Served blind and I called Penfolds Grange. Lots of classic Syrah notes with pepper and meat, but the tell tale sign of undeniable sweetness in the finish that could not be northern rhone. Personally speaking, I find young vintages of Grange to be terrible and really not a fit for my palate, but real credit to the Penfolds team for creating a 50+ year old wine with relatively limited experience! Drank with SJW for his birthday
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Tasted at Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide. 40 Vintages of Grange: Little trace of tertiary characteristics here. There's acid and tannin but they're still soft. It's not as well integrated as the '63 but perhaps that's because its not ready!
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White Burgs and Penfolds. Bellecour, Wayzata MN: We started our Grange flight with the '66. A touch of VA, but not overbearing. This bottle showed its age, but drank well and was luscious.
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Capsule in tact, cork wet 2/3 up, ullage at the base of the neck. Day 1: Popped cork, nose indicated bottle was in good shape. Sat open in bottle for 3 hours. Then poured into narrower decanter. Slightly musty nose blew off within minutes. Seductive nose/flavors of red/dark fruits (reminded me of Schrader), earth, but no spice. Initial finish of sweet tobacco that disappeared/reappeared. This wine continually evolved for the first hour and became fresher by the minute. Eventually detected a hint of candied red fruit. You wouldn’t think this was anything older than 20 years. Long finish. Day 2: less complex, but it didn’t fall off like you would expect. I think this wine still has years ahead of it.
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The bottle was heavily ullaged but once it was decanted for 45 minutes, the dank nose started to settle down. The nose was super complex not surprising that it was a unique sensation given it was 52 years old. On the palate it was rich and velvety smooth. The aftertaste was long and persistent with an amalgam of tar, spice, blackberry and a hint of candy. I bought this in the late 60’s at an Earlwood hotel for less than $10. The 1971 will be opened next week. This was the last Grange I ever bought at the outrageous price of $11.87 from a liquor store in Jannali. The rewards of patience indeed!
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A Charmed Life: night of aged Cristal, Grange, and D'Yquem (Marea): The grandfather of the tasting. Wine was opened at 2:30 pm for a 6 pm dinner. We poured the Granges prob 30 minutes in so this had quite a bit of time of being open and then enjoyed over the course of more than 4 hours. This wine was was just stunning. Amazing how young it tasted and yet you could see the benefits of the age. Lots of dark red and black fruit. Reminded me of grabbing a handful of fresh ripe raspberries. With that just hint of sour. Some violets in there. Some menthol. It kept moving and shifting over the course of the time and was great through to the last drop. Fabulous.
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Wine was a bit musty on opening and there was a bit of a concern that it wasn't still in the right spot, but with some time in a decanter it started to come around. Prob 30-45 minutes after it was poured it was at peak (we just grabbed a quick sip). By the time we were really drinking it it was starting to slow down a bit, but I still really enjoyed it. Fruit was more black, nice spice. Bit more quiet than a normal Grange. Still lovely.
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Original cork was very crumbly. Wine intact though, well preserved. Lovely ripe blackcurrant and leathery spice, with fruitcake intensity. This has a silkier more refined character than the others, better length and overall balance. Delicious.
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Brought to my 40th, Balzac, December 2010, by a very good friend! Decanted for 1-2 hours. Cork in great nick, level at base of neck. Colour inky purple/black and opaque to the rim: looked like a 5 year old Grange, not a 45 year old... Nose of dense, brambly black fruit, coffee grounds, faint leathery/cedary notes, strong anise and spice box. Palate...wow....super-concentrated black fruit (mulberry, plums, blueberry), dense liquorice wrapped in superfine and perfectly integrated but still powerful tannic cloak. Long, long finish. This could go another 20-30 years. Close to WOTN, and that's saying something alongside the '66 Haut Brion, '66 Montrose, '88 Latour and Mission Haut Brion, '85 Cheval Blanc and Mouton...Thanks Con!
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Geoff Lindsay's 50th: Seems tired and perhaps the bottle wasn't quite right? Funky mushroom nose with a touch of cardboard. Soft old red fruits and chocolate to taste but a clear mushy fruit edge takes the shine off this wine. Very plush.
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Garagiste - Classic Wines of Australia (Blackbird - Chicago IL): Fresh aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, mint, vanilla and chocolate. Sweet, extravagant fruit to start, transitions to perfect black cherry in middle. Great harmony from start-to-finish with a superbly elegant finish. 88% Syrah, 12% Cabernet. No sign of being past its peak, but I couldn't see this getting better from here.
