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!
Wineguider wine reviews 
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.
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!