Haha, fair point. I know Penfolds 389 is similar to JW Blue: Clearly no other bottle can replace what it does, but I am hoping to find a bottle at around the $20-$30 range that would get us 70-80% of the way there, especially given Penfolds 389 keeps going up in price each year!
I did some quick search and I heard people recommend Pinot Noir wines, am I on the right track? I am trying to find a bottle to surprise her in a blind test vs 389, thoughts?
It is common knowledge in Australia, that you dont touch a pinot under $20. It has a large palate range, from the light rasberry funk of the Gippsland producers such as william downie or lightfoot and sons, to the Calafornian medium bodied cherry bomb style most notably seen from Central Otago pinots that have dominated our market the last decade or so. If you were brought up on big bold Barossa's, this is probably not the variety for you and your wallet will thank you for it.
Drinking wine is very subjective and unfortunately we also drink with out eyes, so more expensive wines are generally "percieved" as better. If your criteria is value for money/soft tannins/full bodied red, I'd suggest either:
- An aged value red like a chalambar, wynns black label, john duval, or st hugos. Ageing softens tannins but back vintages are more difficult to find.
- Otherwise for current vintages, aim for a cool climate shiraz from perhaps the Port Phillip area. Off the top of my head, 10x by Tractor Estate, Yabby Lake, Farr, or Mayer Syrah from the Yarra come to mind. These are outside your $20-$30 range (unless on clearance), but if you're trying to find something "comparable" to a 389 quality, we have to be more realistic.
I highly recommend heading to a (reputable) restaurant and having a chat with the Somm (COVID safety allowing). If you are a newbie to wine, let them know and alot would be delighted to help out. Wine "discovery" is a great experience! Of course, there are ALOT of bullshit wine lists out there selling overpriced mediocrity i.e. Quay, which unfortunately plagues the industry. But if you're up for trying new things, this is the way.
Alot of times, "memories" are attached to wines, which enhances its experience. You may have had the 389 on a honeymoon to Magill Estate, and everytime your wife sees the wine, it draws out those pleasant memories. Such subjective attachments are often unmatchable, simply because of psycology. Finding a replacement for such is also impossible because those memories are unique, so the only alternative is to create new memories with new wines. This is why at CellarDoor's there is often a "story teller" whose purpose is to dramatize a story to their wines. I know this is may be going way too deep into things, but the comment "get us 70-80% of the way there" just kinda irked me the wrong way. I hope it helps you understand why it is so difficult to scale wine "value".
