Penfolds Grange Vertical

Sixteen, Chicago IL
Tasted Wednesday, March 8, 2017 by KeithAkers with 371 views

Flight 1 - Welcome Bubbles (6 Notes)

  • 2011 Ultramarine Blanc de Blancs Heintz Vineyard Sonoma Coast 91 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Nose: The nose is fresh, pure, and balanced with lemon peels, almonds, peaches, white fruits, apples, biscuits, and white florals. There is excellent depth to this, but it seems a bit coiled up at the moment.

    Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity. The acidity is on the piercing side and shows off a lot of youth. The feel is rounded and fresh with lemon peels, peaches, almonds, white florals, and apples.

    Overall: This is a beautiful, young Blanc de Blancs. I just love what Michael Cruse does and this may be the way forward for domestic sparkling wine. It is pristine and aromatic that speaks to California and Chardonnay without trying to be anything else. I would love to try this in another 3-5 years to see how it rounds into form as it comes off quite young right now.

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  • 2002 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    Nose: The nose is slightly coiled, but it is deep and balanced with greed and red apples, almonds, mineral tones, pears, yellow florals, baking spices, and some roasted nuts.

    Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity. The acidity is fresh and crisp while the feel is balanced and deep along with green and red apples, almonds, minerals, yellow florals, and roasted nuts.

    Overall: This felt like there is more that it will give down the road. While it was showing well, it felt like it was holding back at this time. Another 3-5 years should reward to the upside.

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  • NV Bérêche et Fils Champagne Campania Remensis 88 Points

    France, Champagne

    Nose: The nose shows off a distinct herbal element at first along with red cherries, strawberries, herbs, dandelions, and biscuits. There is good depth, but the green streak is a bit ever present.

    Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity. The acidity is a bit sharp and astringent. There is a real class and roundness to the feel with red cherries, herbs, strawberries, and dandelions. The green streak is a little less here, but, it's still there.

    Overall: This was from a 2011 base. The leaner quality of the vintage and the greenness comes through. It's superior wine making and a lot of care that allows this to be as drinkable as it is.

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  • NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé 91 Points

    France, Champagne

    Nose: The nose is fresh and balanced with berries, baking spices, red apples, pears, and red cherries. There is good depth, but this nose isn't as expressive as it has been before.

    Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity. The acidity is crisp and refreshing with the feel showing good depth along with berries, baking spices, red apples, and red cherries.

    Overall: This bottle didn't come off as expressive or deep as I've had before. That said, it's still a lovely Brut Rose that has some force behind it.

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  • 2010 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Blancs La Haute-Lemblé 92 Points

    France, Champagne

    Nose: The nose is perfumed and deep with red florals, red berries, red cherries, spiced pears, brioche, and some mineral tones. There is a feminine style to this with everything favoring the upper register.

    Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity. The acidity has some real punch to it with the feel showing polish and depth along with red florals, red berries, spiced pears, brioche, and some mineral tones.

    Overall: This was a gorgeous Champagne that was showing beautifully. It has the acidity and fruit to age easily, but it's wonderful right now.

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  • 2009 Marie-Noëlle Ledru Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée du Goulté Blanc de Noirs Brut 92 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Nose: The nose is pristine and fragrant with red apples, brioche, minerals, quince, honey notes, golden grahams, pears, and some white florals. There is excellent depth with a higher-toned and springtime nature to it.

    Taste: Medium bodied with high acidity. The acidity is tart, yet refreshing with the feel showing excellent depth and class along with red apples, brioche, minerals, pears, and a touch of honey.

    Overall: This is a lovely, young Ledru Goulte. It shows a softer and elegant side while possessing a good bit of depth and class. This is drinking quite nicely right now, but it feels like there is a lot more that it can give.

