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 50 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.
Viinin Kuvailu
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 consistent of the world’s great wines. The Grange style is the original and most powerful expression of Penfolds multi-vineyard, multi-district, blending philosophy.
Wine Information
First Grange to be made predominantly from Kalimna (Barossa Valley) rather than Magill (Adelaide) fruit.
Also the first and
only Grange to use grapes from the cool-climate Adelaide Hills region in the Mount Lofty ranges in South Australia.
After the 1955, this is the second most successful Grange in Australian wine shows with four trophies and 20 gold, 10 silver and three bronze medals.
This vintage Grange is becoming increasingly rare. Bottles with good
levels and appearance are invariably drinking well.
Bottles labelled Bin numbers 59, 95, 456, 59A. One of three Grange vintages (1952 and 1953 are the others)produced in half (375ml) as well as full (750ml) bottles.
A blend of 87 per cent Shiraz and 13 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Winemaker comments by
Max Schubert
Colour Deep brick red.
Nose A lovely aged wine with complex black berry/
cedar/mocha/smoky/vanilla aromas.
Palate A n elegantly proportioned palate with prune/
mocha/dark chocoalte fruit and supple/slinky
tannins. Superb flavour length and balance.
The February 25/2012 auction of Fine & Rare Wines at Bonhams in New York and San Francisco, and simulcast in Los Angeles, will feature a pair of exceptional and rare wines which will turn half a century old in 2012. The first bottle of the pair - a main highlight to the auction - is a rare and perfect magnum of 1962 Krug Collection (pre-sale est. $7,000-$9,000), from the first vintage produced under Henri Krug. It has been more than two years since a magnum of this wine has appeared at auction.
The other rare 50-year-old bottle of wine is an immaculate 1962 Penfolds Bin 60A Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Kalimna Shiraz (pre-sale est. $3,000-$5,000). It has been more than three years since a bottle of this wine has been available at auction. Made by the legendary Max Schubert, this wine was #7 on Decanter magazine's "100 Wines to Try before you Die," stating:
"Made by Grange pioneer Max Schubert, this legendary wine is considered by many to be the finest Australian wine ever made. Andre Tchelistcheff, the founding father of Californian wine, instructed a room of Napa Valley to 'stand in the presence of this wine'...Not only had Schubert created 'Australia's greatest red wine,' says Halliday, 'he laid the ground for the revolution in Australian red winemaking'."
Vuosikerta 1962
Australia / A year of below average precipitation due to a dry winter. However, summer rains in January and again in March made this an exceptional year producing exceptional red wines, despite the poor fruit set for Shiraz.
In 1962 there were 7,174 hectares of vines in the Barossa and 31,774 tonnes of wine grapes were crushed in that vintage.
The introduction of the first Barossa Spaetlese Riesling by Orlando in 1956 had ushered in a new era of late harvest and spaetlese styles which reached its peak in 1962.
This interest in Riesling also fueled cool climate viticulture in the Barossa, including the development of the Steingarten vineyard on the rolling slopes of the Eden Valley by Orlando and the redevelopment of Pewsey Vale by S. Smith & Co. The Barossa has continued to innovate in winemaking technology with the first use of atomic absorption spectrophotometry for wine analysis at Penfolds.
Using a SO2 vacuum method, Australia's first rosé wine was made at Kaiser Stuhl. The wine went on to win gold medals at Australian wine shows and became a popular new style of wine for consumers.
John Vickery introduced antioxidant manipulation of white wines at Leo Buring using an inert gas blanket of carbon dioxide and ascorbic acid as an "oxygen scavenger".
The 1962 was the first Grange Hermitage to be made primarily from fruit sourced from the Kalimna vineyard of Barossa - also one of the best! This year also marked a breakthrough in acceptance by wine judges and the wine drinking public of Grange.
The Australian Wine Research Institute has named its first winemaker, Dr CR Hale.