Not knowing at all what to expect of this wine, with little to no experience with Australian wines of a higher caliber (other than the revered and standalone Grange), I came in with a blank slate. I address more specific nose/taste analogies than I normally do only because of my inexperience with the wine and region.
Apparently 2011 was a difficult vintage with a LOT of rain in Barossa, with the difficulty coming during picking, not knowing when to do so, risk of botrytis with extended rainfall throughout harvest.
Deep and dark overall profile matches color/appearance - it's dark and brooding, from the start to the finish.
Hint of pruned fruit on the nose, dark chocolate and blackberry, black cherry, hint of tobacco pops through.
Super dark berry, chocolate, olive brine dominate the palate, and aren't shy about it, mouthfeel has dusty tannins but super silky and with some heft, grippy but also unctuous. Finish lingers long, but not strong (not gonna get the friction on, in other words), as it fades quickly but then holds at that reduced state for a very long time. Difficult to peg this wine and know what it will become, or if this is what it is to become, honestly. I feel like it still has baby fat on it yet with tannins and acidity not yet 'finished' developing, and likely can go another 10-30 years, but I have nothing to base that on, other than experiences with the one bottling higher than this in the Penfold's production, Grange.
Paired with steak (sous vide experiment with Flannery chuckeye first cut and filet tail, details here)
