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Grange Hermitage 1971

Penfolds , South Australia, Australia

Penfolds
South Australia Australia
  • 97
    Points
  • The 664 best
    of 3 290 954
    wines globally
  • 32 Pros of
    33 recommend
    this wine
887 97
  • Taste
  • Moment
  • WINNER
    100 BEST WINE OF THE 1970's by FINE Wine Magazines

  • Country ranking ?

    45

  • Producer ranking ?

    26

  • Decanting time

    2h

  • When to drink

    now to 2030

  • Food Pairing

    Lamb with aubergines

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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Penfolds Grange 1971 best wine in world award will turn world on to Australia’s finest wines

THE naming of Penfolds’ 1971 Grange as the world’s greatest wine of the 1970s will have immediate impact on Australia’s reputation in international fine wine circles.

Current Chief Penfolds winemaker Peter Gago, still in shock over the announcement that one of the finest vintages of Australia’s most famous red wine has beaten the greatest French ...

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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

This wine is a blend of 87 per cent Shiraz and 13 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon and created a sensation when it won gold and topped its class at the Gault-Millau Wine Olympiad in Paris in 1979, beating the best Rhone Valley wines.
It also won a trophy, four gold, four silver and five bronze medals at Australian wine shows between 1971 and 1982.

'If you had to point to a wine which fulfilled all the ambitions of Grange, it would have to be 19...

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Tasting note

color

Deep, Purple and Dark

ending

Long, Flavorful, Round and Sharp

flavors

Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Mint, Toasty and Licorice

nose

Intense, Generous, Ripe and Refined

recommend

Yes

taste

High in Acidity, Warming, Medium tannin, Perfectly balanced, Concentrated, Well-structured, Youthful, Full-bodied, Focused, Refined, Powerful, Dry and Silky tannins

Verdict

Masterpiece and Transparent

Written Notes

This vintage of Grange Bin 95 Shiraz has been highly rated for almost 30 years now after beating the best Rhône wines at the Gault-Millau Wine Olympiad in Paris in 1979. The inventor of Grange and a legendary winemaker, Max Schubert, has said that this is the Grange of his lifetime, a wine, which fulfils the ambitions of Grange. The blend is 87 percent Shiraz and 13 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.

The colour is moderately deep with brick red tones. Very intense nose with ripe dark fruit aromas and vanilla flavours mixed attractively with smoke, bacon and cedar aromas. Full-bodied and intense with refreshing acidity, rich set of ripe meaty tannins and fleshy ripe fruitiness of dark fruits. Mid-palate shows elegance of oak with chocolaty and mocha flavours. Long intense finish. Truly breathtaking wine drinking well now but keeping for a few more years.

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  • 98p
The following wine was even greater, but a noticeable left turn to the Delphine. It showed incredibly Rhone-ish-ly this night despite the fact that it was a 1971 Penfolds Grange and got very chocolaty in the glass
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  • 96p

Penfolds Grange 1971 / A superb bottle in every way, living up to its fame 100%. Deep colour, fascinatingly complex bouquet of smoked meats, leather, traces of raisins and squashed ants and all sorts of things. Incredible depth of flavour, concentration and power. Endless length. A very great wine indeed, drinking at its peak. Bottles as good as this will have at least 10 years of life left. This bottle is way better than the last bottle I tasted -- at the 2007 Rewards of Patience.  99 points

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  • 99p

Atemberaubend, was dann ins Glas kam, Shiraz aus Australien und Syrah von der Rhone, beide vom Allerfeinsten, im Vergleich miteinander. Ich glücklicher durfte den legendären 1971 Penfolds Grange schon häufiger trinken. Vor 22 Jahren auf der Grange Vertikale der Ungers war das noch ein unglaublich dichtes, tanniniges Monster. In den Jahren danach öffnete er sich immer weiter, blieb aber sehr jung. 2013 und in allen Flaschen danach konnte ich ihm dann die WT100 für Perfektion geben. Jetzt hier in dieser Probe war das wieder ein gigantischer, inzwischen perfekt gereifter Grange, immer noch mit gewaltigem Rückgrat, aber inzwischen so fein und elegant mit verführerischer Cassis Frucht, mit reichlich Minze und Eukalyptus, Obstkuchen und dunkler Schokolade. Dazu kam trotz großartiger Struktur eine generöse Süße. Mit dieser irren Finesse war das ein großer Shiraz, der dabei war, sich in einen Burgunder zu verwandeln – WT100. 

