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A night of good food and Penfolds September 2002 |
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Ed's Weinbistro
Gasthaus zum Engel
Brodlaube 23
4310 Rheinfelden
Switzerland
Tel. +41 61 833 1233
Fax. +41 61 833 1230
Ed's Weinbistro Site |
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I won't go into any more detail about Ed's Weinbistro, as you can see that here
From the 27th to the 31st of August, Ed's was running this "Wine & Dine Australian" - event. The Friday that we visited, we were lucky to have with us one of Penfolds winemakers, Mac Gregor Forbes - or just Mac.
Mac joined Penfolds in 1998 as a winemaker, though is just starting 2 years away from home to work at Penfolds headquarters in Twickenham, England. Mac's pre Penfolds experience was in the 'cool-climate' area of Adelaide Hills in Australia, so my question 'why no pinot from Penfolds?' brought out a big smile. Actually they do sell a little, but these wines are only available from the cellar door in Australia.
So, lots of wines to taste. It was hard to determine the true colour of the wines because of the restaurant lighting, though the density of colour relative to each other was no problem.
Apèro
2000 Penfolds, Bin 21 Rawson's Retreat Semillon-Chardonnay
Pale gold colour. Sweet, melony note on the nose. Nice acidity with some pineapple. Though a bit short in the mid-palate, surprisingly long in the finsh with subtle vanilla. A nice wine.
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Cajan spiced Barracuda filet with salade of tomato, capsicum and red onions
A nicely spicy cut of fish which I would have preferred a little hotter.
2001 Penfolds, Koonunga Hill Chardonnay
Gold colour, surprisingly darker than the Yattarna. Nose was an unusual honey and lanolin affair - turned out to be oxidised, so was replaced with :
2000 Penfolds, Koonunga Hill Chardonnay
Paler yellow. Nose more like chardonnay, high flowery tones with sweet melon and candied fruits. Also sweet on palate with medium length. Quite good.
1995 Penfolds, Yattarna
Medium yellow colour. Still high toast oak on the nose which obscures most of the fruit behind it. The peachy palate is broad with good acidity and is a little nutty. The finish is very long with coconut coming through at the end. This is more interesting than a half a dozen 1er Cru Puligny-Montrachets I tried last week, though the P-M's were much younger (1998-2000) and oak was much more severe. A fine wine.
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Homemade forest mushroom Ravioli and truffled cream sauce
This was a lovely subtle dish with an almost meaty texture to the small mushrooms.
2000 Penfolds, Private Bin Shiraz-Cabernet Ruby-Cabernet
Reserved plummy nose. A little tannin, good acidity with cherry and damson. Quite good, but not very exciting - also very young, needs another year.
2000 Penfolds, Clare Valley Organic Wine Merlot-Shiraz-Cabernet
Deeper colour than the 'Private Bin'. High toned, estery nose - characteristic of Clare Valley, gained caramel notes with time. Much denser on the palate than the 'Private Bin' with higher tannin and good acidity. Characteristic merlot fruit and the finish is still touched by oak, a pretty good wine.
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Filet of Australian beef with olive tapanade served with nice Penfold's-Shiraz-red-wine-sauce pesto beans with confit of tomatoes and sauted potatoes
This was my favourite dish. A well cooked fillet, and the shiraz sauce had an almost redcurrant taste. Excellent.
1999 Penfolds, Bin 2 Shiraz-Mourvèdre
Deeply coloured. High toned nose which becomes less so, as it develops plummy fruit in the glass. A sweet palate which is tannic and slightly spicy. Good fruit intensity, with some vanilla on the finish. I liked this wine.
1997 Penfolds, RWT Shiraz
This is the first vintage for RWT. Colour is very deep. The nose starts with high flowery tones, developing to 'cooking' plum and chocolate notes. Very sweet with concentrated fruit and smooth tannins. Certainly smoother and richer than the 'Bin 2'. Also touched by vanilla on the finish. A very good wine.
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Selection of european cheese and fruits
1993 Penfolds, Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz
No obvious signs of age, dark colour. Nose has pronounced earthy black fruit, and is higher toned than in the 'Bin 389'. Great fruit on the palate too, also very smooth with medium tannins and good though slightly fiery acidity on the finish. I preferred this.
1996 Penfolds, Bin 389 Cabernet-Shiraz
Similar colour to the 'Bin 28'. Nose is closed. Palate is very smooth good fruit density and good acidity, I found it slightly anonymous though my wife preferred this to the 'Bin 28'. Perhaps a less than perfect bottle? My last one earlier this year was much better.
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The Great Finish
1997 Penfolds, Grange Shiraz
Decanted. Very dark. Simmering plum nose with a trace of coffee bean. Certainly the night's most intense fruit experience. Mouth wrapping tannins are certainly not the smoothest, but apparently young Grange can "be all over the place" and this one is pretty well integrated due to 1997 being a 'cooler' vintage. It's pretty impressive stuff, but not as impressive as the price!
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Coffee & Petit Fours
Penfolds, Grandfather Tawney Port
Amber-brown in colour. Sweet high alcohol nose. Sweet and nutty in the mouth, but too much alcohol for my taste. So my wife who thought it rather good, drank both glasses. Quite expensive at ~€60.
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