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Flight 2 - The Main Event (14 Notes)

  • 2004 Penfolds Grange 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose is deep and polished with vanilla, menthol, herbs, dark red cherries, licorice, eucalyptus, and raspberries. There is a richness and class to the nose that is desirable.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium acidity and medium+ tannins. The structure is deceptive as there is excellent concentration that covers up the chewy tannins. The feel is deep and rich with vanilla, menthol, eucalyptus, raspberries, and dark red cherries, with some liqueur tones.

    Overall: This is still a bruiser that is a good decade away from really showing itself. This has a lot of flesh, but is deep and polished as well.

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  • 2003 Penfolds Grange 91 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose is big and rich with eucalyptus, black cherries, raspberries, vanilla, liqueur tones, and spice tones.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium+ tannins and medium acidity. The structure is youthful with the tannins having a hard side to them. The feel is deep and balanced with eucalyptus, black cherries, raspberries, liqueur, and some noticeable alcohol tones.

    Overall: This shows off a rich side with the heat of the vintage leaving its imprint. It is drinking well right now if one wants a wine that is more primary.

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  • 2002 Penfolds Grange 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose was aromatic and ripe with vanilla, dark red cherries, raspberries, chocolate, ash, licorice, liqueur tones, and eucalyptus. There is excellent balance, depth, and class with this being wide open right now.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium acidity and medium+ tannins. The tannins are silky, but youthful with the feel showing excellent depth with vanilla, dark red cherries, raspberries, eucalyptus, ash notes, and some liqueur.

    Overall: This was a beautiful, young Grange. It was starting to show some more development and adding in extra complexity from the previous two Granges. Still, it's quite young and in need of plenty of more time to fully kick in to that final gear.

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  • 2001 Penfolds Grange 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose is showing some development with excellent depth and complexity that is backed up with cocoa powder, black cherries, leather, black raspberries, spice notes, vanilla, and liqueur tones.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium+ tannins and medium acidity. The structure is youthful, but silky with a lot of depth that is backed up by tones of cocoa powder, black cherries, leather tones, eucalyptus, and some black raspberries.

    Overall: This is starting to show some development, but there is a long way to go. It is well balanced and rich at the same time while showing off a lot of depth.

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  • 2000 Penfolds Grange 92 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose is balanced and ripe with mint, eucalyptus, licorice, dark red cherries, menthol, raspberries, vanilla, and leather tones. There is a smokier element to this with good depth and a dark red fruit base.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium acidity and medium+ tannins. The tannins are silky, yet youthful with the feel showing polish and depth along with mint, eucalyptus, licorice, menthol, raspberries, vanilla, and leather.

    Overall: This was showing beautifully. There was more of an American Oak imprint with the extra levels of mint, menthol, and vanilla, but it isn't overly oaky. There is excellent depth and polish with the feeling that this can easily sail on for another 15+ years.

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  • 1999 Penfolds Grange 94 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose was extremely deep and rich with a largeness that filled the glass with black cherries, black raspberries, spice tones, menthol, vanilla, herbs, and some eucalyptus.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium acidity and medium+ tannins. The tannins have a chewiness to them with the feel showing loads of depth and complexity along with black cherries, raspberries, vanilla, menthol notes, herbs, and eucalyptus.

    Overall: This was fantastic and quite young at the same time. This was one of the stars on the night and easily the best of the Granges that were within the last twenty years. That said, as gorgeous as it is now, it feels like it can kick it up another notch or two with some time.

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  • 1998 Penfolds Grange Flawed

    Australia, South Australia

    this bottle was an unfortunate disaster. Not only was it corked, there seemed to be some VA problems with it too

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  • 1997 Penfolds Grange 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose here was starting to show some evolution and adding a few extra wrinkles of complexity with chocolate, dark red cherries, dusty notes, raspberries, mint, and eucalyptus. There is excellent depth and richness from the fruit.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium tannins and medium acidity. The tannins are starting to resolve with the feel showing plush and deep backed up with chocolate notes, dust, dark red cherries, raspberries, and eucalyptus tones.

    Overall: This was showing extremely well. It's balanced and deep with a real sense of class even though it is larger scaled.

