Penfolds Koonunga Hill shiraz cabernet review – STRIKER!

6 01 2011

Today we examine a 2008 southern Aussie blend that you can buy at Costco for $7.69.

This medium-to-full-bodied red smells like a nice cab with some black cherry shiraz notes, but on your tongue it’s jammy blueberry shiraz all the way, balanced by soft tannins and a touch of chocolate.  It’s better on day 2: you get more cabernet, and less alcohol.

And it’s a screamer.  In fact, let me be frank — 

it’s the new value red wine top dog — the big cheese, the head honcho — Penfolds Koonunga Hill shiraz/cab blend is HIGHLY desirable even at $13, and it’s better than many $20 wines I have tried.  It’s warm.  Tilted toward the sweet side of the sweet/dry spectrum.  Big, but won’t overpower most food.  It was the only red served at the hip New Year’s party I attended in posh West Chester, PA, and it beat 14 other reds in my friends’ $15-or-less blind tasting. 

Our past favorites in the red wine value race are narrowly eclipsed by this reliable Godzilla.  Highly recommended, and a blatant “Best Value” red.   Bravo! 

Penfolds Koonunga Hill shiraz cabernet review

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2 responses

3 03 2012
Philip Levy

You’re kidding, right. It is simply awful. It’s less than what you’d expect even for a cheap wine. It’s super harsh, from start to finish. My wife and I concur, this is one of the worst wines we’ve ever experienced.

26 03 2012
wineguider

Pretty sure you got a bad bottle! I respect your reactions to what you drank, but in general Koonunga Hill shiraz cabernet is not harsh — it may be boring, it may be too simple, it may be too sweet for some people, but I can’t see how anybody would call it harsh. I’m curious, what did you pay for your bottle? Here in Delaware at Costco, it’s under $8. Cheers!

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