. The other funny thing about Shiraz is that I never had a bad one. Somehow Australians tend to make decent wine, in that most do not rock my socks off, but they never disappoint. You have an expectation and an Australian wine virtually always meets it. I cannot say this for many other nations frankly, as I cannot count how many times I have been disappointed with wines from France, Italy, Hungary, Austria and I could go on. The old world makes some of the most incredible wines in the world, but they also make some of the worst. This is not so much the case with the new world and definitely not with Australia. Maybe the weather? Or is it culture?

I am babbling about this because we picked up a bottle from one of Australia's largest producers, Penfolds. It is not a pure Shiraz but a blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, and it is from their low-end range of Rawson's Retreat. The wine is cheap (about 8 euros) yet it meets that quality standard you would expect and actually get with Australian wines. It is fruity (very fruity), you discover some dark plumb, maybe a bit of coffee and has strong spicy nose, maybe with a hint of liquorice . You can distinctly taste both the Shiraz and the Cab in this wine, which makes it somewhat interesting. If you do not feel like you want to get out of your comfort zone and do not want to spend a fortune on an expesive Napa Cab, I suggest you grab one of these bottles. It will meet your expectation.

Name: Penfolds Shiraz Cabernet, Rawson's Retreat, 2006

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Body: Full

Price: 8 euros

Got it at: Bortarsasag, Budapest, Hungary

Bodega: Penfolds

Precio: Aprox. 24€

Nota de Cata: Presenta un color intenso, rojo ciruela, matices violetas, limpio, nítido, brillante y de buena densidad. En nariz se perciben notas de frutas maduras, especies, maderas, algunas notas de cuero, y especies, aroma fino, complejo y elegante. Se percibe un vino de gran cuerpo, estructura, potencia, gusto seco, ligeramente tánico, con potencial para evolución y de gran calidad.

Opinión personal: Muy bueno. De lo mejor que probamos. Vino intenso (aunque nada alcohólico). Presentaba un color menos vivo que el resto de shiraz y en boca era largo y persistente. Aromas a madera y regaliz (casi juanola).Muy recomendable si queréis probar un shiraz australiano.

Me pega con: carnes blancas y rojas.

Jeff generously opened this stuff up the other night after we went to Tosoni's to celebrate his marriage, and I got to have some. This was not my first Penfolds Grandfather experience - I once had a glass at the Greengate in Killara. It cost me 15 dollars Australian and was worth every penny.

The Grandfather is still as stately as ever. This stuff is incredibly smooth, almost like honey has been mixed into it. Almost no trace of alcohol - you could down half a bottle of this and not feel anything but a sugar buzz (or at least it seems). In the US it will go for about $80 apparently - which is 8 times the price of the normal Penfolds Club port, which Jeff, Raphael and myself went in on a case for. Is it worth 8 times as much?

We debated this as Jeff, my father and I chatted in the backyard on a warm night at the end of summer in Kirkland. It was a beautiful experience, and the special nature of the port made it more so. I was glad to have my parents there at the end of a great night. There are some things that you cannot put a price on.

Now, I have a bottle of Great Grandfather that I got in duty free last year on the way back from Australia. This cost me about 300 dollars Australian (about US$240 at the time). When I have the guts to open this, I will see how much better port can be.

This was the other bottle that I brought to dinner with the Pikkara Shiraz. It is one of my Mum's favorites, and she was coming to dinner so I brought it for her.

This one sat in the decanter for the night and opened up very nicely. I think that it was better received than the Pikkara, but this is not a big surprise, since the Pikkara costs half as much and is a bigger, meatier thing that some people find to be just too much. The St Henri is a gentle, refined Shiraz that sits at the bottom of the price range for the Penfolds premium wines. This range has some serious membership (RWT and Bin 707 among them).

There is not much more to say about it really. For a refined old fashioned shiraz St Henri fits the bill nicely, going well with the rich food at a European style restaurant very easily, even when having seafood. Just don't pay too much for it - some places want 60 bucks a bottle for this, and you can faily easily find it for almost half of that at a good wine shop like Seattle Wine Co. Be warned that it sells fast too.

Tonight I went to Tosoni's - an awesome restaurant in Bellevue that I believe to be the best in the Puget Sound. It turns out that they had a bottle of Bin 707 there, and I could not resist grabbing a bottle to have with dinner. Normally I would not be so bold, but my beautiful wife egged me on and I went for it. Am I ever glad that I did.

This is the big daddy of the Penfolds Cabernet range, and it definitely shows when you crack it and taste it. It was smooth and sweet when you tasted it, strong in the good way and not in the bad way. It had a great mineral texture that my favorite wines always have (like Magill Estate, RWT, Grange, GSM and Euroa Creeks). The wine went fantastically with the surf and turf that I was eating, and it was pleasant to continue with after dinner.

I actually have some of this stuff stashed away, and I am now very glad to have done so. I have been slack in procurring more and I need to get onto that soon. So much wine to hoard, and so little money.

If you want something bold and Australian to drink, but want to stray away from Shiraz for the night, I definitely recommend trying this (if you can find it - this stuff is like hen's teeth).