The Penfolds 2022 Collection

 I remarked in my last Penfolds post about the subtle changes in the wines, which boils down to increased accessibility at young age. The other major shift is the positioning as a global luxury brand: one day its handbags, but today it's the launch of the Penfolds 2022 Collection. 

This is done as an event, not a serious wine tasting.

Having said this, the comparison from entry level wines from three different continents was interesting and quite instructive. The 2019 FWT 585 from Bordeaux is a blend of Cabernet (53%), Merlot (34%), and Petit Verdot (13%). FWT stands for French winemaking trial, of course. 585 is more interesting. It is the amount of dollars claimed by Max Schubert on return from his trip to Bordeaux - sounds little, but it was the early 50s. The wine has been matured in French and American oak. How did they smuggle American oak to Bordeaux? Anyway, the wine is medium bodied and impresses with its structure. Thyme and lavender on the nose, redcurrant and cranberry on the palate. It is early days and will be interesting to drink in a few years (94 points).

This was teamed up with the 2020 Bin 28 Shiraz, Penfold's workhorse. This wine is dark and warm: think blackberry, chocolate, mud cake, plum pudding - dependable, but a bit tough from the 2020 drought year (92 points).

The entry level California wine, the 2018 Bin 600 Cabernet/Shiraz includes fruit from Napa Valley, Sonoma and Paso Robles. The blackcurrant fruit flavours are ripe, and the boysenberry points to Napa Cabernet. There is also considerable vanilla from the 40% new oak. A concern is the lack of acidity in this wine (90 points).

The exciting aspect of this tasting was the fact that the wines truly spoke of their country of origin.

One more comment on ratings. Critics rated these wines and others from the collection much higher. It needs to be understood that there is a close relationship between the 'famous' critics and Penfolds. Here you get a truly independent view. I hope to be able to assess the premium wines in a little while. 

Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir

 It is still Independence Day in the US. Therefore, I have decided to drink and review a US wine, even though it is not available in the rest of the world. I have been a collector of Kosta Browne wines for many years, as an example of excellent American Pinot Noir. I have stopped buying these wines, however, as since the takeover by Duckhorn, prices have been lifted by over 150%. (This is an unfortunate story we all face: we discover a good wine, enjoy it, and then prices get raised to 'crazy' levels, and we have to look for the next thing; Hill of Grace, Mt. Edelstone, anyone?)

This eight year old 2013 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir, from one of their key vineyards in the Russian River district, is still fruit driven, with a firm acidic backbone. The wine is fresh, with dark cherry, kirsch and raspberry flavours. Its elegance and smoothness delivers a near perfect new world example of Pinot Noir, with good minerality, saline notes, fine tannins and excellent high quality oak integration.

This Pinot Noir delivers the right mix of filling the mouth while providing enough drive and energy. Therefore, this is not really a Shiraz drinker's Pinot Noir despite the full mouthfeel. One aspect which is missing, however, are any significant savoury notes. I would have expected this after eight years - and this wine was under cork. Still, this should not detract from a very enjoyable experience.

Score: 95/+++  

Kosta Browne Rosella's Vineyard

 I drink a fair bit of Kosta Browne Pinot Noir from California, but normally do not report on it, as it is mailing list only, and not many would have a chance to try it. But this wine was really quite special.

The 2013 Kosta Browne Rosella's Vineyard from the Santa Lucia Highlands is very layered, with red and black cherry, and raspberry flavours building on top of each other. The oak is smartly integrated. The mid palate shows the sweet core (a must for American wine). Acidity and dry tannins pick up the wine again, leading to a silky finish. This is a full-bodied Pinot Noir, and why not, if it is done well.

Score: 95/+++

Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir

There is often skepticism about the ageability of Californian wine, in particular so called cult wines with high alcohol level. Kosta Browne is a cult producer of Pinot Noir. How does this 2012 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir stand up today?

Well, it passes the test with flying colours. The wine colour is a translucent red, bright, with medium intensity. 

On the palate, red and black cherry, and wild berry flavours are really fresh. Surprisingly, there are hardly any secondary flavours I can taste. The fruit is dominant in this elegant wine, oak and high alcohol (14.6%) take a back seat. The wine is dry and smooth, on the back of finely grained tannins.

This is not the most complex wine, but it is simply delicious.

Score: 94/+++

Ariel Dealcoholized Chardonnay

The other day I went into a large liquor store to try to find a low alcohol (5-6%) dry wine. This of course is difficult, as low alcohol means not all sugar has been fermented. The search was unsuccessful. I then saw the isle with non-alcohol wine. I had never tried one, so I thought it is time to select such a 'wine'.

