An Afternoon at Dan Murphy's Experiencing Penfolds New Release Wines 2017
You might have seen in the news recently that one of Australia’s most famed winemakers, Penfolds have just released their 2017 collection which is quite exiting! The World Loves Melbourne was invited on a Thursday afternoon for a tasting led by Penfold’s Senior White Winemaker, Kym Schroeter.
Kym has been working at Penfolds for an eternity (still young though) in both reds and whites and is ingrained in the Penfolds culture. In fact he is a great ambassador for Penfolds. He speaks of wine personalities, tasting iconic wines from the 1950's, the story of Max Schubert and his visionary winemaking, the amazing culture at Penfolds and the exacting processes to make the wine. Of course quality grapes are a key as well as the winemaking process.
Kym still treats each wine with a reverence feeling the privilege of working with such an iconic wine producer. We learned that Penfolds is big and bold in it's winemaking without apology; they even add tannins to the wine which apparently helps with longevity.
Ian Wolfe the Store Manager of iconic Dan Murphy's Cellar is a hospitable and knowlegable man of wine; we've had some great experiences here under his auspice. Ian had a few words to say while welcoming us to the Penfolds tasting and Dan Murphy's Cellar Door.
According to Kym Penfolds make robust wines; even some wines that have seen an erosion in the bottle can still taste great after many years.
Kym Schroeter took us through each wine with fascinating back story and appreciation for what we were tasting.
Of course we were in awe of The Grange - which I discovered was mainly shiraz. Kym told us it was best to wait 5 years to drink the new release Grange. I'm hopeless with cellaring wines for age - I just drink them before acceptances. Or else I completely forget about them and miss the boat. I need a reminder of when it's optimum to drink them - and in fact Penfolds offers this in their bible of Penfolds wines "The Rewards of Excellence" book.
Kym also told us we were privileged to taste the Bin 407 - not always available for tasting.
The Bin 389 is one I've got my eye on; it's about premium grapes that don't quite make it to the cut for the Grange. When you think about it the Bin 389 is great value.
You can book yourself into a Penfolds re-corking clinic if you want to check on your Grange or St Henri for example to see if it's in tip top shape. If they pour wine into these due to corkage it will be from the current vintage.
I have to be honest and say all these wines were my favourite; they are all premium with distinctive nuances. Every premium wine was elegant and "big"; bring me a cigar.
Tasting highlights included 2015 Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz (94 points), 2015 RWT Shiraz ($160 a bottle!) and the ever speculator $749 Bin 95 Grange from the 2013 vintage. Penfolds has a discernible house style since 1844.
Feel free to purchase this world class St Louis Chrystal along with the new release Grange for well over $2K - the perfect Christmas gift.
The hospitality of Dan Murphy was also first class and their Grange Room something to behold. With an extraordinary Australian wine collection, Dan Murphy at 282 Chapel St is the place to go for that "special bottle or case", and none better than Penfolds premium wines.