An impromptu dinner at Kres Chophouse in Orlando (read: we called 30 seconds before walking in) found my lady and I craving steak – and after settling on a cut and grilled elk for me, I looked at the menu for a bold red to pair – noticing this Penfolds at $75, a tiny markup over retail pricing in my area. Despite not being too familiar with Aussie cabs, ordered the bottle. Unfortunately, no decanter was available, so the wine got very little air time – popped and poured, enjoyed over an hour.
On the nose – a POW of black fruit, my goodness. Even at room temp and without any decanting, this young – it was constant rights and lefts of blackcurrant, blackberry, plums; followed by uppercuts of vanilla/chocolate and a bit of tobacco. They extracted every last bit of fruit flavor, it's aggressive!
I expected more tannins too, given the varietals, but surprisingly calm, fine-grained, satisfying – with the acid to work wonderfully with these rich steak cuts on our plates. The pairing was everything I wanted that night. The high alcohol was nigh unnoticeable, and it had a wonderful heavy feel on the palate – the kind of inky, tooth-staining red we were both after. I'd best describe it all as intense, honestly. Flavors of dark fruits, cocoa, vanilla, with a good finish length. Even with just an hour, we must've left only a glass in the bottle. This is a people pleasing cab blend through and through.
My Penfolds experience was limited to their cheaper offerings and their Bin 28, but I'm definitely wanting to explore their $40-$90 bottles and see how they compare against my preferred Cali Cabs (Chappellet, Elivette, Stag's Leap WC). All in all, wonderful meal, great company, great wine, couldn't be happier with the night!
by JJxiv15