Four decades of Penfolds Grange (Chicago, IL): In hindsight, it's pretty clear this is the most modern of the wines tonight, and that there is a very clear continuum from here back to 1977. This shows dense black fruit, with a sweetness that definitely pushes the boundaries a little bit. Very intense American oak as well, with more cabernet dustiness than syrah smoke. Honestly I could confuse this for a Monte Bello (no bad thing, really). Young, leathery tannins. Not much upside to opening now -- better in a decade at the very least.
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Decanted 4 hours then drank over several hours. The nose was fabulous, black cherries and some glycerine on the nose that intensified over the evening. Margaret thought the nose was better than the palate but she enjoyed this tonight more than I did. I thought it was a bit primary and we both thought to leave our remaining bottles alone for anywhere from 3 (her) to 10 (me) years. A lovely wine that just needs more time.
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Dark purple ruby colour . Incredible nose! Sweet berries, black and blue fruits, chocolate, vanilla, coffee and touch of new leather.
The palate was an amazing mélange of much complexity and depth over many layers. A non-exhaustive list of flavours include black fruits, coffee, cedar, smoked wood, plums, blackberry, toast, epressos along with more tertiary notes including hints of spice, pepper, graphite and leather.
Dense and very concentrated. Complex. Long finish with sweet coffee and cedar notes on the end. Wonderful!
In short this lived up to its reputation and was excellent to drink. Decanted for 2 hours and continued opening up in glass. This feels right in its drinking window now and will keep aging for a long time.
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Decanted 2,5 hours. This bottle was slightly less impressive than other bottle (96 pts.) of this vintage. However, still a great wine. The wine still has a long life ahead of it. 94-95 pts.
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Superb-and at peak drinking window. Dark red, perfumed nose mostly red fruit with hints of flowers. Savory, black pepper on the palate with some oak/vanilla at the end. Great balance and sophistication despite 14.5% alcohol. A real treat enjoyed by all at the table.
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9/28/2023 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Four decades of Penfolds Grange (Chicago, IL): In hindsight, it's pretty clear this is the most modern of the wines tonight, and that there is a very clear continuum from here back to 1977. This shows dense black fruit, with a sweetness that definitely pushes the boundaries a little bit. Very intense American oak as well, with more cabernet dustiness than syrah smoke. Honestly I could confuse this for a Monte Bello (no bad thing, really). Young, leathery tannins. Not much upside to opening now -- better in a decade at the very least.
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7/16/2023 - The Andrews Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted 4 hours then drank over several hours. The nose was fabulous, black cherries and some glycerine on the nose that intensified over the evening. Margaret thought the nose was better than the palate but she enjoyed this tonight more than I did. I thought it was a bit primary and we both thought to leave our remaining bottles alone for anywhere from 3 (her) to 10 (me) years. A lovely wine that just needs more time.
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4/4/2023 - remyworldpeace Likes this wine: 96 Points
Dark purple ruby colour . Incredible nose! Sweet berries, black and blue fruits, chocolate, vanilla, coffee and touch of new leather.
The palate was an amazing mélange of much complexity and depth over many layers. A non-exhaustive list of flavours include black fruits, coffee, cedar, smoked wood, plums, blackberry, toast, epressos along with more tertiary notes including hints of spice, pepper, graphite and leather.
Dense and very concentrated. Complex. Long finish with sweet coffee and cedar notes on the end. Wonderful!
In short this lived up to its reputation and was excellent to drink. Decanted for 2 hours and continued opening up in glass. This feels right in its drinking window now and will keep aging for a long time.
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2/23/2023 - Romol Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted 2,5 hours. This bottle was slightly less impressive than other bottle (96 pts.) of this vintage. However, still a great wine. The wine still has a long life ahead of it. 94-95 pts.
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11/25/2022 - MadeiraLev Likes this wine: 97 Points
Superb-and at peak drinking window. Dark red, perfumed nose mostly red fruit with hints of flowers. Savory, black pepper on the palate with some oak/vanilla at the end. Great balance and sophistication despite 14.5% alcohol. A real treat enjoyed by all at the table.
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