Most attractive seemed to be this Chardonnay from Ariel, based in California. If you look carefully at the picture, you notice that the bottle is still half full. But alas! I did not drink the other half. This wine is disgusting! I expected to taste perhaps grape juice, but this 'wine' tastes of apple juice, a bad slightly overripe one, and is full of sugar. If I had had a magnifying glass, I could have found this out from the back label, but it was hard to read and also to interpret.

There is no point drinking this. Buy a good fruit juice for a third of the price instead.

Score: <70 p="">

International Cabernet Tasting

Top Australian Cabernets were put against some pretty smart Bordeaux from excellent vintages and a few Napa wines. Two French wines came out on top (not just in my opinion) against Australian wines, which many 'independent' wine critics have given 98 points plus. Does this mean the French were 102 points? It goes to show how ridiculous the rating system has become in Australia. It seems only the www.winefront.com.au keeps to a sensible scoring system.

The best wines were the 2000 Chateau Palmer, Margaux and the 2005 Chateau Prieuré-Lichine, Margaux. Both wines had plenty of rich and lush blackberry fruit and cassis. The fruit is concentrated, yet elegant on the palate. These wines had silky tannins and a long finish. The Palmer was a bit more reserved, with the Prieuré-Lichine offering a full-bodied mouthfeel.

My favorite Australians were the 2015 Cullen Diana Madeline, which I reviewed in a recent post below, and the 2014 Lake's Folly Cabernets, from a 100 year vintage in the Hunter Valley. This is the first time I tasted this wine. The palate is complex, with dark fruits, cedar, and a hint of Christmas cake. Impressive is the stylish long finish.

In the next category would be the 2015 Te Mata Coleraine with its soft, feminine features: an elegant wine with good length. The 2005 Chateau Montrose is elegant, but with a strong tannic backbone. I also liked the 2012 Matthiasson Oak Knoll District Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. It is very aromatic with beautiful fruit on the palate, and a slightly uneven finish. The 2014 Yeringberg Cabernet is impressive. This is an elegant wine, with good depth and some grip. I preferred it to the Mount Mary.

The next group was still very good, but my choices would obviously be the wines above. It included the 2014 Mount Mary Quintet, the 2010 Chateau Latour le Pauillac de Latour (3rd level wine), 2012 Mount Eden Cabernet (Santa Cruz Mountains), 2013 Stonestreet Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley).

I was less impressed with the ??SC Pannell Cabernet/Shiraz (too fruity), the 2011 Man O War Ironclad Bordeaux Blend (a bit simple), the 2008 Puriri Hills Reserve (fruity and alcoholic), the 2014 Rockford 'Rifle Range' Cabernet Sauvignon (sweet), and the 2012 Mount Brave Cabernet (alcoholic).

Price Vs. Quality Of Diverse Pinot Noirs

Recently, I tasted a number of quite diverse Pinot Noirs.  I tried to work out how to compare them. Sometimes, a graph can say as much as 1000 words. In this case, I plotted price vs. assessed quality on the following chart.

1 Kooyong Massale 2016

2 Home Hill Estate 2015

3 Bass Phillip Estate 2014

4 Kooyong Meres 2014

5 Valli Gibbston 2014

6 Bruno Colin Bourgogne 2014

7 Benjamin Leroux Savigny-les-Beaune 2014

8 Mongeard-Mugneret Vosne Romanee 1er Cru Les Petit Monts 2013

9 Domaine de la Vougeraie Corton Grand Cru 2014

10 Williams Selyem Central Coast 2010

What is immediately obvious is that the 1er Cru and Grand Cru Burgundies are a multiple in prices of the Australian wines, yet in quality, there is not much difference. The Mongeard-Mugneret was the best wine of the night, but the Grand Cru disappointed, relatively. So, buyer beware! The California wine was also twice in price of the Australian wines, without added quality rating.

Of the Australian Pinot Noirs, Kooyong did very well. The Massale was the value for money wine, and the Meres was the second best wine of the night. It is 100% whole bunch, and has feminine qualities, with strawberry fruit and a very silky finish.

Any questions?  

Ridge Zinfandel

It is astonishing that Australia, possibly the world's most enthusiastic barbecue nation, has very little Zinfandel or Primitivo wines of its own. Zinfandel is the perfect match for barbecued meat.

So I opened a 2007 Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel. Ridge is a very experienced Zinfandel maker, and this wine, from a good vintage, is a typical example. This is a juicy wine. The concentrated blueberry and blackberry fruit hit you on the front palate. The wine is not overly complex, but the fruit takes the 14.5% alcohol well. The structure is balanced and the wine enjoyable, as long as you put some protein with it. It has a few more good years left in the bottle.

