Out of stock
Penfolds Cellar Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Simple, jammy and overcooked, with a heady, floral bouquet of violets, mulberries and cassis integrated with sweet new vanilla/cedar oak with meaty, treacle-like and raisiny undertones. ItÕs ultra-ripe and jammy, with a simple, confiture-like expression of juicy, raisiny fruit that lacks genuine structure and character
Vintage
2008
Year to Drink
2013 - 2016+
Jeremy’s score
86 / 100
Seal Type
Screw top
Category: Uncategorised
Penfolds Cellar Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Barossa Valley
Price Range at Release: $100-$199
Vintage: 2010
Alc %: 14.5
Simple, jammy and overcooked, with a heady, floral bouquet of violets, mulberries and cassis integrated with sweet new vanilla/cedar oak with meaty, treacle-like and raisiny undertones. ItÕs ultra-ripe and jammy, with a simple, confiture-like expression of juicy, raisiny fruit that lacks genuine structure and character
Last Date Tasted: 2/05/2014
- Cellar
- Drink Now
- Maybe Too Old
Winery
Penfolds
Penfolds is a phenomenon in Australian wine. It is arguably this country's only international luxury wine brand. Owned by Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), it has been the beneficiary of a strategy devised by former TWE chief executive Michael Clarke to focus virtually 100% of his entire folio's marketing activities upon this single brand. Inevitably this has led - despite the China wine tariff situation - to Penfolds becoming by far the most important driver of profit into TWE.
Today Penfolds boasts its own division within the company and there remains much discussion as to whether or not this has been implemented to facilitate a sale of the Penfolds business from TWE. Recent mass departures of sales and marketing personnel from TWE might suggest some merit in this view. I'm not yet decided either way, although a TWE without Penfolds would be in a challenging place indeed. As a brand, the growth of SKUs under the Penfolds banner has continued at a remarkable pace. Not only has the core Penfolds range been added to on a regular basis, but there are today new ranges (ie Max's and the Cellar Collection) and collaborations in different countries (the US, France and China) to steadfastly prove the point that no matter where the grapes might be grown, the Penfolds winemaking recipe will deliver an identifiably Penfolds-styled wine. To date at least, this remains an unproven ambition.
The extraordinary emphasis placed on the China market by previous TWE management is a direct cause of the dramatic increases in the price of Penfolds wines over the last 5-7 years plus the range extensions previously mentioned, which actually include an unholy alliance between an Australian fortified red and traditional Chinese spirit. Furthermore, the counter-intuitive blending of different vintages of its flagship table wines, Grange and Yattarna shows a company that for a time at least entirely lost its compass.
Penfolds brings with it a number of internal statutes which on the surface can be hard to understand. It will release a vintage of Grange, which it promotes as Australia's leading red wine (despite the fact that different vintages of Grange get blended together to create the significantly more expensive 'g' series) every year, including the very poor years. And yes indeed, there are very poor vintages of Grange, 2000 being a fine example. However, it will only release Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon from fine vintages (it missed 2011, a poor vintage indeed but still released Grange from this year). Is it telling buyers to trust 707 more than Grange?
Good news for buyers of Penfolds is that the 2021 vintage looks like a significant return to form on the quality front, which was only to be anticipated given the greatness of this season. The wines still occupy prices that perhaps flatters their true quality, but this is not the fault of the wines. While I'm saddened by the dilution of the Penfolds brand by the overseas attempts to extend it (wine is NOT Coca-Cola), I see genuine quality in these wines and a genuine effort to create wines that resemble, if indeed don't exactly follow, the styles that made their labels famous. This is a step forwards for Penfolds and might serve to remind its marketing team that there is indeed value in the wine history of the brand, about which Peter Gago and ilk delight in constantly reminding us.
Chief Executive(s):
Tim Ford
Winemaker:
Peter Gago, Steph Dutton, Kym Schroeter, Andrew Baldwin, Andrew Hales
Viticulturist:
Tim Brooks
White Wines
Adelaide Hills Chardonnay >Adelaide Hills Semillon >Aged Release Riesling >Barossa Valley Semillon Chardonnay >Bin 311 Chardonnay >Bin 51 Riesling (Formerly Reserve Bin) >Cellar Reserve Chardonnay >Cellar Reserve Pinot Gris >Cellar Reserve Sauvignon Blanc >Cellar Reserve Semillon >Cellar Reserve Traminer >Cellar Reserve Viognier >Clare Estate Chardonnay >Koonunga Hill Autumn Riesling >Koonunga Hill Chardonnay >Koonunga Hill Semillon Sauvignon Blanc >Rawson's Retreat Chardonnay >Rawson's Retreat Riesling >Rawson's Retreat Semillon Chardonnay >Reserve Bin A Chardonnay >Reserve Bin Aged Release Riesling >The Valleys Chardonnay >Thomas Hyland Chardonnay >Thomas Hyland Sauvignon Blanc >Yattarna Chardonnay >
Red Wines
(Export Label) Cabernet Sauvignon >Bin 111A Shiraz >Bin 128 Shiraz >Bin 136 Magill Burgundy >Bin 138 Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre Blend >Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon >Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz >Bin 169 Cabernet Sauvignon >Bin 169 Claret >Bin 170 Kalimna Shiraz >Bin 170 Shiraz >Bin 2 Shiraz Mataro (Formerly Shiraz Mourvedre) >Bin 21 Grenache >Bin 23 Pinot Noir >Bin 28 (Formerly Kalimna Bin 28) Shiraz >Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz >Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon >Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz >Bin 60A Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz >Bin 620 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz >Bin 704 Cabernet Sauvignon >Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon >Bin 798 RWT Shiraz >Bin 8 Cabernet Shiraz >Bin 802-A Cabernet Shiraz >Bin 802-B Cabernet Shiraz >Bin 820 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz >Bin 920 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz >Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon >Cellar Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon >Cellar Reserve Cabernet Shiraz >Cellar Reserve Durif >Cellar Reserve Mataro >Cellar Reserve Merlot >Cellar Reserve Pinot Noir >Cellar Reserve Sangiovese >Cellar Reserve Tempranillo >Clare Estate Cabernet Blend >FWT 585 Cabernet Blend >Grange Cabernet >Grange Shiraz >II Cabernet Merlot Blend >Kalimna Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon >Koonunga Hill Seventy Six Shiraz Cabernet >Koonunga Hill Shiraz >Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet >Magill Estate Shiraz >Max's Cabernet Sauvignon >Max's Shiraz >Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon >Quantum Bin 98 Cabernet Sauvignon >Rawson's Retreat Cabernet Blend >St Henri Shiraz Cabernet Blend >Thomas Hyland Cabernet Sauvignon >Thomas Hyland Shiraz >
Fortified Wines
Address:
30 Tanunda Road , Nuriootpa , South Australia 5355 Australia
Cellar Door Open Hours:
7 days, 10am - 5pm
Principal Wine Region:
Barossa Valley,Coonawarra,Eden Valley,McLaren Vale
Telephone:
(08) 8568 8408
Facsimile:
(08) 8568 8590
Website:
Email: