Bob’s cellar. Only a brief note. Shared with friends over a dinner. Excellent as always. Feel this is going strong but not much room for improvement from here.
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20 Top Wines of the 1983 Vintage: Great bottles of the 1983 Grange can drink close to perfection these days. This bottle never fully got there. Upon opening it was closed and muted and even showed signs of age, with 6+ hours in the decanter it got better and better but never reached the absolute heights of the best bottle I’ve had a year ago (rated 99pts), which had a touch higher purity, weightlessness, and more pronounced pure, Chambolle-like red fruit. Still, this was an excellent bottle.
TN: This Grange exhibits a vibrant array of aromas - intense and multi-layered from the nose, across the palate, to a prolonged, expansive finish. It offers a striking contrast to the 1983 Dominus/Opus, also tasted. The profile includes bright red berries, darker fruits, and an abundance of spices and herbs. It's the most mature 1983 Grange I've encountered, with aging notes seamlessly melded into the profusion of other scents. The structure is finely tannic, complemented by excellent freshness. Its texture is more velvet-like than satin, with substantial yet not overwhelming density and weight. The balance and harmony are impressive.
Decanting: Extensive aeration is key - a minimum of 6-7 hours in a decanter brings out its full potential.
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1983 vintage horizontal with >20 wines, mostly from Bordeaux. Key observations: 1/ Acceptable vintage for Champagne with DP over-delivering, 2/ Laville Haut Brion is a masterpiece among the whites, 3/ Bordeaux is going strong at 40 years of age with stand-outs Latour and Margaux. 4/ No need to chase any Napa’s from the vintage, 5/ off-piste Italians kept up impressively with Soldera an undisputed medalist.
Tasting note: Decanted for 6h. Intense, sweet and sexy with Asian spice and gingerbread, black berry and bramble berry fruit. Juicy and well structured palate . Extremely enticing and another great bottle, but not quite at the stellar level like the previous one – I know there is even more possible with this one!
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A few observations: A) The wines undoubtedly deserve their legendary status. Few wines manage to square the circle of being intense, rich in substance and structure, while at the same time being ethereal, delicate and airy. B) The wines are all complex and very precise. With age (and/or air) the wines show a Rayas-like pure red berry fruit to die for. Other defining aromas are the minty/eucalyptus notes and especially the sweet spice I find in many Aussie Shirazes. C) The wines age at a glacial pace. Even the 40+ year old wines are still quite young and all will need a lot of decanting. D) All the wines were on a high level (except for one subpar bottle of the 2000). The winner was the magical 1982 (98pts), the epitome of elegance and balance.
TN: I’ve had this several times before and with the right amount of air, this is an almost perfect wine. This bottle, not decanted, didn‘t get to the same heights. The nose was a bit muted and never fully opened up. The palate showed better, more open and showcased beautifully the wonderful red berry fruit core with fine strawberries and red currant, with some additional minty and earthy notes. With time it got more complex and precise. The structural frame was impeccable with ultra fine tannins, good tension and freshness, an airy texture. Superb balance. Sadly we only got a glimpse of what is possible.
Decanting: All wines were quickly double decanted 3h before the tasting. In my experience Grange usually needs hours of proper decanting. I would decant this vintage for at least 6-7 hours. This would have helped here.
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dark maroon, medium clarity, brickish hue Nose: plum, blackberries, tobacco, leather, tar, cinnamon, allspice, thyme, bay leaf, juniper berries, black pepper, smoke, dark oak Pal: plum, blackberries, black cherry, vanilla, tobacco, leather, tar, cinnamon, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaf, thyme, black pepper, smoke, fine tannins, oak Feel: medium, full, astringent, acidic Finish: medium, long TC9
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Grange vertical (Wunderbrunnen, Opfikon): Part of a 7-vintage vertical (key takeaways in the tasting story). Dark berries, brambleberry and plum, confit of red currant. Fine aging notes of sous-bois and leather and sparkled with spice and herbs. Adding tobacco and black coffee with aeration. The palate is full-bodied with vibrant acidity. Such a great linearity with sharp contours despite the intensity. Second bottle this year and both were outstanding.
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NobleRottersSydney - mostly Penfolds (Fix, St James, Sydney): {cork, 12.9%} [Gordon] Double-decanted about three hours earlier. Soy and umami, I heard people saying, and they’re right. There’s also brine and tar. And black fruit, of course. Not overly oaky. Even palate, medium/long finish. Medium chalky tannins. It’s very impressive, especially for forty years old, but it didn’t trump the 98 St Henri as you might expect. I checked the note I took on Gordon’s last Rotters’ bottle of this in 2019 and I reckon this bottle was ever-so-slightly below par for some reason, at least by the time it got to the table. The vagaries of corks and bottle variation, I suspect (since storage was common). A fine wine, yes, but not at its best, I think.
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Richter Pre-Gaming Night (w/ some new world icons): Two Granges side by side. The 1983 (97pts) again showed highly complex, almost perfect precision and superb purity. If we could have followed the wine longer, it could have been even better (had a 99pts bottle last year). The 1993 (95pts) was not far behind with the same complexity and purity but 10 years younger, still with a bit more muscular structure and feel and some chemical/anis notes which you have to like.
TN: Some herbs, super high/toned red berries. On the palate. So intriguing and inviting. On the palate so sweet, so high toned red fruit, herbs, minerality, minty and spicy notes but it’s all about this beautiful, pure red fruit. Very fine, elegant structure, lots of freshness and tension and a light and airy texture. Quite complete, especially towards the end of the glass when it got more air.
Decanting: I would decant for 5-6 hours. These Granges need a lot of air.
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Bob’s cellar. Drank for the King’s Coronation in Sydney. Dark inky red, the faintest hue of bricking. Nose is oily dark black fruit, cassis and stewed plums, actually quite restrained, tar, graphite and violets, black liquorice- all in the background. Flavours are restrained too (pnp). There’s raw unsweetened liquorice, aged tannins, black stewed fruits, damson and brambles, acidity is almost and afterthought, bitter chocolate and feels a tad aged. After an hour or two in the decanter, and some time in the glass, the ‘blackness’ has softened, fruit and acidity has risen and it feels a more complete wine. Still the tarryness but more fruit and freshness. Day 2, retains the tar richness, fruit has risen and this is very good. Mature but good, and will need an appreciation of older wines to enjoy fully.
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Prelude to the annual Magnum Rarities Tasting in Zurich. Decanted for 2h which worked well (double-decant absolutely required). Earthy base with beautiful and alluring notes of tobacco, truffles and mushrooms. Dark cherry and brambleberry fruit. Just hints of sweet spice and herbal complexity. A nicely fruity palate with satin tannin and fresh acidity. Dense with tobacco aromatics. This has aged beautifully and is in its peak drinking window. At first this was surpassed by the 1993 I paired this against, but with rising room temperature and hours after the decant the latter started to show some unfavorable balsamic notes. Best aged Grange to date I have tasted remains the 1986.
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A good example of how well Grange can age, this was dense, still fresh with a good fruit and some minty notes. Good supporting acidity in a very long and dense finish.
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Took notes from previous tastings and decided to do a 2hr decant. Bottle was purchased off an auction and was recorked in 2006 at a penfolds clinic.
TN: Immediately after opening I was getting mostly tertiary flavors and notes. 45 min in lots of tart bing cherry and leather. 1.5 hours the cherry was starting to smooth out, little tobacco notes. 2 hours the wine started to hum, the tart fruits were gone and really opened up great. The wine had a short finish which almost makes me think that it might be a year past peak, but overall I was amazed how how this wine really evolved over 4 hours. Still couldn’t believe the wine was 40 yrs old.
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Bob's cellar. Black inky red, some bricking but not much. Black swirly fruit nose, a bit of musty age in the background which blows off, sweet brambly damsons and black cherries. Taste starts off aged, saltiness, austere tannins still, fruit is very reticent; emerges as the wine opens up revealing sweetish black brambly forest floor. Stage 2 (after decanting for a couple of hours), has opened up and the fruit has risen from the depths, the structure is immense and majestic, there is masses of life, pristine structured quality. Is amazing, and hard to do full justice with words, this is a 40 year old wine which is vibrant, framed and brilliant.
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This is the best bottle of Grange I‘ve had to date. With some decanting, this had everything. High complexity and precision from start to finish, perfectly harmonious but still with so much tension and verve, prior to decanting, the wine seemed even young-ish but it got better, rounder, more balanced by the minute. Quite close to perfection in my book with some decanting.