Score: 88/++  

Idlewild Grenache Gris

If you are looking for something different, this wine could be for you. Grenache Gris is an obscure grape, a derivative of Grenache, grown as bush vine, but seldom bottled separately. Idlewild is based in Sonoma and sources grapes from different Sonoma and Russian River vineyards. They must have found enough Grenache Gris to make this bottling. Remarkable.

The 2013 Idlewild Grenache Gris is probably best classified as sitting between a Rose and Pinot Noir or as a Rose with something extra. This is a pale, dry pink wine with an interesting flavour spectrum. There is blood orange, apricot, but also raspberry and red cherry. The acidity ensures the fruit is fresh and not confected. The wine has a fine line on the palate and fine tannins engulf the flavours. The finish shows minerality, with a hint of fruit. It reminds me of a very light Nebbiolo. I suggest drinking this now or in the next couple of years.

Score: 92/+++

Kosta Browne Pinot Noir

It is timely to write a Kosta Browne review today, as news hit my desk that the private equity firm holding the majority of shares of this highly regarded and highly successful producer  has sold out. However, it seems business as usual, as the equity got flipped to another private equity firm. The risk is that pressure to produce more volume will dilute quality .We will have to see.

The 2009 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir certainly did very well, as it became the Wine Spectator's wine of the year in 2011. How does it stack up in 2014?

As expected, this is a full-bodied Pinot Noir. It is very soft and smooth and has initial appeal. However, the wine does not quite hold it. Dark cherry flavours dominate, alcohol becomes noticeable on the back palate and edges out the otherwise attractive silky tannins.

This wine is juicy, and a little ripe and sweet for me. It is, however, well made and not outside typical expectations for Pinot Noir.

Score: 93/0  

Kosta Browne Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

The 2008 Kosta Browne Russian River Valley Pinot Noir opens up beautifully. The nose consists of intense red and black cherry flavours. These continue on the palate. The wine is quite soft and smooth, despite the deep cherry and plum flavours. They open up more and more towards the back palate. The expanding and long finish is held together by silky and velvety tannins. This wine has an excellent texture, fruit flavours and acids are well balanced. - A perfect example of a new world Pinot Noir.

Score: 96/+++

Grenache Tasting, New vs. Old World

Grenache is a variety which still battles for the status of a serious wine in most countries. This is despite the fact that well made Grenache is an excellent food wine. When one feels to to drink a red wine with Asian food, for example, Grenache is my first choice because of the generally lower tannin levels.

The poor reputation stems from a couple of decades ago, when the Rhone region produced very high yield, cheap Grenache, which tasted predominantly like lollipop. We know these times are over, and this tasting provided further proof. A surprising outcome was that the cheaper wines tasted were just as interesting or even better than the expensive wines. I am listing the wines in ascending order of price.

2009 Cien y Pico Tintorera. This cheap Grenacha from south of Madrid was surprisingly complex with savoury and earthy flavours dominant. The mouthfeel was not that great, but this cannot be expected for the price (89 points).

2013 Head Old Vine Grenache. This wine was matured in large 2000 litre used oak barrels and therefore has seen very little oak. The wine is red fruit dominant and quite balanced, but not very intense (89 points).

2012 Head Old Vine Grenache. This is a much stronger wine from the great 2012 vintage. This wine was stored in 500 litre oak barrels and the oak is more noticeable here. However, the fruit is very intense and more than matches the oak. There are smoky characters in this wine, but it is very elegant and well integrated (90% Grenache, 10% Shiraz). For me, the wine of the night (93 points).

2008 Montirius Cotes du Rhone. This wine had some rough edges. A blended wine, clearly entry level (86 points).

2011 Tablas Creek Cotes de Tablas Rouge. This GSM blend comes from Paso Robles, California. It is an elegant and balanced wine with licorice flavours strong, and firm tannins. Again, the mouthfeel is a little lacking (91 points).

2011 Tablas Creek Espirit Rouge. This is the premium wine. Raspberry flavours dominate, and there is more fruit concentration, but the finish is surprisingly short (90 points).

2013 Head Ancestor Grenache. The first 100% Grenache made by Alex Head. The fruit comes from Eden Valley (as opposed to the Old Vine Grenache, where it comes from the Barossa Valley). The aroma is strong. There is raspberry on the pallet, but also a strong confectionery flavour, which I found off-putting. On the plus side, the wine is intense, smooth and finishes with silky tannins (91 points).

