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96POINTS
18½/20
Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz 2018
South Australia, AustraliaI taste St. Henri and marvel at its elegance, restraint, and majesty year after year. For the uninitiated, this is Penfolds’ ode to old oak. For 65 years, St. Henri has been an iconoclast. 2018 is one of the greatest yet expressions of shiraz that avoids the toasty, buttery, caramel flavours that dominate the standard Aussie style. Instead, the focus is upon pure, unadulterated shiraz fruit, burnished in big seasoned 50 year old, 1460 litre wooden casks. A classic multi-regional blend, fruit is fused from Barossa, McLaren Vale, Port Lincoln, Robe, Padthaway, Clare, and Adelaide Hills. The riveting aromas detonate with red, black, and blue fruit, adorned with savoury wafts of tapenade, dried mint, espresso, and licorice. Impossibly expansive in the mouth with colossal fruit, superb juicy freshness, melting tannins, exotic spice, and a finish that already takes the breath away. Yes, it is young and a bit rigid now, but also shockingly easy to sip at this stage of life. It’s hard to imagine a better deal for $150 than St. Henri. Finesse, elegance, power, and prestige, and good for another 10 to 20 years in the cellar, this will make a beautiful gift for the deserving. If you plan to breach the bottle this year, open, decant and let breathe for a good hour, then pour into massive glasses and pair with a simple roasted leg of lamb or beef.Tasted: 06 December 2021Tasted by: Prices:| BC | $149.99 | 750ml | BCLS |
| AB | $149.99 | 750ml | select private retailers |
| MB | $149.99 | 750ml | Manitoba Liquor Mart |
| ON | $149.95 | 750ml | LCBO |
| QC | $149.95 | 750ml | SAQ |
| NB | $149.99 | 750ml | NBLiquor |
| NS | $149.99 | 750ml | NSLC |
| NF | $149.99 | 750ml | NLLC |
Grape: Shiraz/SyrahCSPC: 510875UPC: 012354071773
