Wine Article
1997 Penfolds Grange
Last edited on 4/24/2024 by LindsayM
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Vintage Conditions Year rating 3/5
A somewhat challenging vintage combining a cool start to the season with heat in the high summer. Budburst was slightly later than usual in most South Australian regions, with mild weather through to Christmas. The onset of a prolonged NOSE heat wave in February further delayed ripening. Fortunately, a sunny, warm autumn followed,allowing vines to reach full ripeness.
Gapes Shiraz (96%), Cabernet Sauvignon (4%).
Oak 20 months in new American oak barrels.
Penfolds Rewards of Patience VI Edition, 2008. Recommendation drink now to 2025
A deep, crimson red with a dense ruby core.
Immediately engaging, with wafts of nutmeg and ginger amongst notes of blueberry and blackcurrant and a background of well-seasoned savoury oak. The fruit gains in the glass with aeration, when more subtle perfume and chestnut complexities emerge.
Already showing excellent balance within the frame of a beautifully interwoven mesh of dark plum and blackberry fruits with fig and liquorice. Complex fruit and spice flavours sit against a finely focused backdrop of firm but rounded tannins.
Penfolds Rewards of Patience VII Edition, 2013. Recommendation drink now to 2035
Drink now to 2035.
Deep crimson. Meaty, leafy, red cherry, redcurrant, graphite, tobacco aromas with herb garden, aniseed and iodine/seaweed/ soy notes. Ample redcurrant, red cherry and mocha flavours with soy, demi-glace and nutty notes, fine lacy al dente and sinewy tannins and underlying coconut and vanilla oak nuances. Finishes sinewy firm dry with soupy demi-glace and meaty soy notes.
96 percent shiraz, 4 percent cabernet sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Limestone Coast.
“Decadent yet reserved with attractive balsamic red and black fruits. Very close-knit in structure with a cashmere-like quality but lacks a little fruit succulence.” (NB)
“Quite advanced with beef stock and pan scrapings, black fruits and dark earth. Slightly baked with walnut notes.” (NR)
A somewhat challenging vintage combining a cool start to the season with heat in the high summer. Budburst was slightly later than usual in most South Australian regions, with mild weather through to Christmas. The onset of a prolonged NOSE heat wave in February further delayed ripening. Fortunately, a sunny, warm autumn followed,allowing vines to reach full ripeness.
Gapes Shiraz (96%), Cabernet Sauvignon (4%).
Oak 20 months in new American oak barrels.
Penfolds Rewards of Patience VI Edition, 2008. Recommendation drink now to 2025
A deep, crimson red with a dense ruby core.
Immediately engaging, with wafts of nutmeg and ginger amongst notes of blueberry and blackcurrant and a background of well-seasoned savoury oak. The fruit gains in the glass with aeration, when more subtle perfume and chestnut complexities emerge.
Already showing excellent balance within the frame of a beautifully interwoven mesh of dark plum and blackberry fruits with fig and liquorice. Complex fruit and spice flavours sit against a finely focused backdrop of firm but rounded tannins.
Penfolds Rewards of Patience VII Edition, 2013. Recommendation drink now to 2035
Drink now to 2035.
Deep crimson. Meaty, leafy, red cherry, redcurrant, graphite, tobacco aromas with herb garden, aniseed and iodine/seaweed/ soy notes. Ample redcurrant, red cherry and mocha flavours with soy, demi-glace and nutty notes, fine lacy al dente and sinewy tannins and underlying coconut and vanilla oak nuances. Finishes sinewy firm dry with soupy demi-glace and meaty soy notes.
96 percent shiraz, 4 percent cabernet sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Limestone Coast.
“Decadent yet reserved with attractive balsamic red and black fruits. Very close-knit in structure with a cashmere-like quality but lacks a little fruit succulence.” (NB)
“Quite advanced with beef stock and pan scrapings, black fruits and dark earth. Slightly baked with walnut notes.” (NR)