Penfolds Clare Estate (red) 1987 Wholesale Price $115.48 It is interesting that Penfolds chose to make and release an estate-grown red wine from the Clare Valley, a region perhaps more highly regarded today for its rhine riesling and sauvignon blanc. Classic older styles by Birks Wendouree and Stanley Leasingham have always confirmed Clare’s potential for reds, but the region has yet to assert itself as a consistent producer of prestigious red wines. All this in spite of an ever-improving collection headed by Tim Knappstein, Wilson Polish Hill River, Mitchells and Jeffrey Grosset, to name a few. The 1987 Penfolds Clare Estate red is the third release of this label, the most recent addition to the Penfolds portfolio of red wines. It structure and style reflects the direction taken by more and more Clare producers as they strive to create more of an identity for Clare red wine. Penfolds regard the Clare Estate red as a lighter alternative to the traditional Penfolds red, although the year it has spent in new French oak certainly contributes to its weight and depth of flavour. It is certainly, though, a more elegant and early-drinking alternative from Penfolds, which would not disappoint those drinking it in an on-premise situation today. Whereas it is relatively easy to make a blockbusting red with loads of fruit, tannin and extract from Clare fruit, it is definitely not so to craft a medium-bodied red with great finesse. Clare’s regional characters which I liken to eucalypt, menthol and a creamy quality and texture, need to be kept in check in a lighter red, which Penfolds and other producers are now coming to grips with. Penfolds own 120 ha on the south-east slopes of the Clare Valley in the Polish Hill River area, about 120 km north of Adelaide. They planted the red varieties cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and malbec in 1980, drip-irrigating them from two massive dams. The proportions of the Bordeaux red varieties included in the Clare Estate vary with each vintage, depending on their quality and yield. Malbec and merlot predominate in the 1987 vintage, with smaller proportions of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. The Penfolds Clare Estate 1987 has a bright red colour of medium to full depth. The number of youthful fruit qualities on the nose suggest the wine is still immature, but already approachable. Mulberry and slightly greenish flavours combine with a big oak influence and minty-cream regional characters. It’s pronounced but has yet to integrate. The palate is as elegant as Penfolds claim it to be, with a long, even length of balanced fruit and oak, with restrained tannins and clean acidity. Oak still plays a dominant role, but with time it will lay back and marry more with the wine’s attractive fruit. I expect the wine will be at its best within a three to six year period. Like other medium-weight Australian dry reds, it will accompany most traditional cuts of red meat, and will should even work well with pork and veal. I’d be careful with game, but enthusiastic with tomato and meat-based pasta and most grills. It is intriguing that Penfold’s second estate-grown dry red, after the Magill Estate, should come from Clare, but the quality of this wine and other leading Clare growers suggests that the best from this historic South Australian region has yet to come.
