1999 Penfolds Grange
Community Tasting Note
Pavie Princess wrote:
Sunday, June 1, 2008 - Penfolds is a great wine. The history goes back longer than one thinks and it started with a vine in 1845. Penfolds takes its name from an English gentleman, Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold, who emigrated to Australia in the 19th Century. Like many of his time, Penfold held a belief in the medicinal qualities of wine, and his baggage included a collection of vine cuttings sourced from the south of France. In 1845 he and his wife, Mary, built a small stone cottage at Magill, near Adelaide, around which he planted his cuttings. This cottage was called...The Grange. This is where the legend began. Tonight i got back to Boston from HK and I hit a nice hotel and rdered two bottles of wine prior to bed and getting up to go back home in the AM. The 1999 Grange was my first bottle. The history of Penfolds was from 1845 to 1950 a wine that was fortified for close to 100 yrs. Then the family decided to hire a stud named Max Schubert and his life goal was to get out of fortified low end to the high end table wine. He felt the vines could hack the change. In 1951 he made a table wine based upon Shiraz and the family hated the wine. Thank God Max knew he had something. The 1951 is based upon what has become Grange in concept. I have been fortunate to taste that very table wine several times and own some bought in the 1970's. Max went on to make Grange for many yrs with out the owner family even knowing it. After about 5 Vintages they knew Max was up to something otherworldly. Grange officially hit the world stage commercially with the 1957 vintage released in 1960. As the initial vintages aged, however, their true value came to be appreciated, and in 1960 the management instructed Schubert to re-start production, oblivious to the fact that Schubert had not missed a vintage. The great 1955 vintage was submitted to competitions beginning in 1962 and over the years has won more than 50 gold medals. The vintage of 1971 won first prize in Shiraz at the Wine Olympics in Paris. The 1990 vintage was named 'Red Wine of the Year' by the Wine Spectator magazine in 1995, which later rated the 1998 vintage 99 points out of a possible 100.
Prior to 1997 the wine was made form many terroirs and called Grange Hermitage or Bin 95 for the old timers. In 1999, the wine was 100% Shiraz from the Barossa valley district for the first time. This is a historic Penfolds Grange. Moreover, it is the first Grange since 1963 to be 100% Shiraz (not all Barossa district however). Most vintages contain a small percentage of Cabernet. This wine is sublime and must be experienced to be believed.
The color was deepest purple and the nose is infreakingcredible. It is one of the greatest shiraz ever in my view. It is so complex that in blind tasting since its US release I have never nailed it in blind tasting with first growth Bdx. The aroma you get right off the bat is massive berry fruit of blue and raspberry with cherry anise and wet clay with tar. The wine's mid palate can compete with any great French wine. It is here where the Penfolds complexity comes in full force. I get herbs cedar and beautifully integrated oak with cherry cassis berry and licorice. It does not end there. The coda is massive. This is a wine you can never get enough of. the ending begins with fine leathers spice box cigar cedar vanilla and plummy candied fruit. The wine is massive and magnificient in construction.
This wine is one you must own. It is a wine to love and experience. My only regret is when it is all gone. I saved a glass to savor for tommorrow. This wine has decades to go and gain further complexity. It is one of the great shiraz's ever. Rating 99 and it will go higher. I like the 99 Vintage the best over the 98 which got a 99 rating. Try it...............my bet is you'll you die for this wine.
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