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| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.6 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 18 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by G_H on 10/21/2023 & rated 93 points: From a pristine in neck bottle, this needed a lot of air, really started coming together after 6 (!) hours in the decanter. Unfortunately while the mouthfeel was phenomenal and hallmark Grange, the aromatics in the nose faded a bit. I’m a bit puzzled what to do with my remaining two bottles. Either sell or wait another 10 years. I think I opt for the latter. (595 views) | | | Tasted by 89grange on 11/26/2020 & rated 96 points: Thanksgiving wine. Rich, dark and quite supple tannins. A little off putting "old" nose at first but was gone within 20 minutes. A friendly monster to be thankful of surviving 2020 with less bruises than most. I have one more bottle from the 70's so will be drinking it within the next 3 months... (2650 views) | | | Tasted by La Flama Blanca on 5/12/2020 & rated 95 points: The ‘78 Vintage of Penfolds Grange is not far behind the otherworldly ‘71 and ‘76. It actually over delivers in terms of value compared to the other two 70s favorites.
Beautiful combination of dark chocolate and coconut on the nose, think Almond Joy. Sweet and supple tannins with rich and dense black fruits. These old bottles of Grange are for the guiltiest of hedonistic pleasures! (2638 views) | | | Tasted by yodamark on 4/28/2020 & rated 98 points: im a little amazed that the average scores are not a lot higher for this wine. i know it can be overshadowed by 71 and 76 but excellent bottles of 78 are up there with both those legendary vintages and certainly 3rd best grange of the 1970's by a long shot. and its a relative bargain on the auction scene compared to the others although i have noticed it is starting to push up in price. nonetheless it remains a youthful rich, dense black fruit, friendly monster that is only just starting to allow all the individual parts to party together. I would have no hesitation in putting good condition bottles away for another 15 + years. Ive never had a bad bottle, it always sings and always blows others away when i drink it with them. Grab some before its priced out of reach (3061 views) | | | Tasted by KoalaHK on 8/22/2019: Tasted at Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide. 40 Vintages of Grange: Made with 10% Cabernet. Great balance and elegance with much finer tannins than its compatriots from the '70s. Less stewed fruit than '76. On par with '71 but probably not the longevity. This is a wine you really want to drink. (3348 views) | | | Tasted by MC2 Wines on 4/28/2019: Old Grange and some other goodies (Ristorante Morini): This wine is always a favorite for me and this night was no different. I am coming to believe it's still really on the young side and we'll want to wait with our bottles. In addition to the eucalyptus that they all have and the fruits and the spices this is starting to add a bit more cigar and tobacco flavors as well. A bit more secondary but still so very fresh. Opened and decanted for prob close to 2.5 or 3 hours by the time we tried it. Just kept getting better throughout the night. (3507 views) | | | Tasted by MC2 Wines on 3/15/2019: The big 4-0 (Ristorante Morini): I am really loving this vintage of Grange. Probably my WOTN although it's slightly younger brother (the '79) and the '85 Monprivato gave it some stiff competition. Again you're getting those darker fruits and spices and a bit of violets and flowers and some eucalyptus. The difference between this and the '79 was this felt just a touch more integrated at this point (although I will say both are still pretty young wines). Really delicious. Drinking window on CT all off - this is going very strong. (1941 views) | | | Tasted by MC2 Wines on 8/11/2018 & rated 97 points: An Afternoon in LI w/Friends (Champagne Reception, Syrah from Afar) (Long Island): One of my favorites of the night. Eucalyptus jumps right out of the glass. It's actually quite young and vibrant tasting (amazing to imagine for a wine that is 40 years old). Some floral and violets and very well integrated. It's almost a pretty wine. Really tasty. (2523 views) | | | Tasted by retired_and_roving on 8/11/2018 & rated 93 points: Syrah from Afar with a Champagne Flight to start (Long Island, NY): 5/12 syrahs tasted single blind. Nose is perfumed and floral - very feminine. On the palate this seems to have more Northern Rhone styled notes though with grilled meats and game taking precedence over the dark mature fruits. More restrained and subtle than wines 2 ('96 La Chappelle) & 3 ('97 La Mouline) but still very nice. (2287 views) | | | Tasted by phill mz on 6/12/2016: Medium to very dark red/purple colour – is this really 38 years old? Seems young, juicy and powerful for its age, blackberry, cocoa, vanilla bean oak, very long, velvety and grippy. A joy to drink. A classic full-weight Grange with black fruits, lots of American oak and time on its side. RWC 2014. (3586 views) | | | Tasted by Lordswood on 8/19/2014 & rated 89 points: This wine was still fresh and showed some positive development in the glass, so still has some life left in it. Smoky dark fruits to start and adding in a bit of raspberry later on. It was long, but not overly so and the acidity balanced the whole very well. So an experience rather than a revelation. (4778 views) | | | Tasted by johnh1001 on 10/27/2013 & rated 87 points: Next to the 1973 Grange, this was not impressive. Interesting but fading black and red fruit, some spice and earth. The palate was quite disjointed and the finish unbalanced. (5385 views) | | | Tasted by Papies on 6/19/2010 & rated 94 points: Joao's birthday 78 cross horizontal - London 19 June 2010
Grange Hermitage! Big powerfull wine with lots of character and fruit. Could easily be mistaken for a 10yr old wine as even the colour is still very dark. Big fruit big nose. Really an impressive and very enjoyable wine. Does beg the question what next though. Superb.
