Penfolds II

 The French component of this wine was made at two Dourthe-owned wineries with the Australian components coming from Penfolds’ Nuriootpa Winery. The final blend of the wine was put together in Australia. The concept of this wine takes a certain time to get used to. But either I’m more used to it now as a concept, or this is simply a better wine than the previous release, for I like this much more than last year’s MV edition (a 2020-2021 combination). The aromatics are very authentically Cabernet Sauvignon, with lifted, soaring cassis, bramble and walnut shell, just a little hint of the forest floor and a touch of menthol that returns on the finish. Fine-grained grippy tannins grab the fruit, announcing their presence immediately, sculpting and shaping the lean, quite sleek yet taut and tense frame and driving the wine over the palate. As that implies, this is quite muscular and brawny at this stage – but that is all part of its Cabernet authenticity. I like that a lot; and I like this a lot. One could easily imagine this to come fully from Bordeaux, though the Coonawarra component surely brings that additional depth and concentration.