Storied Aussie red ages superbly and costs a fraction of a Grange
Harvey Steiman
Issue: October 15, 2008
Though Penfolds Grange may reign as Australia's most collectible wine, a recent 19-vintage tasting of St. Henri, another Shiraz in the winery's portfolio, showed that Grange isn't Penfolds' only cellar-worthy wine.
St. Henri Shiraz has a rich pedigree: It started out as the ace product of the now-defunct Auldana winery in 1911. Penfolds bought Auldana in the 1940s for its vineyards. Now, the vines are gone and Auldana is a suburb within the city limits of Adelaide, not far from Penfolds' historic Magill Estate. The grapes for a single-vineyard Penfolds wine are grown at Magill, while Grange and other top-level reds, including St. Henri, are made in the winery there.
After purchasing Auldana, Penfolds initially discontinued St. Henri, but an internal dispute in the 1950s between the company's chief winemaker, Max Schubert, and one of his longtime assistants, John Davoren, resurrected the brand. Schubert had debuted Grange in 1951, and his winemaking approach favored ripe fruit and new American oak barrels. Davoren, however, had preferred the more restrained approach of the Auldana St. Henri, with less ripeness and no new oak, only old uprights.
For a while, both Grange and the reintroduced St. Henri shared equal billing, but popular taste eventually shifted strongly to Grange. St. Henri became an insider's wine. Penfolds realized the value in maintaining St. Henri's distinctive character, and continued production of the label. Since 2004, Penfolds winemaker Peter Gago has gone further to recapture the old Auldana style in the St. Henri, incorporating grapes from Adelaide Hills and other cooler regions.
Like Grange, St. Henri is 100 percent Shiraz. Instead of fermentation in new American oak, however, Gago currently uses open vats for the St. Henri and ages the wine in large uprights of neutral oak for 14 to 16 months. Alcohol levels are typically around 14.5 percent, about the same as Grange. Production is around 10,000 cases and the most recent vintage of the wine was released in the United States at $42, compared with Grange's 5,000 to 8,000 cases and $250 release price.
In a non-blind tasting I attended recently at the Penfolds Magill Estate, Gago selected 19 vintages of St. Henri, including the last bottle in Penfolds' cellar of the first vintage, made by Davoren in 1956. Very silky in texture, it was just delicious, with layers of flavor and still a sense of freshness. It's an old wine, but still very much alive.
Other extraordinary St. Henris included the 1959, 1962, 1971, 1976 and 1986. My favorite wine in the tasting, and proof positive of the ageability of St. Henri, was the 1962. The wine fills the mouth with cherry flavor and hints of earth—and that signature roasted-meat character. It showed great balance and intensity.
St. Henri seems to require at least 10 to 15 years in the bottle to develop extra nuances from age. Young wines made with less-ripe fruit and no oak influence can seem simple until they get to that stage of evolution. The 1996, for example, showed much more depth and completeness than its less-developed younger siblings from this decade. (For free access to complete tasting notes on all 19 wines, visit www.WineSpectator.com/101508.)
Finding older vintages of St. Henri can be a challenge. Compared with old Granges, they rarely come up for auction in the United States. But when they do, they sell for significantly lower prices. Often when the wine appears on the auction block, it is bundled in mixed lots with Penfolds Grange and other notable Australia collectibles and remains reasonably priced by comparison.
Collectors who can't find the wines at auction can track down older St. Henris at select retailers across the country, but the wines will cost more. Other options include participating in Australian auctions via the Internet or ordering from Australian retailers who are authorized to sell to U.S. customers
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