Well, it's the first Saturday of February, making this Cellar Saturday! It's a magical day where I raid the cellar to find a wine to open that's at least a decade in the making. Tonight, I've opened a bottle that was a recent holiday gift from some longtime friends, the 2012 Penfolds Bin 138 Red Wine. This wine is a classic GSM blend of Shiraz (aka Syrah 66%), Grenache (23%) and Mataro (aka Mourvèdre, 11%) from the Barossa Valley of South Australia. So, let's see what this wine has to offer!
The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, just as you might expect from this blend. A gentle swirl in the glass reveals aromas of ripe red fruit, currant, strawberry and cherry intermingled with earthy notes of tar, black olive and cedar. Take a sip and you're greeted with a rush of ripe fruit, cherry, raspberry and currant that transition to some notes of green olive, basalt and tobacco midpalate. The tannins are wonderfully structured to provide for a velvety, dry and meaty finish on this Australian bulldog.
Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a pleasant wine with some interesting, earthy and meaty characteristics that make for great conversation, but perhaps a more challenging pairing. This wine would be good with some heartier meals, with bold spice and flavor, like a venison tenderloin, curried lamb or spicy bison chili. Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a gilled veal loin chop, rice and Madras lentils and steamed asparagus. Cheers!
