Are you serious? My local supermarket sells this just a few bottles down from Yellow Tail (from what I've figured is a faux-Australian wine in color coded bottles for stupid Americans, which I like).
Yeah, I am, but it depends on which
sort of Penfolds. There's actually a shitload of vineyards and bin-lots they own, and specific ones are known to be superior.
Here are the ones that are good to cellar and appreciate, in no particular order:
- St Henri
- 389 (short term appreciation. The price rises sharply for the first 5 years, but then pretty much plateaus)
- 707
- Grange (I've got a bottle from '99 when I graduated highschool. Paid $40. Now worth just under $600)
- RWT
- Yattarna
- Magill (if you can find a bottle... it's in REALLY limited runs)
The ones that aren't on this list are still really good drinking wines though, so even if it's not an expensive one, still perfectly good over a meal.
Yellowtail is kinda funny though. It IS a real Aussie wine, but specifically made for export markets where people like sweeter, thinner wines. If you let it sit for 3-4 years, it's pretty drinkable, but still worthless...
If you want to go for a wine that plays to Aussie stereotypes, Madfish is a really nice one, particularly their semi-sauv.
There's also Ned's Red, which is a pretty ballsy mixed red.
LazyD: I always wanted to buy a vineyard, just so I can make a wine called "& Pregnant", and get it stocked on the shelves next to Barefoot.
Failing that, I'd buy an entire shire in W.A., rename it Dogscrotch and then place vineyards in the valleys before marketing the wine under the local name.