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7/25/2021 - _water.into.wine_ Likes this wine: 93 Points
Served blind and I called Penfolds Grange. Lots of classic Syrah notes with pepper and meat, but the tell tale sign of undeniable sweetness in the finish that could not be northern rhone. Personally speaking, I find young vintages of Grange to be terrible and really not a fit for my palate, but real credit to the Penfolds team for creating a 50+ year old wine with relatively limited experience! Drank with SJW for his birthday
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8/22/2019 - KoalaHK wrote:
Tasted at Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide. 40 Vintages of Grange: Little trace of tertiary characteristics here. There's acid and tannin but they're still soft. It's not as well integrated as the '63 but perhaps that's because its not ready!
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4/2/2019 - BradE wrote:
White Burgs and Penfolds. Bellecour, Wayzata MN: We started our Grange flight with the '66. A touch of VA, but not overbearing. This bottle showed its age, but drank well and was luscious.
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1/25/2019 - Bathtub58 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Capsule in tact, cork wet 2/3 up, ullage at the base of the neck.
Day 1: Popped cork, nose indicated bottle was in good shape. Sat open in bottle for 3 hours. Then poured into narrower decanter. Slightly musty nose blew off within minutes. Seductive nose/flavors of red/dark fruits (reminded me of Schrader), earth, but no spice. Initial finish of sweet tobacco that disappeared/reappeared. This wine continually evolved for the first hour and became fresher by the minute. Eventually detected a hint of candied red fruit. You wouldn’t think this was anything older than 20 years. Long finish.
Day 2: less complex, but it didn’t fall off like you would expect. I think this wine still has years ahead of it.
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7/7/2018 - cogo44 Likes this wine: 98 Points
The bottle was heavily ullaged but once it was decanted for 45 minutes, the dank nose started to settle down. The nose was super complex not surprising that it was a unique sensation given it was 52 years old. On the palate it was rich and velvety smooth. The aftertaste was long and persistent with an amalgam of tar, spice, blackberry and a hint of candy. I bought this in the late 60’s at an Earlwood hotel for less than $10. The 1971 will be opened next week. This was the last Grange I ever bought at the outrageous price of $11.87 from a liquor store in Jannali. The rewards of patience indeed!
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7/21/2017 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
A Charmed Life: night of aged Cristal, Grange, and D'Yquem (Marea): The grandfather of the tasting. Wine was opened at 2:30 pm for a 6 pm dinner. We poured the Granges prob 30 minutes in so this had quite a bit of time of being open and then enjoyed over the course of more than 4 hours. This wine was was just stunning. Amazing how young it tasted and yet you could see the benefits of the age. Lots of dark red and black fruit. Reminded me of grabbing a handful of fresh ripe raspberries. With that just hint of sour. Some violets in there. Some menthol. It kept moving and shifting over the course of the time and was great through to the last drop. Fabulous.
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7/22/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Wine was a bit musty on opening and there was a bit of a concern that it wasn't still in the right spot, but with some time in a decanter it started to come around. Prob 30-45 minutes after it was poured it was at peak (we just grabbed a quick sip). By the time we were really drinking it it was starting to slow down a bit, but I still really enjoyed it. Fruit was more black, nice spice. Bit more quiet than a normal Grange. Still lovely.
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1/25/2016 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 93 Points
Original cork was very crumbly. Wine intact though, well preserved.
Lovely ripe blackcurrant and leathery spice, with fruitcake intensity. This has a silkier more refined character than the others, better length and overall balance. Delicious.
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7/14/2011 - wenderoth wrote: 98 Points
Brought to my 40th, Balzac, December 2010, by a very good friend! Decanted for 1-2 hours. Cork in great nick, level at base of neck. Colour inky purple/black and opaque to the rim: looked like a 5 year old Grange, not a 45 year old... Nose of dense, brambly black fruit, coffee grounds, faint leathery/cedary notes, strong anise and spice box. Palate...wow....super-concentrated black fruit (mulberry, plums, blueberry), dense liquorice wrapped in superfine and perfectly integrated but still powerful tannic cloak. Long, long finish. This could go another 20-30 years. Close to WOTN, and that's saying something alongside the '66 Haut Brion, '66 Montrose, '88 Latour and Mission Haut Brion, '85 Cheval Blanc and Mouton...Thanks Con!
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11/4/2010 - StewartWent wrote: 89 Points
Geoff Lindsay's 50th: Seems tired and perhaps the bottle wasn't quite right? Funky mushroom nose with a touch of cardboard. Soft old red fruits and chocolate to taste but a clear mushy fruit edge takes the shine off this wine. Very plush.
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10/8/2004 - Burgundy Al wrote: 97 Points
Garagiste - Classic Wines of Australia (Blackbird - Chicago IL): Fresh aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, mint, vanilla and chocolate. Sweet, extravagant fruit to start, transitions to perfect black cherry in middle. Great harmony from start-to-finish with a superbly elegant finish. 88% Syrah, 12% Cabernet. No sign of being past its peak, but I couldn't see this getting better from here.
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