TN Penfold's Bin 389 Cabernet/Shiraz 1989

Penfold's South Australia Bin 389 Cabernet/Shiraz 1989.

I was drinking a few bottles of this several years ago, but saved one to see what happened. It has aged very well. It contains a bit over 50% Cabernet, but the Shiraz is by no means hidden. Early on this wine was nearly aggressive, and perhaps would have been best suited for Australian game. But in the US we can only find a kangaroo or platypus at the Zoo. In a few years the wine had calmed down a bit and was driinking well. According to the back label, the grapes came from several vineyards scattered around South Australia, but the blenders did a good job. The wine is still fairly deep in color. It has now smoothed well, but still has plenty of fruit and acid. You can easily notice the pepper and dark fruit kick from the Shiraz in the blend - in fact the wine resembles Shiraz more than Cabernet. It was very good with a grilled steak.

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Cwdjrx _
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I don't think you're allowed to eat platypus. Protected species.

I'm not sure it would be all that tasty anyway.

How much is an '89 worth these days? The 2002 is about $30AU.

Mat.

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Mat

Mat stated: "I don't think you're allowed to eat platypus. Protected species. I'm not sure it would be all that tasty anyway. How much is an '89 worth these days? The 2002 is about $30AU."

I have no idea what the 89 would be worth today. Most people drank this wine many years ago, and it is not a highly sought collector's wine, such as is Penfold's Grange.

I have no idea how a Platypus would taste, if it were not a protected species - I was just making a joke that the wine was a bit brutal early on and that strong game might be the best match if you could not wait for the wine to mature a few years. Even so, I would guess that the Platypus might be better than my 22 year old pet parrot, which likely now is nearly as tough as shoe leather.

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Cwdjrx _

NB: Seems to be double posting on me for some reason, so apologies.

I'll look it up if I can be bothered later. I'll have a stab and say $65AU. I'm slightly suprised it still has life in it.

Yeah I gathered it was a joke. It would be one of the wierder dining experiences if you've ever seen a platypus. Looks a bit like an otter with a duck bill. And they're marsupials, but only they and one other marsupial I think are marsupials [have pouches for young] and lay eggs. Possibly the echidna, which is a bit like a porcupine, but not as tasty.

There were two famous explorers, burke and wills, who whilst stuck in the desert without any food shot and ate cockatoo, which is a tiny bit like a giant budgie. Apparently it wasn't too tasty.

I think all breeds of cockatoo are protected too. Perhaps your local pet shop has something gamey enough to go with the newer vintages. Parakeet, budgie, finch, whatever grabs your fancy. Just don't tell the owner.

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Mat

As they're venomous, I suspect that they would only be eaten with caution.

Mark Lipton

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Mark Lipton

I think its just the spurs.

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Mat

"Mark Lipton wrote: Mat wrote: I don't think you're allowed to eat platypus. Protected species.

I'm not sure it would be all that tasty anyway. As they're venomous, I suspect that they would only be eaten with caution. Mark Lipton

I think its just the spurs."

I looked up platypus in the massive 2 volume set "Mammals of the World",

3rd.ed. by Ernest P. Walker( now deceased) printed by the Johns Hopkins University press.

This single genus and speces, Ornithorhynchus anitinus is found in the streams and lakes in eastern Australia and Tasmania. Adults weigh from

0.5 to 2 kg, with the males being larger. Both ankles of the hind legs of he male have inwardly-directed hollow spurs which are connected with venom glands. Adult females do not have these spurs. Wounds from these spurs can be extremely painful and cause much swellling, but usually do not kill humans. The male has a musty, fox-like odor from scent glands in the neck. Thus the female, lacking the spurs and scent glands, likely would be better for eating. These animals are stream bottom feeders, eating such things as crayfish, shrimp, worms, snails, tadpoles, and small fish. Thus the taste of the flesh could be somewhat fishy. A platypus in captivity can eat about one half of its body weight of food a day. A 1.5 kg male ate 450 g of earthworms, 20 to 30 crayfish, 200 mealworms, 2 smll frogs, and 2 coddled eggs every day. They are now protected because so many were killed for the fur in the past. Perhaps a full-body pink wine would match a platypus, but a full red might be better if the flesh is not too fishy.

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Cwdjrx _

Thanks for that. I take it that was written in slightly less PC times. Sounds like a late 1800s biology journal with talk of eating them. But they've only been protected for about 20 years would be my very rough guess.

I can't personally imagine why you'd want to eat a platypus even if they weren't protected.

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Mat

Mat wrote: "Thanks for that. I take it that was written in slightly less PC times. Sounds like a late 1800s biology journal with talk of eating them. But they've only been protected for about 20 years would be my very rough guess. I can't personally imagine why you'd want to eat a platypus even if they weren't protected."

The speculation about how the platypus might taste was mine based on the reports of the eating habits of the animal given in the reference. I have tasted whale, and found it somewhat fishy for example. The author of the book has been dead since sometime in the 1960s and was born in the 1800s. I would guess that he might have been at his academic peak in the 1930s or 1940s.

I am not at all a fan of most game, and I doubt if I would try platypus even if a legal one were available. I do not even care for wild boar. However I know people who enjoy game. Some of these will eat rattlesnake and alligator. I am told that the only thing that saved some of the poor in the US from starvation in the great depression starting in the late

1920s was wild game such as opossum, rabbit, squirrel, etc. Also I have seen menus from restaurants in Paris from the late 1800s when the city was cut off from food supplies during a war.The menus still have plenty of wine, but the meat features animals from the zoo that had to be slaughtered to feed the people of Paris.

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