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Grange Vertical with Peter Gago
Goodwood Park Hotel, Singapore
Tasted November 27, 2021 by Paul S with 131 views
Introduction
My first big group tasting in person post-COVID restrictions - this was a great chance to taste to some of great vintages of Grange over the past 3 decades, guided by winemaker Peter Gago no less.
The tasting more or less confirmed my impression of Grange: very solid wines, very well-made, but not wines that give me the same visceral joy that the best Northern Rhone Syrahs, or even its Aussie cousin, the Hill of Grace, often do.
The Grange is just a more obvious, less subtle wine to me, with more in-your-face wood-tannins, often given the wines a little woody raspiness that I find distracting. What they have going for them is a sense of elegance wed to strength, often with lovely plum and blueberry expressions along with some violets, some baking spices, and a bit of eucalyptus on both nose and palate, all speaking together with clarity and balance. Even with the older vintages though, it is clearly sweet fruit that speaks most eloquently, in a way that marks this more clearly as a New World, more clearly Australian Shiraz, than say the Hill of Grace.
Above all though, this is a very singular wine. Unlike say a classic Barossa, which speaks of a certain terroir or style; or the Hill of Grace, which speaks with a French accent; or one of the great Guigal or Chapoutier Northern Rhones, which show the magic of Syrah's spiritual heartland - this is a wine that cannot quite be placed to a certain terroir of style. It is just Grange. A price to pay for its blended nature I guess.
Overall these are very nice wine, and ones that I would gladly drink if the opportunity arises - but not wines that would search out and buy at the current prices.
Flight 1 (7 notes)
Red
2016 Penfolds Grange
93 points
A baby in the bottle - clearly some quality year, but very young indeed. The nose was pretty, but almost infantile, almost like a wine still in barrel, with slighty candied, bubblegummy smells of crushed blueberries, plums and creme de cassis, along with some violets and a little burst of peppery spice. Attractive enough, but so primary. The palate had that same primary feel too. It was very finely structure with firm but well-shaped tannins and well-integrated acidity, but this was wrapped around a core of round, plump flavours of blueberries and blackberries, maybe a touch of plums, all drinking in a very fruity, forward fashion. The finish was still a little tight as would be expected, petering out with a hint of spice. This should age nicely over the next couple of decades, but the way it is drinking now, it will probably be one of the earlier drinking Granges. All in all, a pretty good wine without quite blowing my socks off.
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Red
2010 Penfolds Grange
95 points
A classy Grange - one of my favourites of the last couple of decades. Along with the 2004 in the same vertical, this showed a slightly earthier, meatier nose, with something that reminded me of roasted char siew, along with its more typical aromas of blueberries and plums and cassis, all these twisted together with a hint of capsicum and eucalyptus. A more masculine nose than most other vintages, and somehow more layered and complex for that - really nice. The palate was absolutely delicious too. Still very young of course, but there was an integration, balance and an effortless elegance that escaped some of the other Granges on show. Still clearly Australian in its ripe expression of blueberries and plums and accents of red earth and eucalyptus, but with a lovely sense of clarity and poise that made it a joy to drink even though it was still very primary. It had a solid finish too, earthier again, and with a slightly hint of spice and mineral, all still couched in a little chew of dry tannins towards the end. Very good indeed, with a long, long future ahead of this. A svelte, polished Grange. This will be lovely a couple of decades down the road. Very classy.
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Red
2008 Penfolds Grange
94 points
Impressive, but a little backward and less giving than some of the other bottle tonight. There was a lovely nose here though, with hints of damp earth patted down over a core of blueberries and plums, then fragrant baking spices and a little shade of violets. So attractive. The palate was very young, but very impressive - lots of purity and a quite bit of elegance, in spite of there being a clear sense of power and authority to its primary flavours of cassis, plums and blueberries seasoned with a peppery spice. A muscular, sinewy showing - more so than the vintages others in the flight. The finish was still a bit coiled and tightly wound, with a burst of bright acidity and a chew of fine but rather raspy tannins running through notes of earth and spice right at the end. Impressive, but this needs a lot to time yet.
