Four decades of Penfolds Grange

Chicago, IL
Tasted Thursday, September 28, 2023 by acyso with 222 views

Flight 1 (21 Notes)

  • 2006 Penfolds Grange 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    In hindsight, it's pretty clear this is the most modern of the wines tonight, and that there is a very clear continuum from here back to 1977. This shows dense black fruit, with a sweetness that definitely pushes the boundaries a little bit. Very intense American oak as well, with more cabernet dustiness than syrah smoke. Honestly I could confuse this for a Monte Bello (no bad thing, really). Young, leathery tannins. Not much upside to opening now -- better in a decade at the very least.

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  • 2004 Penfolds Grange 95 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Of the younger iterations, this was very much my favourite. It is of a slightly more delicate, perfumed nature, and there is more syrah character here than in most of the other wines. The American oak is still prominent, but the red fruit gives this more of a Côte-Rôtie character. With air, more menthol and earth emerges. The lighter profile of this wine makes it much more attractive to drink now.

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  • 2003 Penfolds Grange

    Australia, South Australia

    I don't think this was a typical showing, especially in comparison to all the wines side-by-side, and in hindsight knowing how immensely consistent these wines were. The nose shows a lot of American oak, but more dustiness and earthiness. The fruit seems muted, and the palate as well doesn't have the same fruit-forwardness that the wines of this era seemed to have. This may have been modestly heat-damaged too, as what fruit there was seemed a bit oxidized.

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  • 2002 Penfolds Grange 90 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    In the context of the younger wines, I found this a bit of an underperformer. It shows very, very dark and ripe, and pushes that boundary a little bit too far for me. Intense black cherry and American oak, but missing some of the lift that I want on the palate. The alcohol juts out a tad here, but overall this is still an impressive wine. It'll just need a lot more time to fully integrate.

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  • 2001 Penfolds Grange 90 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Intensely smoky, like a campfire, but also with some bloody iron notes on the nose as well. On the palate, there is a high-tonedness that I found unique to this vintage, and it feels a bit of an underperformer in the balance category, as the alcohol and candied cherry quality really sticks out here. Oddly herbal as well.

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  • 1999 Penfolds Grange 90 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Very high relative dose of American oak here, and the relatively cool quality of this wine makes the coconut jut out even more. The fruit doesn't feel underripe, but it doesn't have the weight and presence of the better iterations. Maybe sour is a good descriptor of the acidity here. This feels a little green in the context of the other wines. One of the underperformers tonight.

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  • 1998 Penfolds Grange 98 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    I clearly have no idea what I'm doing when I write these notes, because tonight's experience with this wine was certainly different from my note seven years ago. A splendid, magnificent wine, just on the cusp of reaching maturity, with a balance between primary and secondary characteristics that is really appealing to me. The fruit is still sweet but starting to show some desiccation. The oak is present but very much an accent. Firm, leathery tannins hint at further aging potential. One of my favourites tonight.

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  • 1997 Penfolds Grange 95 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    This comes off as a bit of a red-fruited version of the magnificent 1998. It is similarly on the cusp of maturity, and shows the same firm, leathery tannins, but the fruit is a little more tart and bright. The acidity is also more prominent, making this feel overall more structured. A little more time will help this soften and probably yield a slightly different, but similarly splendid wine.

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  • 1996 Penfolds Grange 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Next to the 1998 and 1997, it's pretty clear that this was the weaker wine. There's a bit of that Parker black cherry/vanilla combo, but this is fortunately not over-the-top like the wines that Parker favours. Maybe a little like the 1999 in that this had very high red-fruited acids, with a bit of a candied cherry quality (though not the sweetness). Not as balanced as the best wines, and even showing a slight hint of VA.

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  • 1995 Penfolds Grange 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Kind of a sturdy, broad-shouldered workhorse edition here. Nowhere as elegant and silky as the best examples, but with firm tannins and plenty of American oak. Maybe even a bit clunky, this would probably benefit from more time.

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  • 1992 Penfolds Grange Flawed

    Australia, South Australia

    This felt muted on the nose, with lots of earthiness and maybe a hint of mint as well. The fruit was relatively and sweet, the tannins backwards and rustic. But the earthiness gave way to corkiness with more time.

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  • 1991 Penfolds Grange 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    The first of the vintages where you actually really feel the mature tannins and silkiness of the wine. One of our companions remarked that it was very similar to Latour in the way you had these large-scaled wines with hefty tannins that matured into silky wines without losing that weight. This definitely feels like a different regime than the wines a decade later -- there's more of a rusticity here. This reminds me a bit of mature Clape with both the relative lack of fruit and rustic yet silky tannins.

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  • 1990 Penfolds Grange 98 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    This reminds me a little of the 1998, and to me seems like what the younger wine will evolve into. Drinks like a 1990 Latour, really, with that intensity of fruit, large-scale structure, and silky tannins. Nowhere close to maturity, but incredibly enjoyable now for the balance between all of those elements. Darker in complexion than the similarly stunning 1989 (and in fact, the 1990-1988 trilogy is pretty much a bijection onto the 1998-1996 trilogy).