TN: Super intense, ever so slightly changing nose full of asian spices, eucalyptus, ripe dark berries, cola notes, so much spices, tobacco, leather. So intense, expressive, round and creamy, freash and first even a bit young but then the longer it sits in the glass the rounder and better and better, more harmonious and round it got, mint chocolate notes emerged adding a touch of seductiveness. A wow wine with a very long and expanding finish. At first 95/96 pts, later 99/100pts.
Decanting: PnP, then decanted and followed over 3+ hours. This needed 60-90 mins in the decanter to reach its peak.
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Top shoulder fill. The highlights are the very high complexity and precision. Every nose showed new nuances. The wine has a lot of tension and freshness and seems much younger (others who had it blind guessed it to be roughly 20, not 40 years old) and there are just a first few tertiary aromas peaking through. Technically, this wine is fantastic and already in a good place and easily deserves the 97 points. While a bottle of the 1986 a few months ago showed peakish, this 1983 has more potential and should improve further in the coming years.
TN: Complex and intense nose with precise aromas of dark fruits, eucalyptus, coffee, earthy notes and some tobacco. Same rainbow of aromas on the palate and finish with an additional layer of minerality, more spices and herbs. The fruit is ripe but fresh, no hint of jamminess, all very balanced and elegant and embedded in a solid tannin structure with very fine tannins and a high freshness. The wine is in that sweet spot with a lot of cut and a weightlessness and at the same time a wonderfully creamy texture.
Decanting: Not decanted, opened 4 h before. The wine opened up nicely in the glas and became more harmonious. A short 2h decant would have been sufficient.
Glass: Zalto Bordeaux
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From an OWC purchased close to release and still with its paper wrapping. Incredible condition both inside and outside the bottle.
Served blind, and the impeccable storage meant everyone thought this 10-20 years younger than it was. A seriously deep and dark purple, with a spicy nose, this oozed Shiraz, and all at the table guessed this to be new world. Whilst the label says 12.5%, this felt much closer to 14-15%.
To say this is a big wine, is an understatement, this is absolutely massive. So much dark fruits remain, with just hints of tertiary notes. This will last another 50 years.
Definitely needs big, bold food to pair with, be it roasted or heavily charred and grilled meats.
If you love the style, then you will love this. If you like elegant and delicate wines, this won't be the one for you.
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SLDS New Year #2: Not cliniced. VA, crushed ant, mint, blackcurrant and graphite. Fresh, still plenty of that tannic structure that this vintage is known for, but there is enough fruit and depth that it is starting to show an approachable side. Still 10 years + to go here.
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Deep garnet red with brick red hints. Seducing flavors of black cherry blackberry drops blueberry and noble black pepperand a bit of eucalyptus. Full bodied with silky textured tannins and elegant very long finish.
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well what does one do when you are coming to the end of an amazing dinner with one of the greatest group of old rare wines shared with wonderful company in one of Melbourne's greatest restaurants - La Luna. You have ended the night with a cheese platter and 1980 Dyquem and it is decided by our beautiful waitress Lauren that a "chaser" is needed. So she digs into the box of wines we bought that had not been opened yet and comes back downstairs with an 1983 Grange and immediately opens it. I love this vintage of Grange with its crushed ants, dense brooding blackberry fruit and dark thick viscous palate. its the opposite of the 1982 which whilst also stunning is more fruit forward , open and delicate and ready to drink. this 83 is like the younger overweight crappy attitude sister who as a parent you still love to death but know that it will have to reach half a century before you can coherently communicate with it. as I said in the initial notes of the 2012 Bollinger review that its a tough gig for such a cracking bottle of 83 Grange to come last in scores when on its own it is likely to be wine of the night on any other day. but it is what it is, it was superb, too young, too backward and outclassed on the night but i would still drink it anyday.
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Level was very high shoulder. Decanted 2 hours. Deep garnet colour, not giving its age away at all. Black fruits still emerge, with florals, menthol and earthy spices. Palate is now fully resolved, fruits all wrapped up in gentle, unfolding, silky tannins. Length to burn here. Wonderful balance. Showing beautifully.
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NobleRottersSydney - meant to be Grange (360 Bar & Dining, Sydney): [Gordon] {cork, 12.9%} What a lovely nose; roses, violets, gentle strawberries, with malt and chocolate. The palate is the perfect balance of fruit and power, in multiple dimensions. Sweet twist of shiraz fruit, with gentle spicy vanilla oak, but not intrusive. Medium-full weight, with medium powdery tannins. Medium acid. Could easily be mistaken for something half its age. Even palate, and long, long finish. Really, good bottles of this are nowhere near falling over. Had a double decant two hours earlier. Every bit as good as the Bin 80A, but with a more robust, exotic character. Fabulous wine.
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Tasted at Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide. 40 Vintages of Grange: Quite dark in the glass, with a beautiful perfume of dark fruits. Quite fine tannins but more muscular than the '82. A lovely Grange.
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Penfolds Grange dinner with Stephanie Dutton (The Musket Room in NYC): Very classic Grange which is interesting because apparently this was the year of all of the weather craziness in Aus. Huge bushfires and lots of rains. And a wine that feels just so quintessentially itself somehow through that. It's got the eucalyptus and a bit of the menthol and lovely black fruits and really a nice oomph that makes it leap out of the glass a bit. A beautiful wine.
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Öppnar och häller direkt upp ett glas av den här mörkt, mörkröda drycken innan resten åker i en karaff. Vilken färg! Röd och tydlig och inte ett uns brun- eller gulton kring det här.
Och dofterna slår emot mig! Tryck i den här!
Kolafudge, körsbär som legat inlagda med mandlar i ett antal år, och lite lakritsrot. Doftar tät och djup. Urvattnade blandade nyplockade soppar. Djäklar vilka toner! Lövskog. Lite torkade plommon. Ett uns riktigt bra soja och naturligtvis även tankar till hemmakokt balsamico. Djupt koncentrerad.
Smaken - djupa dova toner. Hade jag fått den blint är jag inte säker på att jag inte (ursäkta de dubbla negationerna) hade varit en sväng i Bordeaux och vänt i tankevärlden. Koncentrerade lite strävsöta blåa plommon, samma mandelinlagda körsbär som jag får på doften, alla smaker man får upp känns förstärkta och reducerade till tusen. Nästan jul i smaken, flera dova kryddträdgårdskryddor, och lite lite mjuk pepparkaka (obs, positivt).
Fasiken vad bra det här är. Nu är jag högt uppe och svävar. Vägde lite fram och tillbaka men Nu skriver jag det. Bästa flaskan av tre.
98.
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First try of a Grange for me. Pop 'n pour and decanted for sediment. Huge nose with kind of a caramel/brown sugar aroma. On the palate, less dense and more elegant than I expected - definitely not a wine for impressing Napa Cab lovers - more in my wheelhouse, though I found this to be a little monolithic and one-note. Still some tannic bite. Enough acidity to keep it balanced. Did not seem to have much distinctive Syrah character. Oak also a little too prominent for my palate. This was indeed very good, but a bit disappointing given high expectations. I think there are dozens of $40 Cali Syrahs that I would enjoy more than this (e.g. any number of Carlisle bottlings), though the aromatics were fantastic. Grateful for the chance to try this anyway.
Rich garnet core color, opaque. Classic Grange nose of dark fruits, leather, cedar box, old cocoa. From prior notes on plate..."Palate was classic, unmistakable Grange. Dark and blue fruits, cola, blueberry, leather. Evolved nicely in the glass over 30 minutes, picked up secondary and tertiary characteristics of burnt sugar, honey..." spot on, the group picked up some eucalyptus, vanilla, tar...rich and nuanced through the finish. Expressive fruits, nicely aged, in a really good spot right now. this may prove to be one of those "immortal" Grange wines - may drink well for another 20?
We had an incredible range of wines on this evening, hard to say what was "best" across this many varietals, regions and vintages. The uniqueness of this wine had it as WOTN for most of the group. Amazing stuff!
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Acker BYO 2017 (Tribeca Grille): My WOTN. Ok, not a surprise if you follow my notes. We learned from our experience a month ago where we drank Grange not decanted. Opened as soon as we got to restaurant and let it sit for prob 3 hours before we started pouring. Tar, mint, eucalyptus, black fruits, cherry. This wine literally never ends. I can still taste it two days later. It just lingers. Unbelievable.
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Blind - notes of vanilla.. distinct vanilla.. but can't quite place it. Cedar, dark fruit, with good acidity. I guessed early 2000 Pessac, and was humbled by blind tasting. 83 Grange. wow.. of course once you knew it's a Syrah, you get it.. yup.. of course..