Will last another 20yrs easily.
Decanted for 1hr. (6705 views) | | | Tasted by Russell Faulkner on 7/8/2006 & rated 97 points: Grange Offline (1990-1975) (Alba Restuarant London): 13.3%
For me easilly the wine of the night, deep dark berry fruit, very young with the same velvetty fruit as the 80, but an additional level of silk. Not a massive wine like the 1990 / 1986 but beautiful balance, kirsch, cassis and black pepper, solid but smooth tannins, only concern is a slightly thin finish. A long life ahead of it.. (9284 views) | | | Tasted by andrewstevenson.com on 7/7/2006 & rated 93 points: Penfolds Grange Vertical Tasting (1990-1975) (Alba Restaurant, Whitecross Street, London): Blend unknown. A mature integrated nose with gentle fruit. Big, powerful attack. This is a huge wine. Massive on the palate. Remarkable stuff. But it's also very enjoyable. Quite a sour cherry flavour on the finish.
93/100
Re-tasted around 11 p.m. This has quite a definite tar burner nose now with a good soft fruit character. Very, very big. The palate hasn't changed much, if at all.
Wine of the night for me (though only just pipping a number of others) (7627 views) | | | Tasted by CamWheeler on 4/8/2006 & rated 78 points: Furniture polish as well as the furniture itself on the nose. Palate is acidic, tannic, lacks fruit and has a bitter finish. This bottle was past its best. (4547 views) | | | Tasted by M&D24 on 12/4/2005 & rated 95 points: Simply wonderful wine; slightest step behind 1975 as WOTN (4403 views) |
| Penfolds Producer website
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About Us
Australia's winemaking history of less than two hundred years is brief by European measures though, like Europe, punctuated by periods of extreme success and difficult times. From the earliest winemaking days Penfolds has figured prominently and few would argue the importance of Penfolds’ influence on Australia’s winemaking psyche.
Without the influence of Penfolds the modern Australian wine industry would look very different indeed. Sitting comfortably outside of fad and fashion, Penfolds has taken Australian wine to the world on a grand stage and forged a reputation for quality that is without peer.
Penfolds’ reputation for making wines of provenance and cellaring potential might suggest a mantle of tradition and formality is the preferred attire of a company with so much history to defend. But to label Penfolds as simply an established and conventional winemaker, would be to confuse tradition with consideration and to overlook the innovative spirit that has driven Penfolds since its foundation, and continues to find expression in modern times.
If there is anything traditional about Penfolds, it is the practice of constantly reviewing the wines it already does well, and continuously evolving and refining styles as vineyards mature and access to ever older and more varied vineyard sites improves.
Making The Best Possible Wine
At Penfolds, the role of the winemaker is to make the best possible wine within the constraints of each vintage. Penfolds’ house style emerged from a fortified-wine producing culture and evolved as a winemaking philosophy – a way of making wine – which has had a profound effect on the entire Australian wine industry.
The concept of multi-regional and vineyard blending, a feature of the Penfolds house style, is an amplification of the ‘all-round wine’. Without the constraints of a single vineyard, winemakers could choose the best possible fruit with the outstanding characteristics of each vineyard.
While American oak has played a central role in the development of Penfolds red wines, French oak has been increasingly used in the evolution of new wines – particularly RWT and Yattarna. Maturation in oak, which follows fermentation, is also key to the Penfolds house style.
