1991 Penfolds Grange
Outstanding vintage
Drinking Window: Now – 2035
Deep crimson. Gloriously ripe, dark berry/chocolate/smoked meaty aromas interwoven with mocha/malty oak. A multi-layered, textured, loose-knit wine with penetrating, rich, dark berry/chocolate/spicy fruit, underlying savoury oak and fine grainy tannins. A substantial wine with superb balance and flavour length. Another great Grange vintage.
95% Shiraz, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. A warm, dry year with even ripening conditions. Vintage started early.
Notes sourced from Southcorp.
Oak Maturation: Matured in new American oak hogsheads for 18 months.
Alc/Vol: 13.5% Acidity: 7.3 grams per litre. pH: 3.32
Tasting Notes:size>By international benchmark standards, Penfolds Grange has everything required of a great red wine: complexity, richness, balance and longevity. The 1991 Grange has a glorious, dark, dense, red purple colour. The rich bouquet shows an incredible depth of ripe berry spice, tobacco, mocha and green tea aromas with unmistakable Penfolds oak handling. The palate has intensely concentrated, mouth-filling fruit flavours showing spicy, rich berry fruit and earthy characters with masses of ripe tannins and integrated oak, finishing with excellent length.
From a truly great year, the classically constructed 1991 Grange is built for long-term cellaring. It is a world class wine which, as time releases its breathtaking flavours, will achieve the status enjoyed by the other recent classic Granges, the '90, '86, '83 and '71.
"Medium-full red/purple. Cherry/plum/wild berry aromas with some vanilla and liquorice. Deep, dense and chewy, with ripe plum cherry fruit and spicy liquorice flavours, fine grained tannins, underlying savoury oak and persistent finish. Outstanding follow-up to 1990; more generous in fruit but a looser-knit style. Drink between 2005 and 2025." (Southcorp Wines, The Rewards of Patience, Fourth Edition, March 2000)