1996 Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon

Archetypical Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – perfectly balanced and integrated with no rough edges.

Concentrated fruits – blackcurrant and dark plum – merge into the chocolate and liquorice spectrum.

Hints of black olive and mineral elements. Rounded.

Peter Gago, Penfolds chief winemaker

93/100

Planted around 1888, to visit the Penfolds' Kalimna vineyard is to realize how very special this block is – it exudes history. A single Block 42 wine has only been made from the fruit in 6 vintages: 1953, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1996 and 2004.

I tried it twice within the last year and both times it was clear the wine is still youthful and has more to give, though this bottle was faring slightly better.

Very deep garnet-black colored, it offers pronounced menthol and eucalypt notes over warm blackcurrant and spices, with hints of dried roses, lavender and Provence herbs.

Solidly structured in the mouth, it has a firm level of chewy tannins and crisp acid with plenty of mid-palate flesh and a long finish. Built to go on and on.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, www.erobertparker.com, January 2012