THE JUG SHOP 11TH ANNUAL PENFOLDS TASTING

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Silks at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel

It's baaaaaaaaaack!

May 1st in Australia marks the annual release date for the new luxury cuvees from Penfolds, a line-up of iconic wines that their marketing geeks have recently branded as "The Ultras." The celebrated day heralds the new release of Penfolds Grange as well as fresh vintages from the Penfolds luxury stable, including the RWT Shiraz, Bin 707 Cabernet, and Yattarna Chardonnay among others. The Ultras represent the pinnacle of Penfolds winemaking efforts and are scarce enough to generate high demand worldwide.

While there is no official release day in America, Penfolds' parent company has begun a tradition of showing the new Ultras to the wine trade in May and we have typically put on our annual Penfolds consumer event shortly thereafter. This year's trade tasting took on even more significance than usual, however, as we saw a decrease in our Penfolds allocation, an increase in wholesale pricing and some rather biblical reports coming from the Australian wine press, pronouncing the 2004 Grange to be one of the Greatest Vintages Ever Made.

Click here to read Chuck's full report on the new releases, including his tasting notes and links to reviews in the Australian press.

Hope you'll join us in saying farewell to summer and hello to fall with the range of new releases from Penfolds. We'll be pouring an assorment of their famous Bin series wines and a range from the Ultra collection including the much-acclaimed 2004 vintage of Penfolds Grange! We'll also have a look at the Thomas Hyland range of value-oriented wines. Penfolds wine educator Matt Lane will join us again to discuss the wines and as is tradition, he has generously offered to pull some treats from the Penfolds cellar for you to try.

The tasting fee of $40 includes nibbles by the great folks at Silks in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where native South Australian Nicole Kosta has just earned the wine list an additional glass from The Wine Spectator. (Congrats Nicole!)

Come one, come all, but don't delay in making your reservation as space will be limited.

11th Annual Penfolds New Release Tasting

Saturday, September 19th

1p to 3p

$40 per person*

Silks at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel

222 Sansome Street, San Francisco CA 94104

RSVP to Nicole Kosta at 415.276.9787

Or by email to nkosta@mohg.com

A credit card is required at time of reservation.

*Please note that your credit card will be charged prior to event day. If you must cancel, please do so by September 16th as refunds for cancellations after this time will be entirely at the discretion of Silks and may not be possible.

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