The Penfolds approach to winemaking has percolated through the entire Australian wine industry over the last 50 years. The techniques employed in research and development of Penfolds wines are remarkable and many of the discoveries and innovations have had a lasting impact on winemaking thinking.
Winemakers
In Max Schubert, Don Ditter, John Duval and Peter Gago, Penfolds has nurtured four of Australia's great winemakers. They have passed the Chief Winemaker’s baton of responsibility for crafting some of Australia's most iconic wines, down through the past six decades.
Joining Peter Gago in the Penfolds winemaking team are Senior Red Winemaker Steve Lienert, Senior White Winemaker Kym Schroeter, and Red Winemakers Andrew Baldwin, Adam Clay, Stephanie Dutton and Matt Woo - also the Penfolds Fortified Winemaker. All members of the Penfolds winemaking team ensure that Penfolds’ reputation for outstanding quality is upheld.
Vineyards
Barossa Valley
Penfolds draws fruit from a combined vineyard area of 618 hectares in the Barossa region of South Australia. The Barossa is about 70 kilometres north of Adelaide and in 1911 Penfolds established a winery at Nuriootpa, completed in time for the 1913 vintage. The Barossa region is known for its relatively low rainfall with many vineyards dry grown on single wire trellising.
Magill Estate
The historic and heritage-protected Magill Estate Vineyard was established in 1844 by Dr Christopher Rawson and Mary Penfold—just eight years after the foundation of Adelaide. It was originally known as the Grange Vineyard, named after their new homestead ‘The Grange’, a cottage which still stands intact amongst the vines.
Eden Valley
Joseph Gilbert planted the first vines in the Eden Valley in 1842 and since that time the region has become synonymous with producing elegant riesling and complex shiraz. While its name suggests a concave nature, Eden Valley is actually a wide ridge, situated east of the Barossa Valley with an altitude ranging from 440 – 550 metres.
McLaren Vale
McLaren Vale is located approximately 40km to the south of Adelaide, with the vineyards in the region located between 6 and 15 kilometres from the Gulf of St Vincent. The elevation ranges from 50 to 350 metres above sea level. Penfolds has company owned vineyards throughout the region, using the fruit as blending components for premium red wines such as Grange and Bin 389.
Coonawarra
Penfolds has had a long history with the Coonawarra region, dating back to their first vineyard purchase in 1960. It is one of the most famous red wine regions in Australia with weathered limestone terra rossa soils, relatively cool climate and overall water availability. Coonawarra has played a significant role in many of Penfolds' multi-regional wines as well as the single region wines such as Bin 128.
James Halliday Australian Wine Companion Winery Of The Year 2014: Penfolds
Penfolds is Australia’s foremost winemaker, with an unbroken line dating back to its establishment in 1844 when medical practitioner Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold and wife Mary purchased ‘the delightfully situated and truly valuable of Mackgill … Comprising 500 acres (202 hectares) of the choicest land’. Here they built the house that still stands today, and within a few years had begun the winery and cellar on the site of today’s buildings at Magill Estate.
Mary took charge of winemaking, initially producing grenache prescribed by her husband as a tonic for anaemic patients. By 1870 she, son-in-law Thomas Hyland and cellar manager/winemaker Joseph Gillard had formed Penfolds & Co. With markets in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, their wine production was over one-third of South Australia’s total.
Growth continued unabated, and in 1945 Penfolds acquired the jewel of the Magill Vineyard, at that time the largest vineyard in South Australia. It now has 2100 hectares of vineyards, the largest share of Australia’s total. Two men came together in the 1950s to lay the foundation of Penfolds today: winemaker Max Schubert, and research chemist Ray Beckwith (who died shortly after his 100th birthday in 2012); indeed, their contribution transcended Penfolds to the entire Australian wine industry.
The architecture for the Penfolds wine portfolio of the twenty-first century was established in the 1960s, half a century ago. There has been growth, both in the range of labels and their price points, but it has been cleverly – indeed sensitively – managed; demand-driven growth has been achieved without any quality compromise whatsoever.
There is no possibility that the pre-eminence of Penfolds will ever be challenged by any other Australian wine business. Equally certain is that the Penfolds brand value will continue to gain ground on the world stage of all consumable products. If proof be needed, the overall quality of the wines in this Wine Companion is the best Penfolds has ever presented to the markets of the globe.
