Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet
Wine: Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet.
Grapes: Shiraz (71 percent), cabernet sauvignon (29 percent)
Region: South Australia
Vintage: 2008
Price: $7.99
In the glass: Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet is a deep purplish-red color with a dense opaque core going out into a fine violet-red rim definition with streaks of fuchsia and ultrahigh viscosity.
On the nose: This wine has a lot going on, with soft, ripe, freshly crushed black cherries, blueberries, creme de cassis, almost buttery spicy components of vanilla, raspberry zest, creme brulee, licorice root, eucalyptus leaves, phenolics, mocha and toasted oak references.
On the palate: It coats the mouth with slightly spicy black and red berry fruits, blackberry liqueur, cassis, boysenberry sorbet, raspberry coulis and licorice components. The midpalate is very fresh with minty black currants and brambleberry fruit, then showing nice balance with tannins kept in complete harmony by the fruit and the alcohol, going into the tasty finish that lingers with red licorice twizzlers and cherry liqueur.
Odds and ends: Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet is a perennial favorite of mine. It was actually one of the first wines I wrote about in this column nearly 12 years and more than 600 columns ago. It comes from a giant Australian wine company with a strong lineup of wines, from this one all the way up to the top wine, called Grange, which happens to be Australia's most famous wine. There is a little bit of a relationship between them, despite the 50 times price difference, and that is some of the juice that goes into Grange comes from the vineyards that produce this wine, which is widely available and sells for less than $8. Talk about a good value! Anything medium-rare, but preferably good organic beef off the grill, is a great companion to this always tasty and highly recommended wine. Drink it now through 2014 trouble-free, and pop the cork about one hour before consumption.
Gil Lempert-Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.
