Penfolds Grange Vertical Tasting (1990-1975)
Alba Restaurant, Whitecross Street, London
Tasted Friday, July 7, 2006 by andrewstevenson.com with 2,011 views
Alba Restaurant, Whitecross Street, London
Tasted Friday, July 7, 2006 by andrewstevenson.com with 2,011 views
2000 Penfolds Chardonnay Reserve Bin 00A 89 Points
Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills
100% chardonnay. A rich, buttery nose with smoky melon. Big palate with lots of fruit, but feeling a bit austere. Finishes a touch short. I prefer this to the Yattarna, and it's much better with the carpaccio of salmon - the Yattarna's too blowsy for the salmon.
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1999 Penfolds Chardonnay Yattarna 86 Points
Australia, South Australia
100% chardonnay that's spent 10 months in 80% new and 20% one-year-old French oak.
A sweet oaky nose with loads of vanilla. Rich and a touch sweet on the palate. Very big and blowsy with a bit of a leesy feel.
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1968 Lindeman's Sémillon Bin 3470 92 Points
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Curious 738ml bottle size. 9.8% abv.
Mid- to deep-yellow gold. Lemony with a bit of furniture polish on the slightly oxidised feeling nose. Full and fully mature on the palate. Ripe, slightly raisined citrus and melon on the palate. Very Good Indeed.
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1999 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier d'Or 88 Points
France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
Granny Smith apples on the nose. Good light palate. Not overly complex, but it's a nice, light, fresh, crisp mouthful.
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1991 Penfolds Grange 92 Points
Australia, South Australia
95% shiraz, 5% cabernet from Kalimna, Barossa and McLaren Vale.
Leathery nose with very concentrated plummy fruit. Sweet fruit on the palate with a bite of concentration. Fairly big tannic structure.
92/100
Re-tasted around 10 p.m. It now has a more open nose with sweet blackberry fruit. The palate is pretty much the same, but the tannins are much reduced.
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1990 Penfolds Grange 93 Points
Australia, South Australia
95% shiraz, 5% cabernet from Kalimna, Barossa, Clare and Coonawarra.
Smoky tobacco and leather on the nose. Rich attack. Feels very mature on the palate and has a real blackberry fruit character with huge elegance. Big power on the finish.
93/100
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. Very little change.
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1990 Penfolds Bin 90A 92 Points
Australia, South Australia
Opened around three and a half hours earlier. A big blackcurrant nose, but with aeration it gains considerably in complexity. Very attractive immediately. Much clearer than the Grange 1990 and somewhat more approachable, but ultimately a bit simpler.
90/100
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later from the same pour. The blackcurrant on the nose is more in check now. Lovely sweet fruit on the palate. Very pure. 92/100
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1989 Penfolds Grange 87 Points
Australia, South Australia
Blend unknown. Opened and double decanted late morning.
A big, sweet nose with lots of cassis and some eucalyptus and some obvious espresso notes. Sweet ripe fruit on the attack. Very pure flavours on the palate. For me, this seems just a bit overdone, and the fruit still feels very young at the moment. It would be interesting to come back to this in ten years.
87/100
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. Very little change
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1987 Penfolds Grange 88 Points
Australia, South Australia
90% shiraz, 10% cabernet.
An integrated, complex nose that promise loads with a variety of opulent black fruits. Velvety opulence on the palate. Lots of ripe fruit and very big tannins on the finish. This is the most tannic so far. Unfortunately, it seems to lack the complexity that one might expect.
88/100
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. Very similar, just feeling a bit riper.
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1986 Penfolds Grange 93 Points
Australia, South Australia
87% shiraz, 13% cabernet.
A complex nose, though feeling rather closed. Lovely palate. Elegance and power in the same glass! There are remains of grippy tannins on the finish. Really good depth. A very interesting wine.
93/100
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. Still fairly closed on the nose and the palate is pretty similar to earlier.
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1985 Penfolds Grange 93 Points
Australia, South Australia
This was the highest percentage of shiraz of all the Granges on show tonight, with 99% shiraz and a mere 1% cabernet.
This has a rich, plummy, blackberry nose. Ripe and lovely on the palate. This seems to be in a more elegant style, but with a real spicy power on the finish.
91/100
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. Now it's much more pruney and chocolatey on the nose. This is the most changed - and most improved - so far. Elegant ripe fruit, very soft, with a gentle tannic structure on the finish. 93/100
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1983 Penfolds Grange 93 Points
Australia, South Australia
94% shiraz, 6% cabernet.
A smoky, leathery, plummy, blackberry nose that would make you think it's a lot younger than 1983. Ripe and full on the palate. Remarkably young feeling. Lovely balance. I think this works really well, but give it five years for perfection.
93/100.
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. This has opened up quite a bit, but it's clear it will still repay further cellarage.
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1982 Penfolds Grange 93 Points
Australia, South Australia
94% shiraz, 6% cabernet
A sweet ripe nose with rather more blackcurrant fruit than there should be. Very ripe, rounded and fruity on the palate. Very integrated. A lovely drink.
93/100
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. Still superb and just a touch better.
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1981 Penfolds Grange 91 Points
Australia, South Australia
89% shiraz, 11% cabernet
Concentrated black fruits on the nose. Big and young on the palate, with quite a lot of heat and spirit. Tannins tend to hollow out the finish.
91/100
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. Very similar.
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1980 Penfolds Grange 90 Points
Australia, South Australia
96% shiraz, 4% cabernet
A much more mature nose than the 1981 with lots of gorund coffee and black fruit. Lovely attack, lovely palate. Elegant and fully mature. A bit short on the finish maybe.
90/100
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. Essentially similar.
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1979 Penfolds Grange Flawed
Australia, South Australia
87% shiraz, 13% cabernet.
Corked.
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1978 Penfolds Grange 93 Points
Australia, South Australia
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)
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1976 Penfolds Grange 82 Points
Australia, South Australia
89% shiraz, 11% cabernet
Bit of a flat nose with hints of mocha and coca cola. There could be some very mild TCA in this. On the palate, a bit weedy and lacking fruit.
82/100
Re-tasted around 11 p.m. Unchanged. Still thin and weedy.
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1975 Penfolds Grange 93 Points
Australia, South Australia
90% shiraz, 10% cabernet
A very attractive, mature nose - very integrated with some soft black fruit and a touch of tar. This is going well. Nice restrained fruit on the palate. Gentle, soft tannins and a hint of spirit on the finish.
91/100
Re-tasted around 11 p.m. The tannins are softer and the spirit has gone, leaving all the positive characteristics pretty much unchanged. 93/100
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1976 Moulin de Sanxet Monbazillac 87 Points
France, Southwest France, Dordogne, Monbazillac
Deep copper colour. Very interesting nose - like raisins coated in orange juice and marmalade - that I don't find entirely attractive. Light attack. Fairly sweet, but with a bit of a dried out feel.
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