2011 Domaine de Marcoux CNDP. This Chateauneuf-du-Pape is based on 80% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre. It shows red fruit characteristics and is quite complex with good length. It is slightly earthy on the finish and will develop secondary characteristics over time (92 points).

An interesting aspect of the tasting was that it would not have been easy to pick the country of origin of these wines, although the Australians were a bit more fruit focussed.      

Ridge Geyserville Vineyard

The 2007 Ridge Geyserville Vineyard is a blend based on Zinfandel. Blueberry and blackberry notes start the fruit profile on the front palate. This wine is bold and dominated by a sweet plummy core on the mid palate. It finishes a bit harsh, but this Ridge is a great 'barbeque' wine - and a serious one at that.

Score: 88/++

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon

After the disappointment with Pahlmeyer, I opened a bottle of the second wine I brought back from the Napa a few years ago, the legendary S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon. Legendary because it was this wine which won the famous 1976 Paris tasting against French Bordeaux.

The 2007 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon comes from a vineyard now up to 40 years old, with quite varied soil, from alluvial to volcanic. This is a full-bodied wine, but not overblown. Blackcurrant flavours dominate on the front palate. The mid-palate is a bit flat, as is often the case with Cabernet Sauvignon. On the back-palate, there are savoury and mineral notes, matched with balanced tannins.

There is nothing striking about this wine, but it is well made and enjoyable to drink right now.

Score: 93/++

Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma County

I mentioned in a couple of posts below in the review of AP Vin the development of Cult Pinot Noirs in California. I was curious how the 2007 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma County would compare to the AP Vin from the same area and year.

This trailblazer of full blown Pinot Noirs delivers pretty well. The full-bodied wine tastes of predominantly red cherry. The wine is smooth and elegant, and the tannins have softened. It is not what you would regard  a classic Burgundy, there is not much forest floor in the flavour profile, nor a lift on the finish. This is more a Shiraz drinker's Pinot Noir. This wine is a nice package and drinks well now, but I would not keep it much longer.

Score: 93/+

AP Vin Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard

Cult wines from California were synonymous with Cabernet Sauvignon for a long time. But for a while now a handful of Pinot Noir producers have joined the club. Kosta Browne is probably the best known. Another one is AP Vin. The characteristics are: small production, sold out mailing lists, single vineyard wines, careful treatment, a lot by hand, and of course high prices.

How well do they live up to their reputation? AP Vin shares the Kanzler vineyard in Sonoma with Kosta Browne, which has achieved high ratings for its wine. The 2007 AP Vin Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard tastes of black cherry. I experienced big fruit volume in the mouth, but not overripe. The wine has a good structure and is holding up well. It finishes with firm tannins and slightly broad - no real lift on the finish, but a good quality wine.

Score: 92/+

A.P. Vin Pinot Noir

Many people assume that so called 'Parker' wines are based on Cabernet Sauvignon in the US and Shiraz in Australia. Well, there are other kinds, with shocking consequences. I opened a 2007 A.P. Vin Garys' (sic!) Vineyard Pinot Noir yesterday. This maker aims to be part of the cult Pinot Noir producers of California, which means small production and high alcohol.

This particular wine certainly has good fruit concentration, but it tastes of dried prunes. The fruit is dead, there is no fragrance in this wine and it has an alcoholic after-taste. None of the desirable characteristics  a Pinot Noir is capable of, is present in this wine. It is past its best (I suppose) at five years of age.

This wine is for those who drink wine as a vehicle to consume a fair amount of alcohol. If this is your aim, you are better off with  vodka, I suggest (more efficient, less calories).

Score: 80/---

2007 Californian Pinot Noir

The phenomenon of the cult wine started in California. The recipe seemed simple: The wine had to be low volume. As volume increases, distribute it over many different wines with terroir being the theme. Produce a 'Parker' wine i. e. highly concentrated, ripe and alcoholic.Sell only through the mailing list and a few restaurants, create a waitlist. Charge a high price.

Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa was the wine this was first done with, and with some justification, as these wines compared well to Bordeaux wines in blind tastings.In the last ten years, people have started to try this with Pinot Noir as well. How good are these difficult to get wines?

Over the last few days I tasted two difficult to get Pinot Noirs from the much heralded 2007 vintage from Sonoma, the heart of Californian Pinot Noir.

The first wine is the 2007 A.P. Vin Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir. This wine has some of the traits described above, and in a negative way. It is overly ripe, sugary and plump. Yes, there are concentrated cherry flavours, but they are not very varietal. The ethereal characteristic, found in exciting Pinot Noirs, is totally absent and the finish is not long.