A treat to try.. but not my favorite style.. this is still got a long ways to go if people want to hold on to it..
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Tasted double blind. Definitely seemed mature with lots of leather and cigar box, lighter in color but absolutely balanced and elegant with a long finish. Really lovely - one of my two favorite wines of the red flight. My first time getting to taste Grange and hopefully not my last!
Tampa Spring Break (the second); 2/17/2017-2/19/2017 (Various spots (homes, Mis en Place, Capital Grille)): So I am completely and totally biased on this wine, but I just think I could sit and smell the nose forever. We didn't do it justice - didn't have a decanter so was just opened for a few hours and poured out of the bottle. To me I'm not sure the mustiness ever had a chance to fully go away. Lots of leather and tea leaves and just a hint of fruit (I suspect more time in a decanter and that would have come forward more). Still - I love it.
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Acker Auction - November (JK's birthday) (Zuma in NYC): WOTN which is saying something since we had a lot of really good wines going. It was a total baby. Made me wish that I could age as well. We opened and drank over about 6.5 hours. Opened up a lot in the glass (no decant). Black fruits and spices and herbs and constantly evolving and changing and with that Grange nose that is so very distinctive (and which I do believe someone needs to make a cologne of). Amazing.
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Drank next to a 2003 Abreu and a 2005 Trotonoy. This was my wine of the night. Opened and decanted and then drank over the course of a couple of hours. It took prob 2 hours in the decanter to really find it's stride. In the beg was a bit closed down and more leaves and bushes. But with the time the fruit started to come out and it had the great Grange approach where it's just constantly evolving as you drink it and goes through the whole range of flavors. Really love this wine.
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Drank at 67 Had beside a '83 Hermitage La Chapelle. It was lovely with a nose of leather, spice, dark fruit, and earth. Still fresh on the palate with a beautiful depth. The La Chapelle was slightly more complex and just edged ahead by the votes on the table.
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Epic night (Ruth's Chris Parsippany): Hello Grange my friend! And how lucky to get to do back to back vintages back to back? This was my first time with the '83 which we opened and decanted at the beginning of the dinner which prob means we started consuming it about 1.5 hours later. This is just beautiful, leather and spice and everything nice. Lots of black fruit. Constantly evolving. I have high expectations of Grange, but these ones from the '80's always seem to hit them right on.
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Color was still a good garnet core, mildly opaque. Great nose, still youthful with dark fruits, leather, cocoa and oak. Palate was classic, unmistakable Grange. Dark and blue fruits, cola, blueberry, leather. Evolved nicely in the glass over 30 minutes, picked up secondary and tertiary characteristics of burnt sugar, honey.
A gorgeous, well-aged Grange. In a great spot now and should continue to drink well for some time. Well aged Aussie fruit that adds elegance to the power and uniqueness of this wine. Would have benefited from a longer decant than we allowed
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Massive nose despite it´s age. Showing a great balance of dark ripe fruits, and the elegance that time brings. Oak, leather, dried red berries. Taste is full bodied, balanced with lots of dark fruits, tar, tea, leather. A big, complex, long wine, that is simply gorgeous!
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Really lovely. Tried in a flight with 1985. Much younger smelling and tasting than the 1985. Some chocolate as well as oak on the nose. Still rich pure dark fruit. More acid. Rounder mouth feel. Delicious.
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Incredible density and the blueberry fruit is so fresh and vibrant. It has just a hint of earthy development and a little sage and mint. It is powerful and juvenile and provided the cork lasts this wine will last many decades.
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decanted and served 45 minutes after opening. Didn't like the first whiff I got... instantly detected that green pepper, vegetal, wet cardboard nose. Was this bottle corked? Definitely possible, but I'm not very sensitive to TCA and this wasn't badly corked. Initially the nose was a little muted, and when a Grange doesn't explode in your face, that's usually a sign of trouble... A little smoky at first, and eventually after a long while, the familiar sweet vanilla finally showed up. Acidity was a little higher than expected.
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Markus' 50th birthday (Markus' house): Huge wine with still a bright future ahead. Coke hard candy, blueberries, very dense, fat, very nice length yet retaining a great elegance
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More pronounced menthol and eucalyptus notes, from a very hot vintage this showed extremely well, but did not quite have the exquisite refinement and balance of its flight mates, but is still absolutely splendid. Drink now-2050.
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NobleRottersSydney - Grange night (Verde, East Sydney): {cork, 12.9%} (Gordon) The vintage was marked by droughts, bushfires and floods. An acclaimed, low-alcohol wine is the result. This does smells quite aged yet intense, with much more overt stewed mulberry fruits compared to the purely tertiary aromas of the ’75. It remains fruity on the palate, but is overlaid with more overt smoky oak. This is verging on full-bodied (for 30 years old) , still has strong underlying oak tannins, almost to the point of seeming a bit disjointed. There remains great length on the finish, though, and the whole of the tongue from front to back is tantalised by the aging red fruits. This will likely become more polarising as it ages; might be a Grange where the tannins outlive everything else. On this showing, has another ten years drinking easily. Barossa & Adelaide fruit. 6% cabernet.
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MNSC - Peter (Island Tang): decanted for 3 hours yet still as lively as ever. unmistakable candy and sweet licorice that's typical of grange. a bit overpowering compared to the others.
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Runny Returns.....the Great Australian Wine Dinner. (Chez Patrick Restaurant, 2/F, Garden East, 222 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong): This smelt and tasted of sewage water on opening the rather crumbled cork. Decanted for 8 hours beforehand then drank over 3 hours alongside Grange 1980 and Grange 1986 (plus some other great Australians). Semi-translucent, purple-red colour with no variance between core and meniscus. Nose is high-toned, nail varnish, sharp black cherry....younger and less open than you'd expect as a Grange afficionado. Ah, and then the nose comes into precise focus.....cut, poised, chisel-jawed, aloof....like a Prussian soldier standing in at Buckingham Palace....wow, a jeweled precision in its cut. Palate is ooh, gosh!...deep, rich rounded, succulent confit plum, confit prunes, black licquorice, thick opium smoke and all wrapped up in a swathe of billowing red brick dust, red bitter cherry boiled sweets from childhood....and that same jeweled precision and Prussian aloofness and cut. The length and resonance was chiffonesque......constantly shifting in the breeze....like chasing the Dragon. Of the Granges drank alongside, if the 1980 was a beautiful 55 year old woman who would have stopped traffic a few years ago and still looks great....and the 1986 is a 21 year old who doesn't even know that she can stop traffic..... the 1983 is the the woman who doesn't even notice that you just walked into a lampost in Central admiring her, she's used to it.
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Capsule and cork in great shape. No faults or taints. Appearance: Deep dark red with brown edges. Still very dense and vital colors. Nose: Exciting and intense nose of Herbs, Dried Dark Berries, Raisins, Mocha with hints of Vanilla. Taste: Strong secondary characters of Dark Chocolate, Leather, Raisins, Oak, Plum and signs of Grapefruit. Firm, intense and long finish. Opinion: A very exciting wine! The wine is still very present and fresh even though the secondary characters took over the fruit. Perfectly balanced and highly concentrated. One very special drinking experience! (see pictures and more details at my Blog: cellartv.wordpress.com)
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Dark sexy alluring and sexy black umeya Plums but with Whiffs of black BBQ smoked toasted blackened bread toast. Savory umami filled palate of Spicy black berries with chinese medicine and spicy tannins with cracked black peppercorns. Exotic
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At royal mail Vic. Great color - lovely elegant nose. Initially a bit harsh, almost tannic. Improved quickly and came together. Good length, nice aromas. Dark fruit, tar.
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Best bottle @ Ely (Ely wine bar Dublin): Best bottle of this I have ever had. This wine is so elegant. Jim and Robert both guessed that this was a Bordeaux and they thought it to be between 5 and 10 years old: that's how the color looked and that's how it smelled and that's how awesome it was in the palate! Thick yet elegant, distinct smell of coke-flavored hard-candy. Very long and fat in the palate. This was the best ever Grange. This is just the amazing.
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Good wine. Nose was very Grange. Both DS and I picked this out single blind quite quickly. Had that slight vanilla Oak quality to it but sweet black fruit, tar, enjoyable. Still extremely young but enjoyable. This was for me close with the GPL 82 as the red wine of the evening.
