PENFOLDS | Koonunga Hill | Shiraz Cabernet | 2018
syrah | cabernet sauvignon

We will be evaluating wines in no particular order on no particular schedule. Just stay tuned and you will never miss our reviews. If the wine is tasted more than once, the rating table will be updated so as to reflect all the new impressions and observations.

Today we are going to review another wine that hardly requires any introduction at all, as this is one of the most famous wine labels from the lands of Down Under – Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2018 by Penfolds. This wine is a reflection of the Penfolds winemaking style and philosophy, known locally as ‘the real Penfolds red‘. Sourced from premium vineyards across South Australia, the wine is made of two international grape varieties that contains high amounts of health-invigorating antioxidants: 64% shiraz, which is responsible for color depth and body, and 36% cabernet sauvignon, which brings more muscles, structure and adds dark fruit flavours to the final blend. This wine has been aged for 10 months in seasoned oak hogsheads and is named after one of winery’s famous vineyards in Barossa Valley – the Koonunga Hill. But let’s not put too much emphasis on the theory side, that said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
_________________________________________________________________________
Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: deep & opaque ruby color
clarity: hazy ruby shades on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & savory
fruit profile: black fruits
__black fruits: blackberry | blackcurrant | black plum | black cherry | dried black plum | casis | aronia
fruit character: ripe & overripe

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | savory | earthy
__spice: black pepper | nutmeg
__oak: roasted oakwood | liquorice | tobacco
__savory: iron | veal | leather | game
__earthy:granite | black soil | dust
primary layer: fruity–savory

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: medium+
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: round & lean | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: black fruits
fruit character: ripe & overripe
non fruit: spicy-savory
finish: medium
aftertaste: crisp

//Scoring
PENFOLDS | Koonunga Hill | Shiraz Cabernet | 2018
variety: syrah | cabernet sauvignon
country: Australia
region: Barossa Valley
rating: 93.3

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for another 2 or 3 years
verdict: great | a must try wine
_________________________________________________________________________
This is definitely a great wine of Australia and, with a total of 93.3 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a quite ripe, lean and round wine that is almost at the peak of its prime form, thus it is definitely ready to be enjoyed today within the next 2-3 years. The wine feels crisp and well structured and it delivers ripe and fine-grained tannins on the palate, supported by mouth-watering acidity and just a touch of alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel. It has a very appealing, savory-meaty character on the nose, with a medium+ body and an appealingly crisp aftertaste. On the aromatic plane the wine displays ripe & overripe black fruits mixed with some mesmerizing savory-gamey notes in the foreground, supported by a nuanced, earthy-spicy background, with a layer of subtle oakiness in between. This is a quite rustic and very well structured wine blend that will go amazingly well alongside meaty dishes that are rich in natural flavour, like for example black angus filet mignon or tournedos Rossini. Enjoy!

_________________________________________________________________________
© The WineStatistics ratings are based solely on our own knowledge of the world of wine and on our personal wine tastes, which may, or may not, differ from yours – the reader. Just remember that there are no absolutes of right and wrong in wine appreciation.