1987 Penfolds Grange Hermitage Magnum (1500ml)
Drinking Window: Now – 2025
Medium crimson. Appealing red berry/mint chocolate aromas and subtle oak nuances. A wellconcentrated wine with redcurrant/blackberry/ chocolate/mint flavours and fine, leafy, chewy tannins. Very firm, dry finish. An elegant Grange.
90% Shiraz, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. A cool vintage marked by October hailstorms and variable yields.
Notes sourced from Southcorp Wines.
Grape varieties: 90% Shiraz & 10% Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol: 13.8% Total acids: 6.6 grams per litre. pH: 3.42
Growing season/vintage: Growing season and vintage both marked by cool weather. Crops in most South Australian regions were reduced by hailstorms in October 1986.
Comments: An elegant, lighter-year Grange.
Tasting notes:size> The '87 (barrel sample) was remarkably scented and fragrant, with exuberant minty/cassis fruit in great harmony with the oak. A cool-year wine showing remarkable finesse together with great depth of flavour. (James Halliday, Weekend Australian, Dec. 1988) A year after its release it had gone into its shell somewhat. Deep colour... shy, dusty nose which needs coaxing to show an oaky, vanillin young Grange nose with blackberry fruit beneath. Concentrated, with deep, sweet fruit and mint on the middle palate, very big and solid with a firm, authoritative finish. Very tannic at this point and needs to be left alone. A very good Grange. Drink 2000-2020. (Huon Hooke, 1993) Spicy, berry-fruit, minty aromas with some dusty oak character. A lighter but well-integrated and harmonious wine with sweet plum and cherry-like fruit, vanillin oak flavours and soft, mouthfilling tannins. (Rewards of Patience, 3rd ed., 1994)
"Medium-full purple/red. Remarkably closed. Restrained, lifted, leafy/briary/earthy aromas with some blackberry/coal characters. Compact, grainy palate with blackberry/earthy flavours, grippy tannins and excellent mid-palate fruit sweetness. Finishes dry. A compressed wine that will open up. One to watch. Drink between 2003 and 2015." (Southcorp Wines, The Rewards of Patience, Fourth Edition, March 2000)