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  • Country ranking ?

    215
  • Producer ranking ?

    146
  • Decanting time

    1h
  • When to drink

    now or never
  • Food Pairing

    Enjoy without food

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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Parker: Production: 2,530 cases Blend: 100% Shiraz
This wine, which I have tasted twice and given approximately the same rating, is drying out, with the astringent tannin taking the upper hand. The color is a garnet/ruby with considerable orange/brown at the edge. The wine exhibits an attractive spicy, herbal sweetness and some jammy fruit, but the acidity and tannin dominate. While still alive, the 1955 Grange Hermitage is largely of academi...

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The Story

Grange is arguably Australia’s most celebrated wine and is officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. Grange boasts an unbroken line of vintages from the experimental 1951 and clearly demonstrates the synergy between Shiraz and the soils and climates of South Australia. Grange utilises fully-ripe, intensely-flavoured and textured Shiraz grapes. The result is a unique Australian style that is now recognised as one of the most cons...

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Wine Information

Penfolds was founded by a young English doctor who migrated to one of his country's most distant colonies over a century and a half ago. Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold was born in 1811, the youngest of 11 children. He studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, graduating in 1838.
In 1844 Dr Penfold and his wife Mary purchased the Mackgill estate, “comprising 500 acres of the choicest land.” By all accounts it was Mary Penfold who w...

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Vintage 1955

Australia 1955 VINTAGE REPORT

Growing season rainfall was above average but frosts in late September and early October resulted in crop losses of 10 to 15%. Vintage was warm and dry, providing ideal conditions for ripe grapes and good wines.

In 1955 there were 7,538 hectares of vineyards in Barossa and 28,764 tonnes of wine grapes were crushed in that vintage.

Highlights

A horizontal Vaslin batch press was used for the first time a...

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Tasting note

color

Mature

ending

Long, Smooth, Flavorful and Acidic

flavors

Blackcurrant, Coffee, Toasty, Cranberry, Vanilla and Smoky

nose

Intense, Opulent, Complex and Seductive

taste

Low in Acidity, Medium tannin, Multi-dimensional, Balanced, Medium-bodied, Round, Harmonious, Elegant and Dry

Written Notes

Donated by Peter Gago, Penfolds' chief winemaker. Made by Max Schubert, author of the Penfolds' winemaking style (eg multi-region blending, open-top fermenters and finishing fermentation in oak). First commercial vintage of Grange was 1952. This is 90% Shiraz, 10% Cabernet from multiple vineyards. Ray Beckwith (96 last year) was Penfolds' chemist and was instrumental in understanding the importance of a wine's pH for its long-term stability. This bottle had been recorked fairly recently. 


Deeply coloured with a red tinge still showing in the brick colour. Some tomato leaf on the nose and also furniture polish and coffee but much more youthful than the Seppelt on the nose, with a sweeter fruit note. Still has some tannin texture. More volatile acidity evident. A little less silky than the Seppelt, some dryness beginning to show, leaving the acidity more marked. Very very long. With time in glass, slight farmyard smell. Falls away in the glass.

  • 95p

90% Shiraz, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Magill Estate (Adelaide), Morphett Vale (Adelaide), Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), McLaren Vale blend.
Bottle 1: Acidity dominant. Different source. Fine and sweet but a bit mushroomy.
Bottle 2: Fading nose – rich and medicinal, Tarry note. Definitely fading. Dry finish and much less intense than I remember it from 1981! A gentle farewell… except that after two hours it grew in the glass to a wonderfully gamey, much richer and more winning and voluminous wine – miraculous!

  • 91p
Deep brick red. Coffee/ mocha/ gamy/ grilled meat aromas with some camomile/ leather notes. Sweet meaty/ gamy/ mocha/ dark berry flavours and soft – slightly sappy green tannins. The fruit is beginning to fade now. A famously great vintage. Now quite rare. 90% Shiraz 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Magill Estate (Adelaide) Morphett Vale (Adelaide) Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley) McLaren Vale Blend. The most decorated Grange – winner of 12 trophies and 52 Gold medals on the Australian wine show circuit. Spent only 9 months in oak. A favourite of Max Schubert’s, partly because it won a gold medal in the open claret class at the 1962 Sydney Wine Show – some members of the judging panel had previously been vocally critical of the style. A mild to warm growing conditions – interrupted by above average rainfall. A warm dry vintage followed. Chosen by the US publication - Wine Spectator Magazine – as a “Wine of the Millenium”. Most common but later release (after show success) is Bin 95 (also Bins 13, 14, 53, 54 and 148A)
  • 90p
Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1955 / Deep colour. Lots of eucalyptus on the nose. Very good fruit. Great concentration. Powerful. 96 pts
  • 96p
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Information

Origin

Magill, South Australia

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Satisfactory

Investment potential

Average

Fake factory

Be Cautious

Glass time

1h

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