It is fascinating to see how wine styles change over successive vintages, despite the aims of a producer for consistency. Champagne marches on imperceptibly in many cases, the house non-vintage wine seen the be a model of dependability as regards its character, but it has become fresher and less marked by aldehyde and oxidation. The stalwart of house and label consistency in Australia is Penfolds, that bastion of tradition. But even they too evolve, and their wines seem to be developing more style.
It was a a treat to put our bottle of 2009 Penfolds ‘St
Henri’ alongside the My-Schisters bottle of 2003 ‘St Henri’. I’ve learnt to love ‘St Henri’ for its
old-fashioned nature. The story of no
oak influence is well-known. I see a ‘warts
and all’ character, that involves savoury and earthy components in it. The rougher, dare I say dirtier side of
Shiraz? And it has plenty of texture and
structure to make it a somewhat coarsely-hewn wine. The 2003 was all that, and very enjoyable for
its gutsiness and range of ‘interesting’ flavours. A pleasurable and typical ‘St Henri’ for
me, But the 2009 was all polish and
sweetness. Lovely elegant red berries
and black pepper, glossy and shiny, with polished mouthfeel, smooth too. Thoroughly modern and very well handled and
balanced. Also quite delicious, and in
my eyes, as well as SWMBO and the crew, the marginally better wine.
Has the Penfolds ‘St Henri’ style edged towards greater
finesse? Have our expectations of good
Aussie wine changed so that we like less the rougher wines? Is there a trend to developing and
appreciating stylishness nowadays? I
suspect so.
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