Thinking about buying a decent Penfolds Red for my girl who is a wine
lover, which Penfolds should I be looking for in the region 30-40
pounds (USD 60-80).

Hi Octave
I guess it depends on what you are specifically looking for, the good
thing about a label as diverse as Penfolds is that there is always
something for every one. For pure quality and great drinking you won't
be disapointed by the Penfolds RWT Barossa Shiraz 2001. This is a
supreme example of the style The nose is youthful with notes of crushed
berries, plum, liquorice and confectionary. The palate is concentrated
and mouthfilling displaying typical Barossa weight and richness.
Flavours of ripe plums, blackberry, liquorice and spice. Opulently
textured with silky smooth tannins. Great power, density and length
will continue to improve for 8 to 10 years. This costs around $150 Oz.
If you were after a very different expression of the style then the
Penfolds St Henri Shiraz 1999 at around $50 Oz would be an excellent
choice also. This is matured in very large, old oak casks thus putting
less emphasis on oak flavour contribution and more on the fruit
flavours. Very deep black crimson colour, with deep crimson hue.
Excellent lifted nose with notes of spice, plum, old leather and dark
chocolate aromas emerging. The palate flavours are perfectly
integrated, with flavours of spice, plum, earth, black pepper and
liquorice, with a complexing layer due to bottle age. Fine grained
perfectly balanced tannins, followed by a very long aftertaste of
spice, black pepper and liquorice. This is a very stylish wine indeed.
These are just a couple of suggestions for some particular vintages for
whose quality I can attest. Good luck, let us know what you end up
getting.
Cheers Andrew

"Octave" wrote in message
om...
Thinking about buying a decent Penfolds Red for my girl who is a wine
lover, which Penfolds should I be looking for in the region 30-40
pounds (USD 60-80).

Try a bin 389

Ron Lel

Penfolds are indeed some of my favourites. The problem may be getting hold
of any of the vintages that are drinking well now. 1996 and 1998 were both
excellent years, but it is unlikely that most retailers will have any still
on the shelf. If you are lucky enough to find any, I would recommend the
St. Henri for a Shiraz, or Bin 407 if the lady prefers a Cabernet. Bin 389
("Baby Grange") is a very nice blend. If you are forced to consider
something younger, the Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2001 (some Tesco stores, and
Tesco online) is a lovely wine, with a much more expensive taste than its
price ticket, that opens out a bit younger than the more expensive lines.
£60 may buy you a Bin 707, the "flagship" Cabernet, but again the problem
may be finding a vintage that's ready to drink now.

If you're anywhere near Birmingham you might try Connolly's for the older
vintages.

http://www.connollyswine.co.uk/

Be prepared for one of those "kid in a toyshop" experiences if you visit!

Regards,

Ian



"Octave" wrote in message
om...
Thinking about buying a decent Penfolds Red for my girl who is a wine
lover, which Penfolds should I be looking for in the region 30-40
pounds (USD 60-80).

Penfolds are indeed some of my favourites. The problem may be getting hold
of any of the vintages that are drinking well now. 1996 and 1998 were both
excellent years, but it is unlikely that most retailers will have any still
on the shelf. If you are lucky enough to find any, I would recommend the
St. Henri for a Shiraz, or Bin 407 if the lady prefers a Cabernet. Bin 389
("Baby Grange") is a very nice blend. If you are forced to consider
something younger, the Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2001 (some Tesco stores, and
Tesco online) is a lovely wine, with a much more expensive taste than its
price ticket, that opens out a bit younger than the more expensive lines.
£60 may buy you a Bin 707, the "flagship" Cabernet, but again the problem
may be finding a vintage that's ready to drink now.

If you're anywhere near Birmingham you might try Connolly's for the older
vintages.

http://www.connollyswine.co.uk/

Be prepared for one of those "kid in a toyshop" experiences if you visit!

Regards,

Ian



"Octave" wrote in message
om...
Thinking about buying a decent Penfolds Red for my girl who is a wine
lover, which Penfolds should I be looking for in the region 30-40
pounds (USD 60-80).

Ian Hayward wrote:

Penfolds are indeed some of my favourites. The problem may be getting hold
of any of the vintages that are drinking well now. 1996 and 1998 were both
excellent years, but it is unlikely that most retailers will have any still
on the shelf. If you are lucky enough to find any, I would recommend the
St. Henri for a Shiraz,

St. Henri has always been my least favorite of anything they make, even
the cheap stuff. Seems that they work too hard at making the driest wine
on earth. It seems to have tons of Rutherford Dust (but from the west
slopes of Adelaide Hills).

If you can find it, Magill Estates can really impress.