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  • 1996 Penfolds Grange 89 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose wasn't as expressive as others and lacked some depth, but did show class and warmth with dark red cherries, black raspberries, soy notes, balsamico, vanilla, and eucalyptus.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium acidity and medium tannins. The structure has pulled back with dark red cherries, raspberries, vanilla tones, and eucalyptus.

    Overall: This bottle was lacking a bit. It didn't have the expression or depth that everything else had.

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  • 1995 Penfolds Grange 92 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose was balanced and aromatic with mint, raspberries, dark red cherries, leather, and vanilla tones. There was very good depth with this having an expressive side.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium acidity and medium+ tannins. The tannins are fine grained with the feel showing off a lot of balance along with mint, raspberries, dark red cherries, and vanilla tones.

    Overall: This is showing beautifully right now. There is a ways to go, but this is a Grange that favors a more elegant side.

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  • 1994 Penfolds Grange 94 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose is deep and aromatic with dark red cherries, earth, dusty tones, raspberries, licorice, cranberries, vanilla, and liqueur notes.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium+ acidity and medium+ tannins. The structure is still noticeable, but it is well in balance with there being a lot of depth. The feel also has a plushness to it along with earth tones, dust, dark red cherries, raspberries, vanilla, and cranberries.

    Overall: This was fantastic. It started to show those next gears that the younger ones weren't fully showing. Even still, this was coming off as young and aging at a glacial pace.

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  • 1993 Penfolds Grange Flawed

    Australia, South Australia

    There was something off with this bottle. It wasn't corked, but, it wasn't right

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  • 1992 Penfolds Grange 95 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose is deep, layered, and perfumed with eucalyptus, mint, licorice, herbs, vanilla, black fruits, violets, raspberries, and dark red cherries.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium acidity and medium+ tannins. The tannins were silky and refined with that following through as well on the feel along with eucalyptus, mints, licorice, black fruits, violets, raspberries, and vanilla.

    Overall: This was stupendous and truly showed what Grange can bring as it ages. The nose filled up the glass with complex and powerful aromatics, yet there was a refinement to it as well. This was a wonderful wine that was a real joy to drink.

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  • 1990 Penfolds Grange 95 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Nose: The nose absolutely jumps and fills the glass right away with eucalpyptus, vanilla, baking spices, licorice, violets, raspberry compote, and dark red cherries.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium acidity and medium+ tannins. The tannins and acidity are well in balance and provide a framework for the palate. The feel is robust, yet silky, that shows off a lot of depth along with eucalyptus, baking spices, raspberry compote, violets, and dark red cherries.

    Overall: This was a superb wine. It showed off a lot of depth and poise that takes hold in the glass and across one's palate. This was one of the best Granges and was a great way to end the Grange portion of the night.

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Flight 3 - Dessert Wines (2 Notes)

  • 2008 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Eiswein 97 Points

    Germany, Nahe

    Nose: The nose just utterly fills up the glass with the tones of nectarines, peaches, white fruits, apricots, marmalade, yellow florals, pears, limes, and meyer lemons just coming in waves. There is a massive amount of depth and succulent tones that draw you into the glass.

    Taste: Full bodied with high acidity. The acidity is refreshing and cuts through the density of the feel. Along with that density, the feel is succulent and deep with nectarines, white fruits, peaches, meyer lemons, apricots, and marmalade.

    Overall: This was something special. There is just so much dense, rich fruit here with loads of depth and balance. While this can (and certainly will) age a lot longer, it is a pure joy to drink right now.

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  • 2000 Graham Porto Vintage 92 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Nose: The nose was rich, primary, and aromatic with black cherries, black raspberries, raisins, chocolate, and violets. There is a good amount of depth with a good richness.

    Taste: Full bodied with medium- acidity and medium+ tannins. The structure is still youthful while the feel is rich and primary with black cherries, black raspberries, raisins, and violets.

    Overall: This was still quite young. It's primary, and while the nose is open, it just feels like there is a lot more to give with another 5+ years.

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