Lies a veritable treasure trove of rare wines for the taking.
Lies a veritable treasure trove of rare wines for the taking.
If your cellar isn’t filling up quite as fast as you’d like, why not take the plunge and get 300 bottles of quality shiraz and/ or cabernet from one of Australia’s most respected wineries? Penfolds has recently announced the launch of its Magill Cellar 3 barrel programme, where oenophiles can purchase a full barrel of vintage wine from the winery’s oldest cellar for A$198,000 (S$199,000).
That will get you 252 litres of wine in a bottle size of your choice, but there’s more. Not only will the wine in these barrels never be used in any other release, you will be invited to taste the wine straight out of your barrel as it matures. Included is a tour of the Magill Estate and the recently renovated Cellar 3, which is around 170 years old, as well as a tasting session of the Penfolds range with its winemakers.
The inaugural 2015 barrel release has already been committed to private collectors, but Penfolds is taking orders for the 2016 programme, with sales beginning at the start of this month. If you do get hold of one, the wine will be at its most drinkable in the next 10 to 30 years.
BRAVE NEW WORLD
Benoit Gouez, chef de cave of Moet & Chandon, has lost count of the number of attempts it took to get the MCIII right. The house’s newest champagne is a daring take on making bubbly, combining Grand Cru vintages (2002, 2000 and 1998) into oaked and unoaked still wines – an exceedingly rare practice in Champagne given its difficulty and expense. This “hybrid” was over 15 years in the making, and is easily Moet & Chandon’s most complex recipe yet. Expect aromas of coffee and hazelnut, sweet citrus flavours and a mineral finish.
POWER PAIRING
Alas, the partnership between The Macallan and Lalique has finally come to a close, with the release of the last special edition decanter in the Six Pillars Collection: the “Peerless Spirit”. The last five decanters were each inspired by a tenet in The Macallan’s “Six Pillars” philosophy, and this one is no exception, as seen by the single drop falling from the iconic Macallan inverted triangle. And the liquid inside certainly has few peers at 65 years, and is limited to 450 numbered decanters.