Ian Hayward wrote:

Penfolds are indeed some of my favourites. The problem may be getting hold
of any of the vintages that are drinking well now. 1996 and 1998 were both
excellent years, but it is unlikely that most retailers will have any still
on the shelf. If you are lucky enough to find any, I would recommend the
St. Henri for a Shiraz,

St. Henri has always been my least favorite of anything they make, even
the cheap stuff. Seems that they work too hard at making the driest wine
on earth. It seems to have tons of Rutherford Dust (but from the west
slopes of Adelaide Hills).

If you can find it, Magill Estates can really impress.

St. Henri has always been my least favorite of anything they make, even
the cheap stuff. Seems that they work too hard at making the driest wine
on earth.

It certainly can have a Listrac-like harshness when young. I recently had a
'94 in which the tannins had softened to the point that they no longer
overwhelmed the maturing fruit, but it still felt that it would benefit from
another five years. The '98 will almost certainly not be approaching its
best yet.

I don't know the Magill; never seen it in UK.

Ian


"Bill Loftin" wrote in message
newsLuOd.641$uc.560@trnddc01...
Ian Hayward wrote:

Penfolds are indeed some of my favourites. The problem may be getting
hold
of any of the vintages that are drinking well now. 1996 and 1998 were
both
excellent years, but it is unlikely that most retailers will have any
still
on the shelf. If you are lucky enough to find any, I would recommend
the
St. Henri for a Shiraz,

St. Henri has always been my least favorite of anything they make, even
the cheap stuff. Seems that they work too hard at making the driest wine
on earth. It seems to have tons of Rutherford Dust (but from the west
slopes of Adelaide Hills).

If you can find it, Magill Estates can really impress.

St. Henri has always been my least favorite of anything they make, even
the cheap stuff. Seems that they work too hard at making the driest wine
on earth.

It certainly can have a Listrac-like harshness when young. I recently had a
'94 in which the tannins had softened to the point that they no longer
overwhelmed the maturing fruit, but it still felt that it would benefit from
another five years. The '98 will almost certainly not be approaching its
best yet.

I don't know the Magill; never seen it in UK.

Ian


"Bill Loftin" wrote in message
newsLuOd.641$uc.560@trnddc01...
Ian Hayward wrote:

Penfolds are indeed some of my favourites. The problem may be getting
hold
of any of the vintages that are drinking well now. 1996 and 1998 were
both
excellent years, but it is unlikely that most retailers will have any
still
on the shelf. If you are lucky enough to find any, I would recommend
the
St. Henri for a Shiraz,

St. Henri has always been my least favorite of anything they make, even
the cheap stuff. Seems that they work too hard at making the driest wine
on earth. It seems to have tons of Rutherford Dust (but from the west
slopes of Adelaide Hills).

If you can find it, Magill Estates can really impress.

Thanks everyone for recommendations, you guys are really wine experts.

My best bet to go have a look for a bottle of nice wine will be Odd
Bins, Sainsbury's, M&S and Tesco. Will probably need to have a hard
look to find any you mentioned.

On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 18:55:51 GMT, "Ian Hayward"
wrote:

Penfolds are indeed some of my favourites. The problem may be getting hold
of any of the vintages that are drinking well now. 1996 and 1998 were both
excellent years, but it is unlikely that most retailers will have any still
on the shelf. If you are lucky enough to find any, I would recommend the
St. Henri for a Shiraz, or Bin 407 if the lady prefers a Cabernet. Bin 389
("Baby Grange") is a very nice blend. If you are forced to consider
something younger, the Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2001 (some Tesco stores, and
Tesco online) is a lovely wine, with a much more expensive taste than its
price ticket, that opens out a bit younger than the more expensive lines.
£60 may buy you a Bin 707, the "flagship" Cabernet, but again the problem
may be finding a vintage that's ready to drink now.

If you're anywhere near Birmingham you might try Connolly's for the older
vintages.

http://www.connollyswine.co.uk/

Be prepared for one of those "kid in a toyshop" experiences if you visit!

Regards,

Ian



"Octave" wrote in message
. com...
Thinking about buying a decent Penfolds Red for my girl who is a wine
lover, which Penfolds should I be looking for in the region 30-40
pounds (USD 60-80).

I recall a few years ago in a trade mag, James Halliday rated the 96
St. Henri a mere 1 point under Grange, and waxed lyrical that at 1/10
of the price of Grange (well 45 vs 300 back then), retailers should
remove it from their shelves and keep it for themselves. Which I
promptly did....:)

Regards
Swooper

Look for something else- your selection is shit.
"Octave" wrote in message
om...
Thinking about buying a decent Penfolds Red for my girl who is a wine
lover, which Penfolds should I be looking for in the region 30-40
pounds (USD 60-80).