1982 Penfolds Grange Hermitage

Notes Sourced from The Rewards of Patience - Fifth Edition (2004):
Drinking Window: Now – 2010
Deep crimson. Aromatic sweet cassis/blackberry/herb garden aromas. A supple, refined wine with sweet, cassis/cedary flavours, spicy oak and fine chocolaty tannins. A good vintage.
94% Shiraz, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, Magill Estate (Adelaide), Modbury Vineyard (Adelaide) and Clare Valley. A mild growing season followed by a hot vintage. Most 1982 Penfolds wines have a particular vintage character, often described as “exaggerated ripe fruit”.

Notes sourced from Southcorp wines

Region: Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Magill & Modbury (Adelaide Plains).

Grape varieties: 94% Shiraz & 6% Cabernet Sauvignon

Alcohol: 13.5 per cent. Total acids: 6.9 grams per litre.pH: 3.39

Growing season/vintage: A very good vintage in South Australia with a mild growing season which ended with a burst of warm weather.

Comments: Most 1982 Penfolds reds share a particular vintage character: a quite distinctive richness and fleshiness of fruit. This vintage of Grange rated 96/100 points by Robert Parker in 1990. Max Schubert also considered it "a very good wine".

Tasting notes:size> Generous, lifted "fleshy" fruit is typical of the '82 vintage. A distinctive and great Grange. (Rewards of Patience, 2nd ed., 1990)

Very ripe blackberry fruit and toasty oak nose, hints of vanilla and mint. Masses of delicious fruit throughout, very elegant and supple but undeniably full-bodied. Seems deceptively light when put beside other Granges, but when tasted in other company it's very much a Grange and should age as well as any. (Huon Hooke, 1991)

Like some other 1982 Penfolds reds, is developing in a curious direction. Exaggerated blackcurrant jam, crme de cassis nose, uncharacteristic and seems to lack the complexing oak of other Granges. Smooth, elegant, long-flavoured and stylish in the mouth, surprising on the finish with assertive tannin. While some believe this is drinking already, I would wait and hope that it builds more Grange character. (Huon Hooke, 1993)

Rich, sweet plum jam aromas with a hint of leafiness. Soft, smooth palate with opulent, jam-like flavours, soft tannin structure and forward fruit, A unique Grange that reflects the super-fleshy fruit characters of this vintage in South Australia. Regular monitoring of this wine's progress is suggested. Drink now to 2005. (Rewards of Patience, 3rd ed., 1994)

"Medium red/purple. Christmas cake/ blackcurrant essence aromas with touches of raspberry. Sweet and ripe with plum/ blackcurrant essence fruit and supple tannins. A typically flavoured wine. Will hold for many years but unlikely to improve. Drink between now and 2008." (Southcorp Wines, The Rewards of Patience, Fourth Edition, March 2000)