This is still a work in progress as I upload tasting notes and wine labels from as far as 1999... Check back once in a while to get the updates.

January 18, 2019

Penfolds wine dinner

Dinner at Sotheby's featuring the wines of Penfolds.  Chief winemaker Peter Gago in attendance.

2006 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs - nice and toasty nose, lovely, with flinty, mineral, and lemon notes.  Nice and ripe on the palate with some acidity upfront.

2010 Penfolds Yattarna - initially the nose was a little weird, but pretty flinty and mineral, kinda toasty.  A little flatter on the palate than expected, with low acidity.  Soft and gentle.  Preferred this over the 2012.

2012 Penfolds Yattarna - more acidity, leaner, more length.  Toastier on the nose.  Worked better with food.

1990 Penfolds Bin 389 - coconut butter, vanilla, minty, smoky, grilled meats.  Beautiful!  Incredibly there was still a hint of tannins, but otherwise found some acidity on the palate.  Incredibly classic and straightforward - arguably the least "Aussie" wine of the evening.

1996 Penfolds Bin 389 - more stewed fruit, more exotic spices, definitely more 'sexy'... but perhaps 'alluring' is a more suitable description.  It really was something.

1996 Penfolds St. Henri - plastic notes upfront, really exotic nose with potpourri and herbs.  Very rounded and elegant.

2004 Penfolds St. Henri - minty, some potpourri, with some ripe fruit, but more closed and not showing much.

1996 Penfolds Bin 707 - very smoky, toasty, peppery, pencil lead.  A bit leaner than expected.  About 2 hours later showed green capsicum notes.

1998 Penfolds Bin 707 - big, smoky nose.  Riper, with lots of pencil lead.  More concentration here compared to 1996.

1991 Penfolds Grange - still too young, alcoholic, almost like paint thinner, with some forest notes.

2004 Penfolds Grange - nose really not open as this was much too young.  Eucalyptus notes with some pencil lead, along with some cool fruit.  Very alcoholic.

Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny - obviously a little sharp and alcoholic on the nose, with a nice touch of nuttiness.  Very nice.


Drinks at an afterparty.

2011 Jean-Michel Stephan Côte-Rôtie Vieille Vigne en Coteaux - pretty pungent nose, reductive, animal, leather, potpourri, and highly aromatic.  From vines planted in 1896 and 1902.

Full post on the evening is here.

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