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NobleRottersSydney - emergency Penfolds (Alio's, Surry Hills): [cork, 12.9%] {Gordon} Double decanted about four hours prior to drinking. Living up to the best of its reputation, the nose is classic aging Grange, with that charcoal, red meat, tar and black fruit mix of seduction and power. There is still a mass of fine powdery tannins present, blueberry fruits, and a full-bodied texture that quite saturates the tongue - but doesn’t overwhelm. Balance is impeccable. On this triumphant form, its future will be fascinating; there’s some development now, but no sign of it drying out, or the fruit not keeping up. I get the impression the next 10-15 years will reveal even greater glories.
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The wine's a chameleon, both with regards to bottle variations and over time. When you open it up it is sweet, has a bold structure but has lots of it's potential covered. It changes the aromas over time and after 2-3 hours it is fully here. I have scored this wine as high as 99 points! This one was 92
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Not decanted. Matured and sweet nose, suggesting hints of orange rind, port and a little mahogany. Seemed little tired initially, but came alive with time in the glass. Great complexity and good depth of flavors. Across time, the Cabernet- and Shiraz-led flavors took turns to take centre stage, offering a different perspective to the wine's multi-faceted profile. Quite an experience.
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Amazingly youthful colour. Graphite, formic acid, menthol and blackberry. Bold and somewhat monolithic on the palate. A better bottle than the last one I had, but still didn't reach the heights that this vintage it is meant to.
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Red brick colour developing, but still surprisingly dark considering age. Decanted and left to breath for an hour before tasting. Incredibly complex, layered flavours, evolving throughout the evening, covering toffee, over-ripe berries, blackcurrant, dark spicy chocolate, and leathery, cigar box aromas. Everything was beautifully balanced with perfectly integrated tannins. The freshness of the wine was remarkable given its age, and it will easily continue to improve over another 5 years min. Simply stunning.
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Amazing color - looked like it had just been bottled! Very mellow and slightly musty in a delicious way. Lots of menthol and eucalyptus to go with the fruit, which was not overly aggressive or Australian.
At Acker wine dinner.
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WFA 2009 Grange Vertical Tasting: Complex nose of tea leaves, orange peel, fresh, plum. Bit of sewage. Amazing tannins with excellent freshness with 26 years of age. Some morning freshness and subtle finish. Some sandal wood and herbs as CPT correctly described. After an hour an half in the glass, amazing.
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Note: Opened 7 days early, racked & recorked under gas
Colour: Dark burgundy/purple Nose: Asphalt, tar, tobacco, liquorice, dark fruits, big alcoholic nose Palate: Savoury, almost light green, tobacco, cedar, elegant. Very very long finish - where did all the alcohol go. Still young
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Awesome big grange. Still years to live. Complex, long, balanced beautifully and generous to a tee. Rich with a touch of class. Had after the 82 Leoville Las Cases. The Leo ahead by a nose, but Grange looked in good company.
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Grange Offline (1990-1975) (Alba Restuarant London): 96% SH 4% CS, 13.3% Some menthol but quite a 'plain' nose, perhaps tight still? This struck me as a straight down the line grange, nothing overly exciting but all correct. Perhaps it just needs time to develop but it didn't have enough stuffing.
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Penfolds Grange Vertical Tasting (1990-1975) (Alba Restaurant, Whitecross Street, London): 94% shiraz, 6% cabernet. A smoky, leathery, plummy, blackberry nose that would make you think it's a lot younger than 1983. Ripe and full on the palate. Remarkably young feeling. Lovely balance. I think this works really well, but give it five years for perfection. 93/100. Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. This has opened up quite a bit, but it's clear it will still repay further cellarage.
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A stunning wine. It showed a deep purple/crimson colour that belied its age, with aromas of pepper mixed with black, ripe fruit. The blackberries came through on the palate, but perfectly balanced with the acid and soft tannins. A seamless wine, with a finish that went on for minutes. Although it is hard to imagine this wine getting any better, it has the body and structure to stay at its peak for many more years.
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Prime Rib and Fabulous Wines: Interesting wine. Was the last of the night and everyone could tell by the nose that this was completely unlike any of the other wines we'd tasted previously. I got a distinct crude oil/petroleum component on the nose, which I rather liked. Massive dark fruit with almost port-like elements carry this wine, which still has remarkable density and tons of sediment. This wine will be drinking well when many of us are not going to be around anymore. Stylistically though, I really wasn't enamored with this wine. I didn't even venture to guess where the wine was from, but thought mid-1990s.
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NobleRottersSydney - Penfolds prior to 95 + 1998 Bin releases (Darling Mills, Glebe): A sort of mystery vintage, due to significant label damage. The capsule revealed all, though, Slightly more leathery than the 86, with the fruit characters a bit more subdued, and not quite such a tremendous weight on the palate. But the length was quite comparable. I felt it didn’t quite match other bottles I’ve had in recent years, but then I didn’t drink them right after the 86! Another stunning wine – I suspect the 86 will live a little longer, but we’re talking decades here.
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3/16/2024 - Cremuel wrote: 94 Points
Bob’s cellar. Only a brief note. Shared with friends over a dinner. Excellent as always. Feel this is going strong but not much room for improvement from here.
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12/31/2023 - Cailles wrote: 95 Points
20 Top Wines of the 1983 Vintage: Great bottles of the 1983 Grange can drink close to perfection these days. This bottle never fully got there. Upon opening it was closed and muted and even showed signs of age, with 6+ hours in the decanter it got better and better but never reached the absolute heights of the best bottle I’ve had a year ago (rated 99pts), which had a touch higher purity, weightlessness, and more pronounced pure, Chambolle-like red fruit. Still, this was an excellent bottle.
TN: This Grange exhibits a vibrant array of aromas - intense and multi-layered from the nose, across the palate, to a prolonged, expansive finish. It offers a striking contrast to the 1983 Dominus/Opus, also tasted. The profile includes bright red berries, darker fruits, and an abundance of spices and herbs. It's the most mature 1983 Grange I've encountered, with aging notes seamlessly melded into the profusion of other scents. The structure is finely tannic, complemented by excellent freshness. Its texture is more velvet-like than satin, with substantial yet not overwhelming density and weight. The balance and harmony are impressive.
Decanting: Extensive aeration is key - a minimum of 6-7 hours in a decanter brings out its full potential.
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11/25/2023 - G_H wrote: 96 Points
40 years on: A global 1983 retrospective: Plums, raspberries, spices, nice acidity. Very good but not one of the best examples.
This needs extensive time in the decanter. I'd recommend 6+ hours.
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11/25/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 95 Points
1983 vintage horizontal with >20 wines, mostly from Bordeaux. Key observations: 1/ Acceptable vintage for Champagne with DP over-delivering, 2/ Laville Haut Brion is a masterpiece among the whites, 3/ Bordeaux is going strong at 40 years of age with stand-outs Latour and Margaux. 4/ No need to chase any Napa’s from the vintage, 5/ off-piste Italians kept up impressively with Soldera an undisputed medalist.
Tasting note:
Decanted for 6h. Intense, sweet and sexy with Asian spice and gingerbread, black berry and bramble berry fruit. Juicy and well structured palate . Extremely enticing and another great bottle, but not quite at the stellar level like the previous one – I know there is even more possible with this one!
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10/29/2023 - Cailles wrote: 94 Points
A few observations: A) The wines undoubtedly deserve their legendary status. Few wines manage to square the circle of being intense, rich in substance and structure, while at the same time being ethereal, delicate and airy. B) The wines are all complex and very precise. With age (and/or air) the wines show a Rayas-like pure red berry fruit to die for. Other defining aromas are the minty/eucalyptus notes and especially the sweet spice I find in many Aussie Shirazes. C) The wines age at a glacial pace. Even the 40+ year old wines are still quite young and all will need a lot of decanting. D) All the wines were on a high level (except for one subpar bottle of the 2000). The winner was the magical 1982 (98pts), the epitome of elegance and balance.
TN: I’ve had this several times before and with the right amount of air, this is an almost perfect wine. This bottle, not decanted, didn‘t get to the same heights. The nose was a bit muted and never fully opened up. The palate showed better, more open and showcased beautifully the wonderful red berry fruit core with fine strawberries and red currant, with some additional minty and earthy notes. With time it got more complex and precise. The structural frame was impeccable with ultra fine tannins, good tension and freshness, an airy texture. Superb balance. Sadly we only got a glimpse of what is possible.
Decanting: All wines were quickly double decanted 3h before the tasting. In my experience Grange usually needs hours of proper decanting. I would decant this vintage for at least 6-7 hours. This would have helped here.
