Wines: Penfolds Koonunga Hill Cab Sauvignon

I’m going to try something new for the blog.  I don’t know how long it’ll last and I’m sure there are plenty of people who will laugh at my incredibly amateur comments, but I’m going to start posting about the wines I’m trying.  I am hoping this will encourage me to try new wines as well as to document some of my favorites.

Here’s the first wine.  I’ve been drinking Australian wines for a long time – ever since my brother-in-law brought us several cases as a wedding gift from his home in Sydney. I’m rather fond of them and will generally pick an Aussie wine over any other if I’m in a hurry.  Today here’s what I got:

Penfolds Koonunga Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

The back of this bottle says that the wines “blacurrant and cherries are supported by well handled oak and supple tannins”.

I have to be honest, my first thought on tasting this wine was that it tasted vaguely of mildew.  I’ve never had this experience with Penfolds wines before, so I’m not sure if it’s just this bottle, this vintage, or the fact that it’s been raining all day.  Maybe I’m mildewing … who knows.

I set it aside for a bit and tried another sip after it had aired a while.  I can definitely taste the blackcurrant in the middle of my mouth, although not as much cherry as I’ve been able to taste in other cab sauv wines.  It’s nicely dry, slightly heavy, and sharp flavored which I like in a wine.  Unfortunately the slight dirt/mildew taste lingers afterward. It’s not bad enough to throw the wine away, but I’m not sure I’ll buy it again.

I would like to try another year of this wine to see if I get the same flavors.

There you go.  My first published wine review.