Author: James Halliday Jul 20131978 Penfolds GrangeBin 95 Grange HermitagePenfolds GrangeLangton's The Definitive Grange Guide (includes 2006 vintage)
http://www.langtons.com.au/images/pdfs/grange_guide.pdf
The Rewards of Patience (7th Edition)
Vintage Label Shiraz Cabernet
2010 Bin 95 Grange 96% 4%
2009 Bin 95 Grange 98% 2%
2008 Bin 95 Grange 98% 2%
2007 Bin 95 Grange 98% 2%
2006 Bin 95 Grange 98% 2%
2005 Bin 95 Grange 96% 4%
2004 Bin 95 Grange 96% 4%
2003 Bin 95 Grange 97% 3%
2002 Bin 95 Grange 98.5% 1.5%
2001 Bin 95 Grange 99% 1%
2000 Bin 95 Grange 100%
1999 Bin 95 Grange 100%
1998 Bin 95 Grange 97% 3%
1997 Bin 95 Grange 96% 4%
1996 Bin 95 Grange 94% 6%
1995 Bin 95 Grange 94% 6%
1994 Bin 95 Grange 89% 11%
1993 Bin 95 Grange 86% 14%
1992 Bin 95 Grange 90% 10%
1991 Bin 95 Grange 95% 5%
1990 Bin 95 Grange 95% 5%
1989 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 91% 9%
1988 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 94% 6%
1987 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 90% 10%
1986 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 87% 13%
1985 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 99% 1%
1984 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 95% 5%
1983 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 94% 6%
1982 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 94% 6%
1981 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 89% 11%
1980 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 96% 4%
1979 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 87% 13%
1978 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 90% 10%
1977 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 91% 9%
1976 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 89% 11%
1975 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 90% 10%
1974 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 93% 7%
1973 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 98% 2%
1972 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 90% 10%
1971 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 87% 13%
1970 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 90% 10%
1969 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 95% 5%
1969 Bin 826 Grange Hermitage
1968 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 94% 6%
1968 Bin 826 Grange Hermitage
1967 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 94% 6%
1967 Bin 74 Grange Hermitage
1966 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 88% 12%
1966 Bin 72 Grange Hermitage
1966 Bin 71 Grange Hermitage
1965 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 95% 5%
1965 Bin 71 Grange Hermitage
1965 Bin 70 Grange Hermitage
1965 Bin 69 Grange Hermitage
1964 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 90% 10%
1964 Bin 68 Grange Hermitage
1964 Bin 67 Grange Hermitage
1964 Bin 66 Grange Hermitage
1964 Bin 395 Grange Hermitage
1963 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 100%
1963 Bin 65 Grange Hermitage
1962 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 87% 13%
1962 Bin 456 Grange Hermitage
1962 Bin 59A Grange Hermitage
1962 Bin 59 Grange Hermitage
1961 Bin 395 Grange Hermitage 88% 12%
1961 Bin 395 Grange Hermitage
1960 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 92% 8%
1960 Bin 45 Grange Hermitage
1959 Bin 46 Grange Hermitage 90% 10%
1959 Bin 49 Grange Hermitage
1959 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage
1958 Bin 46 Grange Hermitage 94% 6%
1957 Bin 50 Grange Hermitage 88% 12%
1956 Bin 14 Grange Hermitage 96% 4%
1955 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage 90% 10%
1955 Bin 148A Grange Hermitage
1955 Bin 54 Grange Hermitage
1955 Bin 53 Grange Hermitage
1955 Bin 14 Grange Hermitage
1955 Bin 13 Grange Hermitage
1954 Bin 12 Grange Hermitage 98% 2%
1954 Bin 11 Grange Hermitage
1953 Bin 2 Grange Hermitage 87% 13%
1953 Bin 145 Grange Hermitage
1953 Bin 86C Grange Hermitage
1953 Bin 10 Grange Hermitage
1953 Bin 9 Grange Cabernet Sauvignon (Block 42) 100%
1952 Bin 4 Grange Hermitage 100%
1952 Bin 4A Grange Hermitage
1951 Bin 1 Grange Hermitage 100%
Shiraz BlendViognierGrangePenfold's Rewards Of Patience
http://www.grange.biz/library/rewards/bin-95-grange.pdf
Australia Wine Australia (Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation) | Australian Wines (Wikipedia)South Australia South Australian Wine Industry Association | South Australian Wines (Wikipedia) |
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