1981 Penfolds Grange Hermitage Magnum (1500ml)
Drinking Window: Now – 2025
Deep crimson brick red. Liquorice/dried fig/baked red fruit aromas. A powerfully concentrated andmuscular wine with chocolate/raisin fruit, earthy nuances and a touch of American oak. The tannins are soupy and dense and build up very chalky and dry at the finish. Will it ever soften out?
89% Shiraz, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, Magill Estate (Adelaide), Modbury Vineyard (Adelaide), Clare Valley and Coonawarra. A warm, hot, drought-affected summer followed by a warm, dry vintage.
Notes sourced from Southcorp Wines
Regional sources: Magill, Kalimna (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Modbury (Adelaide Plains) & Coonawarra.
Grape varieties: 89% Shiraz & 11% Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol: 12.7 per cent Total acids: 6.2 grams per litre. pH: 3.58
Growing season/vintage: A warm-to-hot, drought-affected summer, followed by a normal vintage.
Comments: According to John Duval, vintage conditions resulted in a "big", tannic Grange, typically savoury and robust. Rated 97/100 points by Robert Parker in 1990.
Tasting notes:size> Good Grange that needs more time to soften. Powerful wine with great potential. (Rewards of Patience, 2nd ed., 1990)
Very full-bodied wine, youthful and still showing "smoked meats" barrel-fermented oak character, also vanilla and coffee overtones. Savoury and powerful in the mouth with good grip and balance, very long, with chewy, mouth-coating tannins. Long-term potential. (Huon Hooke, 1993)
Intensely complex and savoury wine with smoky/meaty/spicy aromas and some toasty oak characters. A combination of rich, fleshy, chocolatey and smoky flavours are balanced with pronounced tannins and length, resulting in a wine of immense concentration and powerful structure. Long-term cellaring potential. Drink 1995-2013. (Rewards of Patience, 3rd ed., 1994)
"Medium-full red/purple. Very complex, briary/earthy/cedar aromas. Restrained, structured palate with sweet, cedary/truffly/ earthy fruit, marked tannins and underlying oak. An austere vintage that will develop further. At the moment a little disjointed. Drink between now and 2010." (Southcorp Wines, The Rewards of Patience, Fourth Edition, March 2000)