1985 Penfolds Grange Hermitage Magnum (1500ml)
Drinking Window: Now – 2015
Deep crimson. Intense plum/camomile/violet/earthy aromas. An elegantly structured wine withblackberry/black olive/plum flavours, good fruit sweetness and firm savoury tannins.
99% Shiraz, 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and Modbury Vineyard (Adelaide). Cool to mild growing season and vintage punctuated byintermittent rains. Late rains delayed picking.
Notes Sourced from Southcorp Wines
Regional sources: Kalimna (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, Clare & Modbury (Adelaide plains.)
Grape varieties: 99 per cent Shiraz & 1 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol: 13.1% Total acids: 6.1 grams per litre. pH: 3.47
Growing season/vintage: Cool to mild growing season followed by similarly good conditions at vintage, with late rain delaying picking.
Comments: Rated 90/100 points by Robert Parker in 1990. Elegant, cool-year wine.
Tasting notes:size> Beautifully balanced and structured wine with strong cassis/berry aromas and flavours set against oak with an unexpected touch of clove/spice. The tannins have been judged to perfection. (James Halliday, Weekend Australian, Dec. 1988)
Sweetly scented with coconut, cherry and plum, a hint of mint. Slightly plain and closed at first, then opening up with more fruit and mint. Quite full-bodied and firmly tannic, without the dense fleshiness of warmer vintages. A good wine; needs several years before drinking, say 2000-2015. (Huon Hooke, 1993)
Ripe plum and sweet berry fruit aromas, still youthful. Sweet, spicy, plum and cherry-like flavours combine with pronounced, gripping tannins on the palate. An elegant wine. Drink 1998-2015. (Rewards of Patience, 3rd ed., 1994)
"Medium-full red/purple. Restrained, with earthy/pruney/meaty aromas and leafy touches of. Tightly structured palate with blackberry, cedar, leafy/herbal flavours and a firm backbone of tannin. Great mouthfeel. May develop further in the bottle. Drink between now and 2010." (Southcorp Wines, The Rewards of Patience, Fourth Edition, March 2000)