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  • Country ranking ?

    87
  • Producer ranking ?

    52
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Lamb

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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 Grange Hermitage


It took 10 years from the time the first experimental Grange was made before the wine gained general acceptance and the prejudices were overcome.

In 1949 a young Australian wine maker from Penfolds, Max Schubert, was sent to Jerez, Spain to learn the art of making sherry. At the time the voyage between continents was made without haste by ocean liners. On his way back home, as the ship stopped in the harbor o...

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Vintage 2002

Australia 2002 was a cold year with plenty of winter and spring rain to support the vines for the year. Summer and fall were completely dry. The summer was the coldest on record. Fall had one of the warmest endings. All of this meant that we had very low yields of grapes and produced high quality wines. The grapes had a very good scent (nose and taste, more floral than usual), good concentration and good acidity. A great year for whites and ma...

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Tasting note

color

Deep, Ruby red and Clear

ending

Long, Smooth and Extensive

flavors

Blackcurrant, Vanilla, Toasty and New-oak

nose

Youthful, Pure and Fresh

taste

Average in Acidity, Warming, Medium tannin, Concentrated, Youthful, Full-bodied, Round, Harmonious, Rich, Dry and Sweet tannins

Written Notes

(According to Peter Gago, 1952 is still great – better than the original 1951 vintage.) 98.5% Shiraz, 1.5% Cabernet Sauvignon (in some years there is no Cabernet). 77.5% from Barossa, the rest from McLaren Vale. 17 months in 100% new US oak. As with all the wines blended from different regions, the blending is done on the basis of blind tasting alone. pH 3.58. ‘In the mould of 1996 and 1990 – not “brutish”.’
Closed but pretty exotic. Firm, dense and very fresh acidity. Hints of eucalyptus. Balanced and poised even in its extreme youth. Savoury, dense but very smooth tannins, which also contribute freshness. Not yet very expressive though it has bags of sweet black fruit in the mid palate; quite primary. Incredible savoury blackness. [I believe it has been launched at a truly brutish price though, £130 a bottle in bond and up

  • 95p
Deep crimson purple. Inky/ blackberry essence/ liquorice/ aniseed aromas with plenty of malt/cedar oak. An immensely concentrated silky textured wine with saturated and juicy blackberry/ meaty/ cedar/ mocha flavours and fine supple tannins. Finishes long and sinuous. A great Grange. 98.5% Shiraz 1.5% Cabernet Sauvignon 50% Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), 50% Barossa Valley. A long, cool summer with intermittent rains was followed by a cool dry summer and a warm, dry autumn. A great vintage.
  • 97p
As a five year old at the time of writing, and just before its annual release, the wine is deep, dark and impenetrable. At once Grange...oh, and the aromatics just happen to be compatible with that of Shiraz. As is its want, the aromas transform and complex across many planes, with air and over time in the glass. At first, a rich mix of dark chocolate infused with coffee bean and black liquorice, then scents of tar, aniseed, raw (pure) soy and black olive. Is it oak, or a hybrid, 'barrel ferment' character that can be captured as it oscillates in and out of this beguiling aromatic offering. The palate is expansive, and yet finessed, balanced, highly defined, sleek. A continuum, an amalgam of dark berried flavours and textural sensations - deceptively accessible, yet a hidden largesse, untapped flavour and structural precursors threaten to ingress. 100% new oak is completely absorbed, meshed with ripe tannins, completing a palate of impressive length and youthfulness.
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Information

Origin

Magill, South Australia

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