Score: 89/--  (I could have scored this less, but my personal view is in the second measure)

The second wine is the 2007 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. This is a blended wine from Sonoma vineyards. There is a lot of hype about this wine at present, as the 2009 vintage just won the prestigeous 'Wine of the Year' against all comers by the Wine Spectator Magazine. - This is the better wine of the two. It displays dark cherry flavours, there is silkiness on the palate and some length in the finish. However, the emphasis is all on fruit, rather than savoury characteristics. This wine is pretty, but lacks the complexity and underlying secondary flavours of top Pinot Noirs.

Score: 92/+

I will drink more American Pinot Noir this year, and yes, I have a bottle of the 2009 Kosta Browne winner. I am interested to see if I come across a wine as good as some Australian ones. - This seems an outrageous statement, but it just shows the power of good marketing.

Joseph Phelps Insignia

The allure of Napa Valley Cabernet is to a significant extent based on hype: a clever approach to produce very low volume single vineyard wines, which one can only buy when on the mailing list, which is oversubscribed. Some of these wines are outstanding, but there are significant variances from year to year and it is unclear how long they can be cellared successfully.

I have been on the lookout for wines which have great consistency and cellar well. I took two wines back to Sydney from the outstanding 1997 vintage. One of them was the 1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia. This is a blended wine with a good track record.

Yesterday, I opened my second last bottle. As expected, this is a big wine. This Cabernet based Bordeaux blend tastes of red cherry, plum and fruitcake. It has quite a fat, but attractive mouthfeel. The wine is well balanced with firm, but not coarse tannins and acidity providing some backbone. This wine is still drinking well. My gripes are: the wine displays virtually no savoury characteristics and has not mellowed much (it is under cork!). As such, it is not very differentiated.

The Insignia (as other Napa Cabernets) is closer to a South Australian Shiraz than a Margaret River or Coonawarra Cabernet. From this perspective, it is understandable that Americans find Australian Cabernets green and thin. Incidentally, I had a 1996 Henschke Mt. Edelstone the night before. While it had matured faster, it displayed more berry flavours and overall complexity.

This may all sound a little negative, but I quite liked the Insignia. I went very well with the lamb tenderloins.

Score: 93/++  

Napa/Sonoma Valley, part 1

Pride Mountain Vineyards

American wines were virtually non existent in Australia until recently - simply too expensive. As the Australian dollar is heading towards parity, some wines start to trickle in. Hopefully my notes over the next few days will stimulate some interest to try Californian wines - you should find it worth your while.

I was recently in Napa for tastings after an absence of nine years. Then I was tasting the 1997 vintage, a classic vintage for Cabernet. This report is about day 1.

I wanted to start with the core: Cabernet Sauvignon. But before, we kicked off with a bit of Champagne at Domaine Chandon. Early in the morning, the guys behind the counter had the music on full blast and the sales pitch was pretty direct. We headed for the outside terrace straight away, and managed to settle down a bit.

For the rest of the day, we visited Groth, Pride, Revana, Hall and Whitehall Lane. I must say I found it quite difficult to get my bearings after such a long time. The wines are really different from what we are used to. There is limited value for my readership, I think, to go into detailed wine reviews (I will in part 3), so let us focus on some general observations.

1) The main white varieties on offer are Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Well, you can forget all of that in Napa proper. The Sauvignons I tried are nothing special, and the Chardonnays are one confused lot. Napa is trying to get away from heavily worked Chardonnays, oaked and butterscotch, but it is like in the car industry: they simply cannot do it. Unoaked wines are whimsical and the rest remains too heavy for our palate. Hail to the Chardonnay improvements in Australia.

2) The Cabernets and Cabernet blends (you do not have to declare other varieties if they are not exceeding 25%) are very masculine wines. They are really more comparable to South Australian Shiraz than Coonawarra or Margaret River Cabernets. They are ripe and alcoholic, although the excesses seem to have disappeared. 14.5% alcohol seems to be the norm.

3) These wines have much more acidity than what we are used to. At the same time, there is a big focus on elegance, mostly successful.

4) I enjoyed the wines on this day, but you have to go to the Reserve level for special wine experience, which tends to be a 'best barrels' approach and the pricing is US$60-150.

On this first day, there was no wine with a 'wow' factor, but generally good quality Cabernet. Pride Mountain is an interesting winery to visit. It is a beautiful property in the Howell Mountains with beautiful natural caves (all the rage in Napa) for storage. Revana may be the next big cult winery with Heidi Peterson Barrett, ex Screaming Eagle, as the winemaker.

Overall, a good day, but I was hoping for more.