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10/29/2023 - Frijole wrote:
dark maroon, medium clarity, brickish hue
Nose: plum, blackberries, tobacco, leather, tar, cinnamon, allspice, thyme, bay leaf, juniper berries, black pepper, smoke, dark oak
Pal: plum, blackberries, black cherry, vanilla, tobacco, leather, tar, cinnamon, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaf, thyme, black pepper, smoke, fine tannins, oak
Feel: medium, full, astringent, acidic
Finish: medium, long
TC9
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10/3/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 97 Points
Grange vertical (Wunderbrunnen, Opfikon): Part of a 7-vintage vertical (key takeaways in the tasting story). Dark berries, brambleberry and plum, confit of red currant. Fine aging notes of sous-bois and leather and sparkled with spice and herbs. Adding tobacco and black coffee with aeration. The palate is full-bodied with vibrant acidity. Such a great linearity with sharp contours despite the intensity. Second bottle this year and both were outstanding.
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6/7/2023 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - mostly Penfolds (Fix, St James, Sydney): {cork, 12.9%} [Gordon] Double-decanted about three hours earlier. Soy and umami, I heard people saying, and they’re right. There’s also brine and tar. And black fruit, of course. Not overly oaky. Even palate, medium/long finish. Medium chalky tannins. It’s very impressive, especially for forty years old, but it didn’t trump the 98 St Henri as you might expect. I checked the note I took on Gordon’s last Rotters’ bottle of this in 2019 and I reckon this bottle was ever-so-slightly below par for some reason, at least by the time it got to the table. The vagaries of corks and bottle variation, I suspect (since storage was common). A fine wine, yes, but not at its best, I think.
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5/19/2023 - Cailles wrote: 97 Points
Richter Pre-Gaming Night (w/ some new world icons): Two Granges side by side. The 1983 (97pts) again showed highly complex, almost perfect precision and superb purity. If we could have followed the wine longer, it could have been even better (had a 99pts bottle last year). The 1993 (95pts) was not far behind with the same complexity and purity but 10 years younger, still with a bit more muscular structure and feel and some chemical/anis notes which you have to like.
TN: Some herbs, super high/toned red berries. On the palate. So intriguing and inviting. On the palate so sweet, so high toned red fruit, herbs, minerality, minty and spicy notes but it’s all about this beautiful, pure red fruit. Very fine, elegant structure, lots of freshness and tension and a light and airy texture. Quite complete, especially towards the end of the glass when it got more air.
Decanting: I would decant for 5-6 hours. These Granges need a lot of air.
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5/6/2023 - Cremuel Likes this wine: 94 Points
Bob’s cellar. Drank for the King’s Coronation in Sydney. Dark inky red, the faintest hue of bricking. Nose is oily dark black fruit, cassis and stewed plums, actually quite restrained, tar, graphite and violets, black liquorice- all in the background. Flavours are restrained too (pnp). There’s raw unsweetened liquorice, aged tannins, black stewed fruits, damson and brambles, acidity is almost and afterthought, bitter chocolate and feels a tad aged. After an hour or two in the decanter, and some time in the glass, the ‘blackness’ has softened, fruit and acidity has risen and it feels a more complete wine. Still the tarryness but more fruit and freshness. Day 2, retains the tar richness, fruit has risen and this is very good. Mature but good, and will need an appreciation of older wines to enjoy fully.
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5/5/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 96 Points
Prelude to the annual Magnum Rarities Tasting in Zurich. Decanted for 2h which worked well (double-decant absolutely required). Earthy base with beautiful and alluring notes of tobacco, truffles and mushrooms. Dark cherry and brambleberry fruit. Just hints of sweet spice and herbal complexity. A nicely fruity palate with satin tannin and fresh acidity. Dense with tobacco aromatics. This has aged beautifully and is in its peak drinking window. At first this was surpassed by the 1993 I paired this against, but with rising room temperature and hours after the decant the latter started to show some unfavorable balsamic notes. Best aged Grange to date I have tasted remains the 1986.
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5/5/2023 - G_H wrote: 95 Points
A good example of how well Grange can age, this was dense, still fresh with a good fruit and some minty notes. Good supporting acidity in a very long and dense finish.
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4/1/2023 - jrtaylor Likes this wine: 96 Points
Took notes from previous tastings and decided to do a 2hr decant. Bottle was purchased off an auction and was recorked in 2006 at a penfolds clinic.
TN: Immediately after opening I was getting mostly tertiary flavors and notes. 45 min in lots of tart bing cherry and leather. 1.5 hours the cherry was starting to smooth out, little tobacco notes. 2 hours the wine started to hum, the tart fruits were gone and really opened up great. The wine had a short finish which almost makes me think that it might be a year past peak, but overall I was amazed how how this wine really evolved over 4 hours. Still couldn’t believe the wine was 40 yrs old.
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2/25/2023 - Fat1Wombat wrote:
Dinner with Justin, Ned, Neil & Mark
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1/4/2023 - chs2756 Likes this wine: 90 Points
붉은 레드, 투명, 그라데이션 좋음
미디엄바디+ 가죽향, 어스, 트러플 버섯, 젖은잎이 1차로 느껴짐
시간이 지나면서 블랙베리 향이 올라옴
타닌 산도가 어우러져 튀는부분이 전혀 없었으며
팔렛에서도 가죽, 버섯향이 1차로 크게 느껴지다가 과실향이 뒤늦게 올라오면서 어울어짐
실키하게 넘어가고 질감이 좋음
처음 마셔본 80년대 올빈으로 바틀컨디션이 좋았다는 평이었으며 가죽향, 젖은잎 향이 노즈 팔렛에서 압도적이어서 처음엔 적응이 잘안됨
마시고난 뒤 계속생각나는 가장 기억에 남는 맛
인상깊은걸로는 100, 테이스팅순간 80
테이스팅은 올빈에대한 경험부족이 큼
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12/25/2022 - Cremuel Likes this wine: 97 Points
Bob's cellar. Black inky red, some bricking but not much. Black swirly fruit nose, a bit of musty age in the background which blows off, sweet brambly damsons and black cherries. Taste starts off aged, saltiness, austere tannins still, fruit is very reticent; emerges as the wine opens up revealing sweetish black brambly forest floor. Stage 2 (after decanting for a couple of hours), has opened up and the fruit has risen from the depths, the structure is immense and majestic, there is masses of life, pristine structured quality. Is amazing, and hard to do full justice with words, this is a 40 year old wine which is vibrant, framed and brilliant.
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6/26/2022 - Cailles wrote: 99 Points
This is the best bottle of Grange I‘ve had to date. With some decanting, this had everything. High complexity and precision from start to finish, perfectly harmonious but still with so much tension and verve, prior to decanting, the wine seemed even young-ish but it got better, rounder, more balanced by the minute. Quite close to perfection in my book with some decanting.
TN: Super intense, ever so slightly changing nose full of asian spices, eucalyptus, ripe dark berries, cola notes, so much spices, tobacco, leather. So intense, expressive, round and creamy, freash and first even a bit young but then the longer it sits in the glass the rounder and better and better, more harmonious and round it got, mint chocolate notes emerged adding a touch of seductiveness. A wow wine with a very long and expanding finish. At first 95/96 pts, later 99/100pts.
Decanting: PnP, then decanted and followed over 3+ hours. This needed 60-90 mins in the decanter to reach its peak.
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6/23/2021 - Cailles wrote: 97 Points
Top shoulder fill. The highlights are the very high complexity and precision. Every nose showed new nuances. The wine has a lot of tension and freshness and seems much younger (others who had it blind guessed it to be roughly 20, not 40 years old) and there are just a first few tertiary aromas peaking through. Technically, this wine is fantastic and already in a good place and easily deserves the 97 points. While a bottle of the 1986 a few months ago showed peakish, this 1983 has more potential and should improve further in the coming years.
TN: Complex and intense nose with precise aromas of dark fruits, eucalyptus, coffee, earthy notes and some tobacco. Same rainbow of aromas on the palate and finish with an additional layer of minerality, more spices and herbs. The fruit is ripe but fresh, no hint of jamminess, all very balanced and elegant and embedded in a solid tannin structure with very fine tannins and a high freshness. The wine is in that sweet spot with a lot of cut and a weightlessness and at the same time a wonderfully creamy texture.
Decanting: Not decanted, opened 4 h before. The wine opened up nicely in the glas and became more harmonious. A short 2h decant would have been sufficient.
