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.
2009 Stigler Ihringen Winklerberg Backöfele Spätburgunder Großes Gewächs - sweet nose with more red fruits than black fruits.
Bulles de Comptoir #6 La Benjamine 2.0, dégorgée le Janvier 2018 - very ripe.
1995 Krug, ID 109095, en magnum - lovely acidity and slightly lean. Notes of straw with a little toasty oak. Beautiful and elegant on the nose. Later on the acidity got pretty high, with a lot of depth on the palate. Plenty of salted plum, too.
Dewazakura Daiginjo Manrei (出羽桜 大吟醸 万禮), 29BY, from isshobin (一升瓶) - seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 35%. Aged for 3 years prior to release, which explains how smooth and round this was on the palate. Very nice fermented rice notes, with some banana. Sweet on the palate.
Sawaya Matsumoto Shuhari Special A Region Naka Tojo Yamadanishiki (澤屋まつもと 守破離 特A地区 中東条 山田錦), 28BY - tons of banana, a hint of musk melon, almost a bit fizzy on the palate, a bit dry mid-palate on top of the sweetness.
2014 Jean-François Ganevat Les Grands Teppes Vieilles Vignes - minerals and enough ripeness on the nose. Damn! That acidity on the palate! It's not lean or steely, though... still round and ripe. A little flinty.
