Penfolds St. Henri 2001

[KuhNayJun]

My son just bought me two bottles of this wine. As I am unable to find someone who has reviewed this year maybe someone here can tell me when to drink this. Today is Monday if that helps......LOL

[wineguruchgo]

Hi There!

Welcome to the wine board.

Your son has very good taste in wine. I had that wine recently, but can't remember the vintage (I think 02). It was spectacular.

Not sure about aging possibilities, but I can tell you that if you give it 1/2 - 45 minutes to open it is wonderful.

My advice? Drink it now! It's worth every sip.

[TheEngineer]

from klwines.com

2001 Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz Shiraz

According to Robert Parker: "The deep ruby/purple-hued 2001 Shiraz St. Henri offers sweet aromas of raspberries and flowers. This accessible, concentrated, medium-bodied, impeccably-balanced Shiraz possesses excellent fruit as well as background earth and wood notes. Consume it over the next 10 years." (10/05) Penfolds St Henri is a counterpoint to Penfolds Grange. St Henri is a highly successful, alternative expression of Shiraz. It is unusual among high quality Australian red wines as it does not rely on new oak. It was created in the mid-1950s (first commercial vintage 1957) and gained a new lease of life in the 1990s as its quality and distinctive style became better understood. Penfolds St Henri is rich and plush when young and gains soft, earthy, mocha-like characters as it ages. It is matured in old, 1460-litre vats that allow the wine to develop, but impart no oak character. A small proportion of Cabernet is often used to improve structure, but the focal point for Penfolds St Henri is Shiraz.

[brappy]

I've been lucky enough to taste several different vintages of the St. Henri. '62, '78, '90, '96, '98, '00, '01 are the vintages I've tried. All of these wines were tasted this past summer at the same time along with many other Penfolds wines including a '54 Grange Cabernet never released. I didn't take notes on every wine that day, but I do remember this:

The '00 and the '01 needed more time. They seemed to be just past there youthful stage and getting ready to sleep. The '01 actually seemed a bit green, but then again I'm sensitive to this. My guess is, with time, this characteristic will integrate into the wine and be less pronounced.

Of the '90s vintages, I enjoyed the '90 the most. Yet all were stellar wines.

The '78 was beyond its prime.

The '62 however was still showing youthful fruit. This was a real treat. It showed classic signs of age in the color. The rim was a burnt orange and the wine seems to have lost some of its hue. But the fruit was all there. Deeply baked cherries, dried currant, a touch of spice, and a bit of vanilla in the everlasting finish. What a beautiful wine!!! So yes, these wines age.

To top everything off, I tasted these wines with Peter Gago. His enthusiastic personality was a breath of fresh air. He's genuinely excited about making wine. I can only expect great things to come out of Penfolds for a long time to come.

As to the wines you have, I would date these for 2010 and 2015 for opening dates. If you get more of these, maybe 8 more, open one a year for the next ten years and don't forget to post your notes and experience with the wines.

As a side note, St. Henri used to be priced the same as Grange. Thank God that is no longer the case.

brap

Disclaimer: I don't work for, represent, sell, or have anything to do with Penfolds. I do, however, enjoy thier wine.

[This message has been edited by brappy (edited 11-13-2005).]

[KuhNayJun]

Now that is the kind of details I was looking for..... Thanks so much all.