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  • 1989 Penfolds Grange 98 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    This drank very similarly to the fantastic 1990. The fruit isn't as intense and dark as the younger wine; it is more red-fruit and acid driven, but the potent aromatics and more importantly, the silky texture are both present. Perhaps a little less Parker-forward, and again this comes across more old-school elegant than the more rambunctious 1990. Both, however, were stunning examples of Grange.

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  • 1988 Penfolds Grange 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Really suffered in the context of the 1990 and 1989. This, like the 1995 drank like a mature example of Grange, which ticked all the technical boxes but lacked overall excitement. Shows less fruit, and also more mature and earthy, and maybe even just a little bit dried out.

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  • 1985 Penfolds Grange 90 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Another mature, but somewhat foursquare edition. Ticks the boxes; there isn't overt anything here, but the fruit isn't too expressive and this feels a bit dominated by its structure. Lacks some of the silkiness in the relatively coarse tannins too. Just feels a bit clunky relative to many of its siblings tonight.

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  • 1982 Penfolds Grange 98 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    This wine has delivered consistent greatness, and was probably my favourite of the evening. Mature, with some mint, plenty of fruit (in that 40-year-old Bordeaux way) that still has sweetness, and fully resolved, silky tannins. Really hard to think of what more to ask of a wine...

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  • 1981 Penfolds Grange Flawed

    Australia, South Australia

    Corked. Very, very grippy tannins.

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  • 1979 Penfolds Grange 90 Points

    Australia, South Australia

    Others liked this bottle more than I did. I found it really strange in the context of the wines -- it was oddly hyper fresh, with tart red-fruited acids, and a lightness that most of the wines didn't have. It's almost like a different product altogether. Rough, coarse tannins that didn't comport with any of the other wines. I'll have to do some homework and see if there was some sort of change between 1982 and 1979.

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  • 1977 Penfolds Grange Flawed

    Australia, South Australia

    Slightly corked, so we pulled the other bottle...

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  • 1977 Penfolds Grange Flawed

    Australia, South Australia

    ...which was even more corked.

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Flight 2 (8 Notes)

  • 2014 Agrapart Champagne Grand Cru Vénus Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs 90 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Despite a sense of leanness here, there is surprising breadth from the fruit on the palate. For its youth the fruit feels more mature and starting to brown, but this has amply good intensity of minerality, yellow and browning fruit, and acidity. Not exactly my style of Champagne if I'm to be totally honest.

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  • 2002 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 93 Points

    France, Champagne

    Not as good as I remember it being; this was just kind of big and chewy and didn't feel like it had quite the complexity and depth as I expected. Tonight's showing came off a little clumsy. That said, I still probably should have bought a bunch of this when it was being sold around $100 on release.

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  • 1979 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Rosé 85 Points

    France, Champagne

    Far more interesting than good at this point. Mature nose with lots of aged Champagne aromatics -- and there's almost a little farty tinge to it too. The palate is cleaner and better, but again shows its age. Much better 10+ years ago.

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  • 2013 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée 90 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

    Nice weight and heft, as Vilmart often has. Plenty of chewy minerality too, but the acidity is a bit too prominent and this feels like it is lacking a bit of the balance because of it. Chalk (get it?!) it up to the vintage.

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  • 2013 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru l'Esprit 88 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Kind of foursquare and uninteresting beyond a palate cleanser. Clean, mineral, and high acid, but there just isn't very much complexity or weight beyond that. Peters used to be a far more convincing house, with much more reasonable prices. At the current prices, I really don't see the point.

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  • 2003 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses 90 Points

    France, Champagne

    Apparently everyone thought that this bottle was corked when it was opened. Well, it wasn't by the time I got to it a few hours later. Sure, it's not a particularly convincing bottle of champagne -- kind of heavyset and lacking subtlety. Lots of fruit and relatively low acid, and definitely carrying some of the typical Goisses weirdness. I'm less bullish on this than I was in my previous note a few years back.

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  • 2013 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Hillside 88 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Very light, and almost dilute on the palate, with notes of strawberry and oak. The alcohol juts out, despite the relative lack of weight and ripeness on the palate. Some astringent herbaceous/herbal notes as well. Certainly different from the white labels, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a step up. Not my cup of tea; I'd rather pay 25% of the price and get a bottle of Bourgogne rouge.

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  • 1962 Château d'Yquem 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Fully mature, with balanced sweetness at this point. Definitely lots of caramelization going on here, with some marmalade, orange, and spice notes, as well as a bit of brown sugar. The finish is bitter, and balances very nicely with the sweetness here. As far as texture goes, this is definitely lighter, even though you can tell it was still made in a style that valued richness and oiliness (the 1967 this is not). Fully mature and very much enjoyable now.

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