| MW-Wines Penfolds Master Class with Peter Gago (5/7/05) - The second Mystery Wine of the night (not yet released). Colour: opaque, purple-black, virtually no rim! Nose: cassis with a floral lift. On the palate: Wow! Fantastic!!! Immensely concentrated and powerful with massive yet superfine, ultra-smooth tannins, and completely integrated vanillin/coconut oak with a rich finish that just goes on and on. The colour gave away its age, but the exceptional balance and quality of the wine (despite its extreme youth) made it an immense pleasure to drink. Except for some wine writers and journalists at a recent Penfolds launch, we were amongst the very first people outside of Penfolds to sample this incredible wine, one that will only be released in 2007. This is finest Australian Cabernet Sauvignon that I've ever tasted and it will surpass the 1996 in years to come. It is further worth noting that the Block 42 is a "single block" wine, and is only released as such in exceptional vintages of which there have only been five (48, 53, 64, 96 and now the 2004). Being from an individual block within a single vineyard, this perhaps exceeds the French "terroir" philosophy of producing its best and most unique wines from single vineyards! A wine to watch out for and not to be missed! |
