Grange Hermitage 2013 Penfolds

Latest Pro-tasting notes

20 tasting notes

99p by James Halliday / BWW2024 Finalist
95p by Lu Yang / Sommelier
97p by Ron Li Leung
98p by Samuel Gates / Wine dealer
92p by Pekka Nuikki / Editor of the Fine Wine Magazines and Champagne Magazine
95p by Valtteri Malmivirta
97p by Lu Yang / Sommelier
97p by Alan Murray

Tasting note

Be the first one to make a 20s tasting note!

Written Notes

Following the glorious 2012, it would be fair to say that expectations for this vintage of Grange were perhaps not quite as stellar as for some. So what did Penfold's do? They showed us both of them next to each other. Sir Humphrey might have called it “courageous”, but it worked. The audience was divided – not about the fact that we had two stunning wines before us, but rather, which took the gong on the day. For me, it was this vintage, by a mere point, and that was unexpected. Young and very powerful. Glass-staining intensity. Plenty of oak still apparent. Dense fruit. Coffee beans, chocolate, dry herbs and an ever-expanding array of other flavours that kept emerging. On the palate, the immediate impression was of the slipperiest of tannins and the great length. Knife-edge balance. Has many years ahead of it (the ’12 may outlast it, but most of us will be lucky to remember our own names by the time that happens). This is more refined than the 2012. It is hard to recall a Grange so exquisitely balanced on release. Bravo!

Score: 99/100

Best drinking: will drink magnificently for decades.

Alc: 14.5%

- Ken Gargett

Inky, with purple hues.Complex and vibrant blueberry aromas hit the nose alongside redcurrants, allspice, Szechuan pepper and a touch of fruit. Juicy, bright plum and mulberry flavours are complemented by hints of spice. This full-flavoured wine is richly textured on the palate, balanced by a long and spicy finish.

- Lu Yang / Sommelier

An unbroken line of vintages from the experimental 1951. The majority of South Australia had a dry winter reminiscent of 2006, vines were in water deficit at the beginning of spring and became accustomed to dry conditions quite early. The exception was McLaren Vale, where revitalising winter rainfall exceeded the long-term average. Early budburst was noticeable across many regions. Dry and warm spring conditions explained canopy growth and yields, becoming typical of the 2013 growing season. Warm days were dispersed throughout October, November and in early January, contributing to an early start to the 2013 harvest and a condensed vintage. Dry and warm conditions, coupled with lower than average yields resulted in fruit showing strong, structural tannins and wines of great intensity and encouraging flavour. The Magill Estate fruit was harvested in pristine condition, hand-picked on 14 and 15 February 2013. 96% Shiraz, 4% Cabernet from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Magill. TA 6.8 g/l, pH 3.65. 20 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads.
Rich, smooth nose with polished mulberry and real lift on the nose. Masses of sweetness – almost bonbons! – and then great rich depth underneath. Red fruits. Bright red powdered spices somehow. Massive chew and weight with the polished fruit struggling to cover the tannins. Something rather ecclesiastical about this. Incense? Certainly spice cabinet. Dry fresh, neat finish. Real kick. Liquorice and lift. Gago maintains the 2013s have grown in the bottle. Dried spices. Brooding.

- Jancis Robinson MW / BWW2024/Best Wine Critic of the World

Penfolds Grange Hermitage 2014 / 97 points / Deep colour. Beautiful crushed blackberry, mulberry aromas with roasted chestnut, marzipan, mocha oak and liquorice, crème de caramel nuances. Richly flavoured velvety textured wine with dense blackberry, mulberry, dark plum fruits, fine plentiful chocolaty but vigorous tannins, abundant roasted chestnut, mocha, nougat oak. Finishes chocolaty firm with bitter sweet notes, and sustained mineral length. Impressively balanced wine with lovely density, energy and meaty complexity. A classic example of exceptional multi-vineyard sourcing including Wrattonbully for the very first time. Penfolds winemaking philosophy is the ascendant star in this wine. While in the shadow of three successive great years, this “sleeper” Grange vintage has the potential to surprise.

- Andrew Caillard MW / BWW2024 Finalist

An indulged aromatic meander:
First in the kitchen – umami expressed primarily via wafts of shiitake mushroom stock, hoisin and XO sauce ...enhancing scents of dry-aged beef and game meats.
Then outside – olive-leaf, cardamom, sage and thyme ... “a stroll through a South Australian olive grove” ...saltbush, acacia, dried and dusty bracken.
To the cellar – fresh and familial lifted formic and barrel-ferment nuances.

Followed by a return to reality:Quite simply, an unmistakable youthful ‘Grange’ nose. Awakened primary fruits and stylish oak interlocked and indistinguishable. As expected.

Savoury, not fruity. Tastes/flavours remind of slow cooked beef ragout, chicken liver game terrine. Red liquorice also apparent.
Integrated oak – spicy, almost ‘non-American’ oak ... but it is. As it always is. A core of 100% new Quercus alba.Poised yet powerful. A balanced, tightly-knit and woven structural ‘tapestry’. Not to be constrained by dimension or frame.

Tannins with attitude! Nonetheless respectful. Type? Slatey tannins ... alluvial, silty (certainly not muddy!).Long and lingering – tactile impressions indistinguishably and slowly fuse/merge into an aftertaste memory.
Until the next sip!
A Grange to create new friends – this 2014 offering a subtly different structural mosaic; different tone and timbre.

- Peter Gago / Penfolds

Floral, sweet mint and cassis, with spicy notes of crushed caraway seeds, Earl Grey tea, and licorice. On the palate the wine is smooth and rich with the sweet earthiness of roasted root vegetables, the acidity of rhubarb and the dark lusciousness of black currants. Still, the intense tannins are layered and finish is a bit dry, pulling the tongue in then releasing it keeping the wine feeling reserved and controlled.

- Gagan Sharma / Sommelier

Load more notes