Wine Review: Penfold's Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet

While reading the book "Unquenchable" (see book review blog post), I decided to drink the recommended wines, thus giving myself a "virtual winery tour" at home!  There is something to be said for the experience of tasting the wine while hearing the history of the making of the wine.  Although there is never a substitute for hearing from the winemaker in person, there is a great deal of enjoyment that can be had at home while watching a video of the winery online or reading other's tasting notes.  More wineries these days are posting videos online that afford the wine customer the opportunity to peek into the making of the product.  In my eyes, this is a welcome change in the industry, which used to seem very "hush hush" and behind closed doors, but is now opening its cellar doors just a little.

As I set about shopping for wines recommended in the book, I feared spending an age in the Wine & Spirits store sifting through labels to find one of the wines on the author's list.  To my surprise, my trips to the wine store were actually shortened by following the book recommendations, since my shopping was focused on choosing from a handful of brands and a small number of individual makes within those brands. I asked the clerk if anyone else had come into the store for the same type of task.  I was a first for my local store at least.

The first selection of the "club" was a runaway winner:  Penfold's Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet.  First of all, I was delayed from taking a sip several times when my nose elected to sit back and take in the powerful aroma of the wine before letting me imbibe.  I smelled earth, wood, vine and fruit.  It smelled like the entire growing cycle of the vine was contained within the glass.  I imagined the sun hitting the red earth, myself walking through the vineyard, my shoes kicking up dry sprays of dust, then smelling the faint odor of the dirt as it passed through the air.

The Koonunga Hill was a gorgeous drinking wine, almost a meal in itself.  With food, I would prefer it with a dark meat (beef, venison) dish or a piece of dark whipped chocolate pie, but nothing so heavy as to take away from the wine's taste.  The wine filled the mouth heavily then left a lighter, purifying aftertaste.  A scant of white pepper-like fire hit the tongue as I swallowed but was cleansed by a citrus-like acidity leaving the taste of flowers in my mouth.

After drinking the Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet by Penfold's, I am curious to try other wines in the brand.  I am eyeing the Cabernet Merlot because it is another blend of wines that comes with recommended food pairings that sound appetizing to me for dinner:  penne puttanesca and chicken cacciatore.  I am getting hungry and thirsty thinking about it!