1994 Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz

Notes sourced from Southcorp Wines.

St Henri is an enigma in modern Australia in that it is a richly flavoured Shiraz wine that does not rely on the flavour support of new oak. Rather than the typical use of small, often new barriques andhogsheads to mature Shiraz, St Henri is matured mostly in large, 2000 litre oak casks that impart almost no wood characters. Developed by former Penfolds winemaker John Davoren in 1956, the aim was to create a refined "claret" style with the capacity to age. It is interesting to note that Davoren was working on St Henri in the same era as Schubert was developing Grange. The result was a radically different style of red: elegant, supple, "fruit driven" and perhaps the ultimate varietal expression of the Shiraz grape. The Penfolds range is all the richer for the difference.

Made from a blend of Shiraz & Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was matured for 14 months in 2000 litre, old casks. Deep brick red colour. On the nose there are fragrant and stylish Shiraz characters augmented by vibrant fresh mulberry/logan berry overtones granted by the Cabernet component. In the mouth intense, sweet cherry-like, spicy Shiraz fruit characters couple beautifully with the fleshy blackcurrant flavours of Cabernet. Chewy, yet well integrated tannins promise a great future for this balanced and impressively structured red. The finish is long and generous with a slight earthiness. A worthy follow on to the classic '93, this wine will reward up to 15 years of cellaring. It is crying out for at least 3-5 years further bottle age. 13.5% alcohol volume.