Glass: Zalto Bordeaux
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6/13/2021 - _water.into.wine_ wrote:
From an OWC purchased close to release and still with its paper wrapping. Incredible condition both inside and outside the bottle.
Served blind, and the impeccable storage meant everyone thought this 10-20 years younger than it was. A seriously deep and dark purple, with a spicy nose, this oozed Shiraz, and all at the table guessed this to be new world. Whilst the label says 12.5%, this felt much closer to 14-15%.
To say this is a big wine, is an understatement, this is absolutely massive. So much dark fruits remain, with just hints of tertiary notes. This will last another 50 years.
Definitely needs big, bold food to pair with, be it roasted or heavily charred and grilled meats.
If you love the style, then you will love this. If you like elegant and delicate wines, this won't be the one for you.
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2/12/2021 - LindsayM Likes this wine: 95 Points
perfect classic grange , still has 5 years in the tank
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1/12/2021 - CamWheeler wrote: 93 Points
SLDS New Year #2: Not cliniced. VA, crushed ant, mint, blackcurrant and graphite. Fresh, still plenty of that tannic structure that this vintage is known for, but there is enough fruit and depth that it is starting to show an approachable side. Still 10 years + to go here.
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12/5/2020 - The_Cat Likes this wine: 97 Points
Deep garnet red with brick red hints. Seducing flavors of black cherry blackberry drops blueberry and noble black pepperand a bit of eucalyptus. Full bodied with silky textured tannins and elegant very long finish.
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11/22/2020 - yodamark Likes this wine: 95 Points
well what does one do when you are coming to the end of an amazing dinner with one of the greatest group of old rare wines shared with wonderful company in one of Melbourne's greatest restaurants - La Luna. You have ended the night with a cheese platter and 1980 Dyquem and it is decided by our beautiful waitress Lauren that a "chaser" is needed. So she digs into the box of wines we bought that had not been opened yet and comes back downstairs with an 1983 Grange and immediately opens it. I love this vintage of Grange with its crushed ants, dense brooding blackberry fruit and dark thick viscous palate. its the opposite of the 1982 which whilst also stunning is more fruit forward , open and delicate and ready to drink. this 83 is like the younger overweight crappy attitude sister who as a parent you still love to death but know that it will have to reach half a century before you can coherently communicate with it. as I said in the initial notes of the 2012 Bollinger review that its a tough gig for such a cracking bottle of 83 Grange to come last in scores when on its own it is likely to be wine of the night on any other day. but it is what it is, it was superb, too young, too backward and outclassed on the night but i would still drink it anyday.
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7/18/2020 - Mikeh89 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Majestic !!!
Cork in perfect shape.
Notes of smoked leather and masculinity on the nose, classic grange fruit on the taste with the elegance and class of a Royal.
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6/13/2020 - fizz wrote:
Level was very high shoulder. Decanted 2 hours.
Deep garnet colour, not giving its age away at all. Black fruits still emerge, with florals, menthol and earthy spices. Palate is now fully resolved, fruits all wrapped up in gentle, unfolding, silky tannins. Length to burn here. Wonderful balance. Showing beautifully.
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10/14/2019 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - meant to be Grange (360 Bar & Dining, Sydney): [Gordon] {cork, 12.9%} What a lovely nose; roses, violets, gentle strawberries, with malt and chocolate. The palate is the perfect balance of fruit and power, in multiple dimensions. Sweet twist of shiraz fruit, with gentle spicy vanilla oak, but not intrusive. Medium-full weight, with medium powdery tannins. Medium acid. Could easily be mistaken for something half its age. Even palate, and long, long finish. Really, good bottles of this are nowhere near falling over. Had a double decant two hours earlier. Every bit as good as the Bin 80A, but with a more robust, exotic character. Fabulous wine.
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8/22/2019 - KoalaHK wrote:
Tasted at Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide. 40 Vintages of Grange: Quite dark in the glass, with a beautiful perfume of dark fruits. Quite fine tannins but more muscular than the '82. A lovely Grange.
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6/22/2019 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
From magnum, very special wine so graceful and complex. We had a lot of impressive wines last night and this was a real standout.
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4/30/2019 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Penfolds Grange dinner with Stephanie Dutton (The Musket Room in NYC): Very classic Grange which is interesting because apparently this was the year of all of the weather craziness in Aus. Huge bushfires and lots of rains. And a wine that feels just so quintessentially itself somehow through that. It's got the eucalyptus and a bit of the menthol and lovely black fruits and really a nice oomph that makes it leap out of the glass a bit. A beautiful wine.
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2/28/2019 - engelwein Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tiefroter Wein mit Fruchtaromen, auch Caramel, Schokolade in Nase und im Mund. Erstaunlich jugendlich! Sicher noch schön zu trinken bis 2025!
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12/2/2018 - G_H wrote: 93 Points
From a pristine bottle, this had all the grange notes but lacked a bit of palate breath
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12/1/2018 - Trydebull Likes this wine: 98 Points
Öppnar och häller direkt upp ett glas av den här mörkt, mörkröda drycken innan resten åker i en karaff. Vilken färg! Röd och tydlig och inte ett uns brun- eller gulton kring det här.
Och dofterna slår emot mig! Tryck i den här!
Kolafudge, körsbär som legat inlagda med mandlar i ett antal år, och lite lakritsrot. Doftar tät och djup. Urvattnade blandade nyplockade soppar. Djäklar vilka toner! Lövskog. Lite torkade plommon. Ett uns riktigt bra soja och naturligtvis även tankar till hemmakokt balsamico. Djupt koncentrerad.
Smaken - djupa dova toner. Hade jag fått den blint är jag inte säker på att jag inte (ursäkta de dubbla negationerna) hade varit en sväng i Bordeaux och vänt i tankevärlden. Koncentrerade lite strävsöta blåa plommon, samma mandelinlagda körsbär som jag får på doften, alla smaker man får upp känns förstärkta och reducerade till tusen. Nästan jul i smaken, flera dova kryddträdgårdskryddor, och lite lite mjuk pepparkaka (obs, positivt).
Fasiken vad bra det här är.
Nu är jag högt uppe och svävar.
Vägde lite fram och tillbaka men Nu skriver jag det. Bästa flaskan av tre.
98.
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7/20/2018 - PIntag wrote:
First try of a Grange for me. Pop 'n pour and decanted for sediment. Huge nose with kind of a caramel/brown sugar aroma. On the palate, less dense and more elegant than I expected - definitely not a wine for impressing Napa Cab lovers - more in my wheelhouse, though I found this to be a little monolithic and one-note. Still some tannic bite. Enough acidity to keep it balanced. Did not seem to have much distinctive Syrah character. Oak also a little too prominent for my palate. This was indeed very good, but a bit disappointing given high expectations. I think there are dozens of $40 Cali Syrahs that I would enjoy more than this (e.g. any number of Carlisle bottlings), though the aromatics were fantastic. Grateful for the chance to try this anyway.
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2/23/2018 - walkerjfw wrote: 97 Points
Final night dinner/PNV week - our annual "mostly non Cab" rinse to the week's tastings... (Ad Hoc, Yountville CA): Saved this one for last, from my cellar. A well stored bottle, gift from Andrew G. This is a sophisticated wine crew but less experience with Grange. Brooke decanted this one, open for maybe 90 minutes before drinking.
Rich garnet core color, opaque. Classic Grange nose of dark fruits, leather, cedar box, old cocoa. From prior notes on plate..."Palate was classic, unmistakable Grange. Dark and blue fruits, cola, blueberry, leather. Evolved nicely in the glass over 30 minutes, picked up secondary and tertiary characteristics of burnt sugar, honey..." spot on, the group picked up some eucalyptus, vanilla, tar...rich and nuanced through the finish. Expressive fruits, nicely aged, in a really good spot right now. this may prove to be one of those "immortal" Grange wines - may drink well for another 20?
We had an incredible range of wines on this evening, hard to say what was "best" across this many varietals, regions and vintages. The uniqueness of this wine had it as WOTN for most of the group. Amazing stuff!
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12/12/2017 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Acker BYO 2017 (Tribeca Grille): My WOTN. Ok, not a surprise if you follow my notes. We learned from our experience a month ago where we drank Grange not decanted. Opened as soon as we got to restaurant and let it sit for prob 3 hours before we started pouring. Tar, mint, eucalyptus, black fruits, cherry. This wine literally never ends. I can still taste it two days later. It just lingers. Unbelievable.
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12/12/2017 - mye wrote:
Blind - notes of vanilla.. distinct vanilla.. but can't quite place it.
