Diary 11|6|2014: New Penfolds Exposed.

[title type="h5"]Thursday, November 6, 2014. The New Releases From Penfolds. [/title] My friend and dermatologist Dr. Bob DeBellevue is one of the most knowledgeable American authorities on the wines of Australia, which he has collected since long before Australian wines became cool. Penfolds--the top name in fine wines from down under--knows him well and has at times asked for his opinions and advice. Penfolds holds a tasting of its current top offerings tonight for its best customers, wine shops, and restaurants. One of the wines is the new release of 2010 Grange, one of the most revered red wines in the world. Dr. Bob is there, of course, and he opened a door so I could sneak in. I always grab the chance to taste some Grange. It and I were born the same year. But the $575 price per bottle is daunting. We begin with Penfolds Riesling. That's the most underrated white wine grape in the world, but it has a way of being made into sweet wines. I love running into dry Riesling, and I have run into one tonight. Riesling is a relatively new game in Australia, but they make the wines very well. The provenance of the grapes for Penfolds's red wines is complicated, to put it mildly. Near as I can tell, they move the grapes around from label to label to take best advantage of the fruit at hand. Knowing the percentages of Shiraz and Cabernet that will go into this year's Bin 407, Bin 9, Bin 389, Bin 707 and all the other Bins tests one's data-storage abilities to the limits. So I take my usual approach and go for laughs. "It's funny that they would name Bin 707 after an airplane," I say to DLynn Proctor, Penfolds's spokesman for this part of the world. "Oh, so you know about that!" he said, with all seriousness. What? "Yes, it was named for the first Quantas jet that flew across the Pacific in regular service," he said. So much for my laugh. What a weird coincidence. The 707 is a terrific wine--even bigger, I thought, than the Grange. As for which, it's hard to tell about a wine that is clearly made for long aging, if you're tasting it on release. On the other hand, after four years in cask and bottle, it is certainly approachable. And it's only $245 a bottle. On the other hand, the Bin 8 and 9 and 28, at under $17 each, are far from rejects. All this went on with a good deal of light sculpture in Generations Hall. Lots of food, too, along the lines of antipasto, but with some fried oysters, lamb chops (the ultimate meat to eat with Grange), cheeses, and enough other nibbles to make dinner unnecessary. And the twelve-block walk to and from Generations Hall takes care of most of my exercise needs. It's a nice, cool evening.