1962 Penfolds Grange Hermitage

Notes sourced from Southcorp Wines.

Grape Varieties: A blend of 87% Shiraz and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon the fruit was sourced from Adelaide Hills and Kalimna (Barossa Valley).

Total acids: 6.9 grams per litre. pH: 3.64 Alcohol: 12.2%

Vintage Conditions: Copybook season in the vineyard with ideal warm, fairly dry weather and a warm, dry vintage.

Tasting Notes: size> First Grange to be made predominantly from Kalimna (Barossa Valley) rather than Magill (Adelaide) fruit. Also the first and only Grange to use Adelaide Hills fruit. After the 1955, this is the second most successful Grange in Australian wine shows with four trophies and 20 gold, 10 silver and three bronze medals. Considered a top vintage from the start.

Considered one of the very best Granges. (Aust. Financial Review, Oct. 1981)

Colour: medium full red-brown, almost identical to the marvellous 1955. Bouquet: glorious, complex minty oak and fruit. Palate: a full and long flavour with persistent tannin on the finish and marvellous fruit on the mid-palate. Still full of life and beautifully structured. (James Halliday, National Times, Nov. 1982)

A classic Grange. Marvellous minty bouquet. Deep and rich palate. Outstanding wine, wonderful drinking. (Rewards of Patience, 1st ed., 1985)

A great wine with power, length and concentration, a complexity assisted by new oak and a smooth, mellow palate that seemed to go on for ever. (Huon Hooke, 1992)

Fragrant, rich and complex. A Grange of the front rank. (Ultimate Grange Experience, Nov. 1994)

"Becoming rare. Often considered a classic Grange vintage. Can be quite cedary with plenty of sweet fruit and finely grained tannins. Bottles with good levels and appearance are invariably drinking well. Drink now." (Southcorp Wines, The Rewards of Patience, Fourth Edition, March 2000)