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  • 100p

Deep, almost opaque, purple colour. Very intense ripe dark fruity nose with blackcurrants and blueberries, butterscotch and spicy cedary notes. A full-bodied, refined and complex wine with velvety texture. Loads of jammed dark fruit, very refined tannins and a great broad taste with vanilla and coffee tones. A touch of mintiness in long finish.

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  • 96p

87% Shiraz, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, Magill Estate (Adelaide), Clare Valley, Coonawarra blend.
Brownish rim. Really great mature Australian red. Pure Len Evans on the nose, I wrote, in that this reminded me so clearly of the Australian greats that Australia’s Mr Wine had shared with me. Sweet and luscious and so gorgeous – now we’re kicking in to Grange at its peak! Unspittable. Long, lovely round tannins. Full throttle. Peter Gago said this bottle wasn’t as bright as it should be, but it stood out to me. And look at that alcohol level!

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  • 96p

Important wine on secondary market. Much lower alcohol than current releases. 87% Shiraz, 13% Cabernet. From Kalimna, Barossa, Magill, Clare Valley and Coonawarra. Max Schubert did not like adding acid, so often had some components picked very early.
Deep brownish garnet. Lifted, sweet and leathery and nutty. Marked VA (2.1 g/l) and lifted fruit. Then coffee and chocolate. Firm dense tannins and powerful and mouthfilling. Heaps of tannin would have been added during fermentation. Moreish, dry and mouthcoating but without astringency.

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  • 95p
Medium deep brick red. A classic Penfolds year with an unusually low alcohol of around 12.3%*. An immensely complex and mature wine with lifted smoked meat/ dark chocolate/ mocha/ liquorice aromas. A silky smooth wine with rich dark chocolate/ espresso coffee/ tobacco/ cedar flavours, underlying vanillin nuances and fine lacy satin tannins. Finishes sinuous, long and bitter sweet. 87% Shiraz 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, Magill Estate (Adelaide) Clare Valley, Coonawarra Blend. “If you had to point to a wine which fulfilled the ambitions of Grange it would have to be the 1971.” – Max Schubert, 1993. Topped the Gault-Millau Wine Olympiad in Paris in 1979 – beating some of the best Rhone wines and creating a sensation. A great South Australian vintage; ideal, generally warm conditions throughout the growing season and vintage. * alcohol originally stated 11.5% but records and analysis reveal 12.3% “A Grange that doesn’t seem to tolerate poor storage or travel.”- Peter Gago
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  • 95p
Good looking normal size bottle, is in a perfect condition and has by the neck level. Colour is ruby red, and looking bright, dark and deep. On the nose it is intense, youthful, refined, fresh and generous. The taste is rich, focused, vigor, refined, with silky tannins, full-bodied, with perfectly balanced, concentrated and complex structure. The finish is long, round, flavorful, pure and spicy. This wine is intelligent, transparent and impressive. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 10-15 years and decant at least 2h before tasting.
- (Tasting note created by Tb's AI)
  • 98p
Bottle with normal size. Looking light, brick red and dark. Open, intense, complex, refined, ripe, generous, rich and charming on the nose. The taste is toasty, harmonious, focused, refined, powerful, high in acidity, well-integrated, perfectly balanced, concentrated, well-structured, complex, youthful, medium tannin, silky tannins and full-bodied. With chocolate, coffee, spice, toasty, blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry and mint flavor. Endless, round, spicy and flavorful. Outstanding, masterpiece and well-rounded. Drink between 2020 and 2030.
- (Tasting note created by Tb's AI)
  • 99p
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Information

Origin

Magill, South Australia

Grapes

13% Cabernet Sauvignon
87% Shiraz

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Average

Fake factory

None

Glass time

1h

Drinking temperature

16

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Inside Information

Parher 96 points:  have had this wine on five separate occasions and on each occasion it has been a prodigious example of Grange Hermitage. The wine has consistently revealed the fruit levels, intensity, and complexity that are the hallmarks of a classic Grange. In fact, it is the first great Grange Hermitage since the debut vintage of 1955. The color is a mature garnet with considerable amber/orange at the edge. The magnificent aromatic profile includes scents of cedar, caramel, coffee, toffee, chocolate, and gobs of jammy black-cherry and currant fruit. It could easily be mistaken for an old, magnificent Pomerol given its voluptuous texture, glorious richness, unctuosity, and phenomenal concentration, fat, and length. The wine has been fully mature since I first tasted it in 1990, yet it is capable of lasting for another decade. This is the real thing!

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