Red
2004 Penfolds Grange
95 points
A very strong wine. It took about an hour to get going, but was really solid when it did. This had a slightly deeper, funkier nose that some of the others on the flight, but it was really nice in its own way, with meaty, earthy, and ever so slightly sauvage notes laced through sweeter aromas of blueberries and plums, some creme de cassis maybe, then a burst of spice and violets, with maybe a bit of capsicum at the sides. There was a touch of VA on the sides, but I liked that nose otherwise - lots of little complex smells to pick through. The palate was very nice too. Full and generous on the attack, with blueberries, plums and a touch of cassis showing in a rather primary fashion, then giving a bit of way on the midpalate to some spice and dried earth. There was a lot to like here though, with its ripe depth wed to a fresh feel that gave a sense of energy and tension on the fruit. The finish had a rather drying, woody feel to it at first which I was not quite a fan of, but this too filled up and opened out after an hour or so, until it almost exploded across the backplate with interesting notes of dried lemon peel, savoury earth and hints of mint and menthol. It was still tight though, with chewy tannins aplenty that cried out for some food to tame. This needs a lot of time yet, but it is a very good wine indeed. I think this will be a superb drink in another decade or so.
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Comments (1)
Red
1996 Penfolds Grange
94 points
A decade on from the bottle I had - this is developing into a quite lovely Grange. I really liked the nose on this, with its layers of plums and blueberry pie, earth and violets, with a cheeky little kiss of baking spices, black pepper and eucalyptus at the sides. Such a pretty bouquet. Very perfumed. The palate was very fine - powerful, full, ripe, yet couched in a lovely bit of fresh acidity, with a good bit of structure lent to it by lightly chewy tannins. I liked the flavour profile on it too - fresh plums and blueberries, less sweet than the nose suggested, instead very bright and perky, and wed to a little bit of earth and spice that pulled away into a lengthy finish. Quite a compelling, challenging wine veiled behind an elegantly charming facade. This was very nice indeed, perhaps except for a little drying twist at the finish which I did not quite take too at first. With time though, even that started subsiding a bit, with a more obviously Aussie twist of eucalyptus coming out instead. A lovely expression of Grange, very elegant, and very delicious, with its best a decade or more ahead of it yet.
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Red
1990 Penfolds Grange
95 points
A superb Shiraz - probably my favourite of the tasting. This had a lovely nose, still very youthful, with full aromas of plums and blueberries, wilting violets, dried earth and crushed beetles, with sprig or two of eucalyptus thrown in for good measure. Fresh and fragrant, yet deep and alluring - a very perfumed bouquet. The palate was absolutely superb. Fresh, bright, weightless, yet there was clearly a lot of authority and an almost effortless strength to it, with a lovely clarion clear ring of plums and blueberries, earth, and then a beautiful twist of baking spices and pepper trailing away into a delightful finish. There was still the lightest grip of raspy tannins and along with plenty of fresh acidity - but these were ever so well integrated in the wine that you barely noticed them. With time, some of those Australian eucalyptus notes from the nose came out on the midpalate as well, just before the wine pulled into a tremendous finish marked with tons of peppery spice at the end. Very nice, with quite a bit of time left to its developmental curve yet.
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Red
1986 Penfolds Grange
92 points
Good but not great - this bottle was not in the best of shapes. Clearly the oldest, most developed of the flight - this had a savoury, earthy meatiness underlying notes of cassis, plums and earth, tossed together with some green herb and spice and a hint of eucalyptus that spoke to the high 13% Cabernet in the blend. A compelling bouquet. The palate was quite singular - a wine of real character, with a rasp of slightly powdery tannins and still fresh acidity wrapped around a softly charming mouthful of plums and blueberries, seasoned with notes of spice and eucalyptus, all this just traced by a bit of alcohol heat. I liked the nose rather more than the palate though. There was a lovely quiet authority and elegance to the wine, but something was missing on the midpalate. Perhaps it travelled badly, or it was not so good a bottle. A nice Grange at this age, but not quite mind blowing.
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Comments (2)