Penfolds St Henri Shiraz Cabernet 1995 Friday, Oct 12 2007
Tasting Notes and Australia and Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale and Eden Valley and Padthaway and Variety and Red and shiraz et al
I had this last night along with an excellent 1996 Wynns Black Label Cabernet and a fair, but not top, bottle of 1996 Penfolds Bin 407. Dreadful corks in this vintage of St Henri. They always snap.
Plenty of lovely tertiary smells including leather, chocolate and licorice on top of sweet dark fruit. On the palate medium to full bodied with dark fruit, dark chocolate, walnut and leather - a veritable gentleman’s club (no not that sort smutty) of flavours. It has powdery tannins that still make their presence felt but in no way dominate and a yummy chocolaty finish of decent length. Not a top St Henri, but a very good one, and certainly ready to drink now.
Other vintages : 2003, 2003, 2002, 2002, 1997, 1991, 1986, 1976, 1971
Rated : 92 Points
Tasted : Oct07
Alcohol : 13.5%
Price : $35
Drink : 2007 - 2010
Source : Cellar
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10 Responses to “Penfolds St Henri Shiraz Cabernet 1995”
October 12th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Hello Gary, it’s not just corks for this vintage! I’ve got a stash of 1996 389s and the corks in those beasts are always diabolical. In fact, most 90s Penfolds corks are of the violet crumble variety. Your note is on the money, although I don’t think I’d score it quite so highly, it needs a little more fruit for mine. You didn’t pick any herbaceous streak either? Looks like you got a really good bottle. It’s certainly better than the 97, but not as good as the 94 and 93. I’ve never managed to drink 96 for some reason. If only they sold this sort of stuff at $35 these days … Pleasingly only 13.5% too.
October 12th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Re crumbly corks, maybe use an ‘ah-so’/butlers friend style opener - with the two prongs that go between the glass and cork - rather than one that screws into the cork.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Thanks Sanjay. I’ve been meaning to invest in some such contraption, but I always only remember this when I’m opening another bottle. Thanks for prompting me to do something. Do you recommend a make or brand?
October 12th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Yes…91 or 92 points for me. This was a very good bottle but have had this wine maybe 10 times in the last couple of years and not much in the way of green usually - the 1997 does but I like that too. I have used an Ah So in the past but you can just flick the bottle at the sink to throw the crumbling cork out - that is the local technique anyway..and it usually works well.
GW
PS. I’d love to see St Henri in a screwcap Sanjay..
October 12th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
I’ve only tried this three times (I think), and possibly was only the last bottle that was a tad greenish - but only very slight mind you. And, yes, the 97 is a little leafy, much different to the 95 in any case. As for screw caps on old Penfolds, they would surely ruin the fun of picking out crumbly bits of cork in the glass and out of your teeth … What do you think of the ‘99 Gary? I’ve got some cellared. I had one that was close to the best St. Henri I’ve tried, all raspberries and blackcurrants and feather-weight mouthfeel, and one that didn’t quite make it. Maybe you have to be in a St. Henri kinda mood?
October 12th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
looks like there is another “sanjay” on this
forumoutstanding website who made above comment!Hi to you. From Melbourne.
sanjay
October 12th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
99 is one of my favourite ever St Henri vintages (as it is for Rockford BP and Grange).
Very common name Sanjay is….and SanjayC looks like a Bollywood star ..and you…. don’t.
GW
October 12th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Good, it wasn’t just my imagination then!!
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I forgot to add that my wife and I opened up a bottle of the 99 last weekend. We haven’t tried one for about 18 months. We agreed that it was probably in the top 5 most enjoyable wines tasted this year, not a mean achievement - a wine for drinking, not just tasting too. Easily 95 points (perhaps miserly?), and thankfully we’ve got a few more. Very, very little sludge in the bottle, so it’s cellaring beautifully. Cork was also very tight and springy, a big improvement on previous vintages, so that could have played a part. It benefits slightly from around 2 hours in the decanter, but is very drinkable at first taste. I would love to read a tasting note from you on this wine Garry!!
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Sorry about spelling - only one ‘r’. I abase myself.