First Grange of the night and things are looking up.
A very complex wine, open and quite mature.
Medicinal aromas on a background of dark fruit, ground coffee,
lifted with tones of eukalyptus, mint and camphor.
Excellent wine, typically Australian and now at a stage of nice
maturity even if it has lots of life ahead.

Dark garnet colored with pronounced aromatics of VA, camphor, eukalyptus, leather, rubber, balsamic notes, chocolate.
Full bodied, plush and sweet.
Lingering finish, the mark of a very fine wine.
Second wine of the night, it was tasted together with the 1996.
Both are great wines, 97 being earthier in character.

First wine of the second flight.
I was looking forward to tasting this as it was the oldest of
the night and was curious to see how it stands at almost 25 years of age.
Actually it was the least interesting wine of the night.
It was neither fully mature nor particularly complex on the contrary
it seemed closed without yealding much.
But in any case no rush to drink anytime soon...

Second flight, wine no. 2.
Sweet and velvety with typical Grange aromas
and a pronounced toffee/oak element.
A very good wine.

Third flight.
We had it side by side with the '02 vintage and it was pared
with thick hand made papardelle with truffled duck ragout which
was an excellent match.
The '00 was one of the highlights of the night for me and one of
the most atypical Grange vintages.
Nose which could almost pass for a heady hot vintage Rhone with
plummy and floral scents. Full bodied and dense with firm chewey
tannins it was a pleasure for the senses!

Much was anticipated from the '02, but the wine
seemed closed and only offered a promise for a future enjoyment.
Clearly a very good wine with velvety texture and concentration but
not in the mood that night...

Fourth and final flight and '04 was for many at the table, including me, the star of the evening.
Youthful and open it delivered effortlessly.
Classy and elegant but with so much power.
Perfect to drink now.

An interesting wine with ripe fruit, but not one of
the great vintages of the evening.