Cedar, dark fruit, with good acidity.
I guessed early 2000 Pessac, and was humbled by blind tasting.
83 Grange. wow..
of course once you knew it's a Syrah, you get it.. yup.. of course..
A treat to try.. but not my favorite style.. this is still got a long ways to go if people want to hold on to it..
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3/22/2017 - RayOB wrote: 94 Points
Drank in Hong Kong
Lovely but still very young.
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2/19/2017 - retired_and_roving Likes this wine:
Tasted double blind. Definitely seemed mature with lots of leather and cigar box, lighter in color but absolutely balanced and elegant with a long finish. Really lovely - one of my two favorite wines of the red flight. My first time getting to taste Grange and hopefully not my last!
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2/19/2017 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Tampa Spring Break (the second); 2/17/2017-2/19/2017 (Various spots (homes, Mis en Place, Capital Grille)): So I am completely and totally biased on this wine, but I just think I could sit and smell the nose forever. We didn't do it justice - didn't have a decanter so was just opened for a few hours and poured out of the bottle. To me I'm not sure the mustiness ever had a chance to fully go away. Lots of leather and tea leaves and just a hint of fruit (I suspect more time in a decanter and that would have come forward more). Still - I love it.
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11/18/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Acker Auction - November (JK's birthday) (Zuma in NYC): WOTN which is saying something since we had a lot of really good wines going. It was a total baby. Made me wish that I could age as well. We opened and drank over about 6.5 hours. Opened up a lot in the glass (no decant). Black fruits and spices and herbs and constantly evolving and changing and with that Grange nose that is so very distinctive (and which I do believe someone needs to make a cologne of). Amazing.
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10/14/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Drank next to a 2003 Abreu and a 2005 Trotonoy. This was my wine of the night. Opened and decanted and then drank over the course of a couple of hours. It took prob 2 hours in the decanter to really find it's stride. In the beg was a bit closed down and more leaves and bushes. But with the time the fruit started to come out and it had the great Grange approach where it's just constantly evolving as you drink it and goes through the whole range of flavors. Really love this wine.
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5/25/2016 - RayOB Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drank at 67
Had beside a '83 Hermitage La Chapelle. It was lovely with a nose of leather, spice, dark fruit, and earth. Still fresh on the palate with a beautiful depth. The La Chapelle was slightly more complex and just edged ahead by the votes on the table.
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5/7/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Epic night (Ruth's Chris Parsippany): Hello Grange my friend! And how lucky to get to do back to back vintages back to back? This was my first time with the '83 which we opened and decanted at the beginning of the dinner which prob means we started consuming it about 1.5 hours later. This is just beautiful, leather and spice and everything nice. Lots of black fruit. Constantly evolving. I have high expectations of Grange, but these ones from the '80's always seem to hit them right on.
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1/19/2016 - walkerjfw wrote: 95 Points
Another Epic Dinner in Zurich w/CVA, Benoit, Andrew...adding Paolo (Moevenpick 20/20): Last wine of the evening. Andrew brought this, PnP towards the end of the dinner. Label was a little shredded, some trouble with the cork - but otherwise good bottle.
Color was still a good garnet core, mildly opaque. Great nose, still youthful with dark fruits, leather, cocoa and oak. Palate was classic, unmistakable Grange. Dark and blue fruits, cola, blueberry, leather. Evolved nicely in the glass over 30 minutes, picked up secondary and tertiary characteristics of burnt sugar, honey.
A gorgeous, well-aged Grange. In a great spot now and should continue to drink well for some time. Well aged Aussie fruit that adds elegance to the power and uniqueness of this wine. Would have benefited from a longer decant than we allowed
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12/29/2015 - G_H wrote: 95 Points
Youngest bottle ever, very dense and in need of air, great length and richness. Love it
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11/27/2015 - Burgundy Al wrote: 94 Points
Friday after Thanksgiving (FAT) - Part 2 - Penfolds Grange Vertical (Palm Beach Gardens FL): Small taste, brief note. One of my favorites of the vertical. Most tasty wine of the older vintage. Powerful and very pleasurable with the added elegance of age.
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5/5/2015 - Blauweiss Likes this wine: 96 Points
Massive nose despite it´s age. Showing a great balance of dark ripe fruits, and the elegance that time brings. Oak, leather, dried red berries. Taste is full bodied, balanced with lots of dark fruits, tar, tea, leather. A big, complex, long wine, that is simply gorgeous!
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3/19/2015 - ozoenophile Likes this wine: 94 Points
Really lovely. Tried in a flight with 1985. Much younger smelling and tasting than the 1985. Some chocolate as well as oak on the nose. Still rich pure dark fruit. More acid. Rounder mouth feel. Delicious.
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3/6/2015 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Incredible density and the blueberry fruit is so fresh and vibrant. It has just a hint of earthy development and a little sage and mint. It is powerful and juvenile and provided the cork lasts this wine will last many decades.
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5/29/2014 - Cellar Hand Likes this wine: 95 Points
Oh my god! I can't believe it is 30 plus years. Cork was a challenge but with some creative filtering got it out and decanted. Magnificent!
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4/16/2014 - Peech wrote: flawed
decanted and served 45 minutes after opening. Didn't like the first whiff I got... instantly detected that green pepper, vegetal, wet cardboard nose. Was this bottle corked? Definitely possible, but I'm not very sensitive to TCA and this wasn't badly corked. Initially the nose was a little muted, and when a Grange doesn't explode in your face, that's usually a sign of trouble... A little smoky at first, and eventually after a long while, the familiar sweet vanilla finally showed up. Acidity was a little higher than expected.
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3/21/2014 - G_H Likes this wine: 96 Points
Markus' 50th birthday (Markus' house): Huge wine with still a bright future ahead. Coke hard candy, blueberries, very dense, fat, very nice length yet retaining a great elegance
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3/9/2014 - Dsen Likes this wine: 95 Points
Color was amazing, showing little sign of 30 years of age, well balanced good length
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1/25/2014 - Comte Flaneur wrote: 96 Points
More pronounced menthol and eucalyptus notes, from a very hot vintage this showed extremely well, but did not quite have the exquisite refinement and balance of its flight mates, but is still absolutely splendid. Drink now-2050.
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11/4/2013 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - Grange night (Verde, East Sydney): {cork, 12.9%} (Gordon) The vintage was marked by droughts, bushfires and floods. An acclaimed, low-alcohol wine is the result. This does smells quite aged yet intense, with much more overt stewed mulberry fruits compared to the purely tertiary aromas of the ’75. It remains fruity on the palate, but is overlaid with more overt smoky oak. This is verging on full-bodied (for 30 years old) , still has strong underlying oak tannins, almost to the point of seeming a bit disjointed. There remains great length on the finish, though, and the whole of the tongue from front to back is tantalised by the aging red fruits. This will likely become more polarising as it ages; might be a Grange where the tannins outlive everything else. On this showing, has another ten years drinking easily. Barossa & Adelaide fruit. 6% cabernet.
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6/22/2013 - Lord Rayas wrote: 93 Points
MNSC - Peter (Island Tang): decanted for 3 hours yet still as lively as ever. unmistakable candy and sweet licorice that's typical of grange. a bit overpowering compared to the others.
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6/18/2013 - Peech Likes this wine: 95 Points
exotic with tons of coconut butter and sweetness, along with coffee. 3 hours after decanting the nose dived and turned rubbery.
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3/22/2013 - Goldstone Likes this wine: 96 Points
Runny Returns.....the Great Australian Wine Dinner. (Chez Patrick Restaurant, 2/F, Garden East, 222 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong): This smelt and tasted of sewage water on opening the rather crumbled cork. Decanted for 8 hours beforehand then drank over 3 hours alongside Grange 1980 and Grange 1986 (plus some other great Australians). Semi-translucent, purple-red colour with no variance between core and meniscus. Nose is high-toned, nail varnish, sharp black cherry....younger and less open than you'd expect as a Grange afficionado. Ah, and then the nose comes into precise focus.....cut, poised, chisel-jawed, aloof....like a Prussian soldier standing in at Buckingham Palace....wow, a jeweled precision in its cut. Palate is ooh, gosh!...deep, rich rounded, succulent confit plum, confit prunes, black licquorice, thick opium smoke and all wrapped up in a swathe of billowing red brick dust, red bitter cherry boiled sweets from childhood....and that same jeweled precision and Prussian aloofness and cut. The length and resonance was chiffonesque......constantly shifting in the breeze....like chasing the Dragon. Of the Granges drank alongside, if the 1980 was a beautiful 55 year old woman who would have stopped traffic a few years ago and still looks great....and the 1986 is a 21 year old who doesn't even know that she can stop traffic..... the 1983 is the the woman who doesn't even notice that you just walked into a lampost in Central admiring her, she's used to it.
