126? No. 127? No. 128? YES!

This evening we consumed a 2006 Penfolds Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz. Penfolds makes a wide array of wines, with prices ranging from $8 to $300. Overall, they consistently make pretty dang good wine and are always rated well.

Way back in our early days of wine drinking, we discovered Bin 389, which at the time was $20 - now it's closer to $30. So, we've tried others, including this for about $18 at the Wine House.

100% Shiraz from lovely cool weather Coonawarra, Australia. Very solid wine. Not much to complain about. Lots of ripe medium and dark fruit berry flavors, a decent amount of oak, nice structure. Decanting may help soften it a bit. Simply good Shiraz!

Fetish for Wine!

A new wine tonight... 2006 Fetish - The Watcher! Exotic, right? It has a nifty label and comes from Australia, the Barossa Valley to be exact. I've been a little suspect of the wines that come from Australia that have seemed to have spent more time on clever labels and names than on wine. But happily, this one happily contradicts that suspicion. And it comes from wine maker Rolf Binder (and Joshua Tree Imports) who has a reputation for making good wines.

This is Shiraz with great medium/dark berry flavors, cherry, black plums and sweet spices. A little tobacco. Good news is it doesn't finish as a palate whomper, as many of the Aussie reds do. Nice even, long finish. Very structured.

Rachel found this at Cost Plus for about $14, but it goes for much more at other wine shops, up to $23. Please drink and enjoy!

Hello Again, Hello

No, I'm not a Lionel Ritchie Fan. I was just saying hi.

Tonight, in this corner, with a total capacity of 750ml, is the 2006 Penley Estate Phoenix Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. We drank this with a marinated tri-tip (thanks for inspiring us Sandy!) $15 at K&L Wines.

I've found many of the lower priced Aussie cabs and shirazes (anyone know the plural of shiraz?) are overdone and have residual sugar. This had none of that. A lovely wine - all of the great cab character and none of that "fakeness." Not the most complex stuff, but very good and easy to drink. The 15% alcohol was apparent on the nose, but not on the palate.

For those that care, this gets solid 90's by several major reviewers. Very much recommend you try it.

Sorry for the delay in blogging - you deserve better. I will make no promise that I will improve, but I will try. So there.