I couldn’t help myself. I had to google Steyning (pronounced Stenning). It’s a quaint little town in southern England with a population of less than six thousand. Photos of the buildings and countryside gave me the impression of a place ‘Escape to the Country’ would visit regularly. I thought there must be more to this place named on one of Penley’s top notch wines. With some further scrolling and reading…there it was. Christopher Rawson Penfold, the founder of Penfolds, was born there on the 2nd of August 1811.
Produced by his descendants, he would be pretty damn proud of this wine.
It is typically Coonawarra on the nose and I’d expect nothing less from a wine of this quality and price point. Blackberries, blackcurrants and a just hint of mint are the tell-tale signs. And you can’t help but hang in this spot for a while.
I know this is going to sound bad, or good depending on how you look at it, but I couldn’t wait to get stuck into trying this wine. If I said I tried it five or six times, you’d be well within your rights to think “he’s not trying it he’s drinking it!”
Expect the unexpected with this Coonawarra Cabernet. Those black fruits are there but they are not a dominant force like many from the region. Softer dark fruits play are considerable part in the presentation of the flavours and the resultant wine is delightful to drink. They all stick around for a while on the palate too.
If there is one mistake I made with this wine, it was that I didn’t decant it. It needs it. It presented a tad disjointed and raw to start with, but thanks to time in a big glass and plenty of swirling this is going to put the tidy little hamlet of Steyning on the ‘must visit’ list of many Australians.
Region: Coonawarra Price: $45 Source: Sample courtesy of Penley Estate
Words from a Wine Glass 