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2/6/2013 - WineCellarTV Likes this wine: 98 Points
Capsule and cork in great shape. No faults or taints.
Appearance:
Deep dark red with brown edges. Still very dense and vital colors.
Nose:
Exciting and intense nose of Herbs, Dried Dark Berries, Raisins, Mocha with hints of Vanilla.
Taste:
Strong secondary characters of Dark Chocolate, Leather, Raisins, Oak, Plum and signs of Grapefruit. Firm, intense and long finish.
Opinion:
A very exciting wine! The wine is still very present and fresh even though the secondary characters took over the fruit.
Perfectly balanced and highly concentrated.
One very special drinking experience!
(see pictures and more details at my Blog: cellartv.wordpress.com)
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12/1/2012 - G_H Likes this wine: 95 Points
Auzzie dreaming: Very sweet, coke-hard-candy, figs, plums, just a classic grange, vanilla, cherry, orange peel. I love it!!
After a day psenting young wines, we were in the mood for some mature wines and this hit the spot!
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4/3/2012 - Alex H wrote: 90 Points
Dark sexy alluring and sexy black umeya Plums but with Whiffs of black BBQ smoked toasted blackened bread toast. Savory umami filled palate of Spicy black berries with chinese medicine and spicy tannins with cracked black peppercorns. Exotic
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1/4/2012 - steinersing wrote: 95 Points
At royal mail Vic. Great color - lovely elegant nose. Initially a bit harsh, almost tannic. Improved quickly and came together. Good length, nice aromas. Dark fruit, tar.
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11/2/2011 - G_H Likes this wine: 96 Points
Best bottle @ Ely (Ely wine bar Dublin): Best bottle of this I have ever had. This wine is so elegant. Jim and Robert both guessed that this was a Bordeaux and they thought it to be between 5 and 10 years old: that's how the color looked and that's how it smelled and that's how awesome it was in the palate! Thick yet elegant, distinct smell of coke-flavored hard-candy. Very long and fat in the palate. This was the best ever Grange. This is just the amazing.
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7/16/2011 - lean88j wrote: 94 Points
Good wine. Nose was very Grange. Both DS and I picked this out single blind quite quickly. Had that slight vanilla Oak quality to it but sweet black fruit, tar, enjoyable. Still extremely young but enjoyable. This was for me close with the GPL 82 as the red wine of the evening.
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2/7/2011 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - emergency Penfolds (Alio's, Surry Hills): [cork, 12.9%] {Gordon} Double decanted about four hours prior to drinking. Living up to the best of its reputation, the nose is classic aging Grange, with that charcoal, red meat, tar and black fruit mix of seduction and power. There is still a mass of fine powdery tannins present, blueberry fruits, and a full-bodied texture that quite saturates the tongue - but doesn’t overwhelm. Balance is impeccable. On this triumphant form, its future will be fascinating; there’s some development now, but no sign of it drying out, or the fruit not keeping up. I get the impression the next 10-15 years will reveal even greater glories.
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10/15/2010 - G_H wrote: 92 Points
The wine's a chameleon, both with regards to bottle variations and over time. When you open it up it is sweet, has a bold structure but has lots of it's potential covered. It changes the aromas over time and after 2-3 hours it is fully here. I have scored this wine as high as 99 points! This one was 92
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9/22/2010 - sfqwino wrote: 93 Points
Not decanted. Matured and sweet nose, suggesting hints of orange rind, port and a little mahogany. Seemed little tired initially, but came alive with time in the glass. Great complexity and good depth of flavors. Across time, the Cabernet- and Shiraz-led flavors took turns to take centre stage, offering a different perspective to the wine's multi-faceted profile. Quite an experience.
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7/19/2010 - CamWheeler wrote: 90 Points
Amazingly youthful colour. Graphite, formic acid, menthol and blackberry. Bold and somewhat monolithic on the palate. A better bottle than the last one I had, but still didn't reach the heights that this vintage it is meant to.
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7/11/2010 - whatsgoinon wrote: 97 Points
Red brick colour developing, but still surprisingly dark considering age. Decanted and left to breath for an hour before tasting. Incredibly complex, layered flavours, evolving throughout the evening, covering toffee, over-ripe berries, blackcurrant, dark spicy chocolate, and leathery, cigar box aromas. Everything was beautifully balanced with perfectly integrated tannins. The freshness of the wine was remarkable given its age, and it will easily continue to improve over another 5 years min. Simply stunning.
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7/7/2010 - CamWheeler wrote: 89 Points
Some VA and menthol. Palate is of medium intensity. Good but not great.
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2/14/2010 - christyler wrote: 94 Points
Amazing color - looked like it had just been bottled! Very mellow and slightly musty in a delicious way. Lots of menthol and eucalyptus to go with the fruit, which was not overly aggressive or Australian.
At Acker wine dinner.
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10/22/2009 - astroman wrote:
WFA 2009 Grange Vertical Tasting: Complex nose of tea leaves, orange peel, fresh, plum. Bit of sewage. Amazing tannins with excellent freshness with 26 years of age. Some morning freshness and subtle finish. Some sandal wood and herbs as CPT correctly described. After an hour an half in the glass, amazing.
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8/7/2009 - Books for Cooks wrote: 91 Points
Nouveau Tasting Group (Andrew M's)(07/08/2009) (Andrew M's): Nouveau Tasting Group @ Andrew M's: Wine 6
Note: Opened 7 days early, racked & recorked under gas
Colour: Dark burgundy/purple
Nose: Asphalt, tar, tobacco, liquorice, dark fruits, big alcoholic nose
Palate: Savoury, almost light green, tobacco, cedar, elegant. Very very long finish - where did all the alcohol go. Still young
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4/7/2007 - Redzed wrote: 96 Points
Awesome big grange. Still years to live. Complex, long, balanced beautifully and generous to a tee. Rich with a touch of class. Had after the 82 Leoville Las Cases. The Leo ahead by a nose, but Grange looked in good company.
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7/8/2006 - Russell Faulkner wrote: 91 Points
Grange Offline (1990-1975) (Alba Restuarant London): 96% SH 4% CS, 13.3%
Some menthol but quite a 'plain' nose, perhaps tight still? This struck me as a straight down the line grange, nothing overly exciting but all correct. Perhaps it just needs time to develop but it didn't have enough stuffing.
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7/7/2006 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 93 Points
Penfolds Grange Vertical Tasting (1990-1975) (Alba Restaurant, Whitecross Street, London): 94% shiraz, 6% cabernet.
A smoky, leathery, plummy, blackberry nose that would make you think it's a lot younger than 1983. Ripe and full on the palate. Remarkably young feeling. Lovely balance. I think this works really well, but give it five years for perfection.
93/100.
Re-tasted around 3-4 hours later. This has opened up quite a bit, but it's clear it will still repay further cellarage.
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3/5/2005 - winetones wrote: 98 Points
A stunning wine. It showed a deep purple/crimson colour that belied its age, with aromas of pepper mixed with black, ripe fruit. The blackberries came through on the palate, but perfectly balanced with the acid and soft tannins. A seamless wine, with a finish that went on for minutes. Although it is hard to imagine this wine getting any better, it has the body and structure to stay at its peak for many more years.
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12/28/2004 - steffenpelz wrote: 90 Points
Prime Rib and Fabulous Wines: Interesting wine. Was the last of the night and everyone could tell by the nose that this was completely unlike any of the other wines we'd tasted previously. I got a distinct crude oil/petroleum component on the nose, which I rather liked. Massive dark fruit with almost port-like elements carry this wine, which still has remarkable density and tons of sediment. This wine will be drinking well when many of us are not going to be around anymore. Stylistically though, I really wasn't enamored with this wine. I didn't even venture to guess where the wine was from, but thought mid-1990s.
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3/5/2001 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - Penfolds prior to 95 + 1998 Bin releases (Darling Mills, Glebe): A sort of mystery vintage, due to significant label damage. The capsule revealed all, though, Slightly more leathery than the 86, with the fruit characters a bit more subdued, and not quite such a tremendous weight on the palate. But the length was quite comparable. I felt it didn’t quite match other bottles I’ve had in recent years, but then I didn’t drink them right after the 86! Another stunning wine – I suspect the 86 will live a little longer, but we’re talking decades here.
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