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98 By Robert Parker
It is always a treat to taste Australia?s most famous wine, Penfolds? Grange cuvee (the word Hermitage has been dropped because of legal issues). The 2001 Grange is one of the few vintages of this cuvee to be composed of 100% Shiraz (the others being 1951, 1952, 1963, 1999, and 2000). Aged 17 months in 100% American oak, and tipping the scales at 14.5% alcohol, the 2001 is undeniably one of the top examples of this wine. At this stage, it appears to eclipse the 1998 and 1996. Inky/blue/purple to the rim, with a stunning perfume of blueberries, blackberries, chocolate, graphite, and earth, it boasts good acidity, huge tannins, magnificent concentration, and a multilayered, textured mouthfeel. It is a big, but impeccably well-balanced Shiraz that should shed some of its structure and tannin over the next 4-5 years, and be at its best between 2010-2030+.
Producer
Penfolds
Since the renaissance of Australian wine in the early 1950s, Penfolds has distinguished themselves early on as one of the most important forerunners. Max Schubert became the Chief Winemaker of the almost 200-year-old estate in 1948, beginning his journey to create Bordeaux inspired wines. Located in South Australia, their key vineyards are spread across the best viticulture regions: Adelaide, the Barossa Valley, the Clare Valley, Coonawarra, the Limestone Coast and McLaren Vale. Responsible for Australia’s most iconic wine, called Grange, which remains at the pinnacle of the estate’s production, has had over five consistent decades of promising quality. Blended primarily of Barossa and McLaren Vale Syrah, with a bit of Cabernet, Grange is aged in American oak, and the end result is a complete and powerful wine, with a strong vocation for aging. Penfolds produces a handful of other top reds, each is more complex than the next, and with fruit coming from selected vineyard sites the wines are characteristically representative of their origins.