1966 Penfolds Grange Hermitage

Note: As pictured, this bottle is completely original and has not been clinic-ed.

***This wine is 60 years old and almost certainly past its prime. Please consider carefully before purchasing***

Other Reviews....
A great Grange, and certainly the best bottle I have had out of four different tastings, this large-scaled Grange (13.4% alcohol with a relatively high pH of 3.76) is a blend of 88% Shiraz and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine showed a huge nose of cigar box, licorice, coffee, mocha, caramel, plum, and currant, and in the mouth, fabulous concentration, plenty of glycerin, wonderful freshness, and superb delineation for a wine that is 35 years of age. A very long finish of close to 40 seconds is also impressive. Pristine bottles should continue to drink well for at least another decade.
93 points
Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate 2002


Notes sourced from Southcorp Wines.

Grape Varieties: Made from a blend of 88% Shiraz & 12% Cabernet Sauvignon the fruit was sourced from Magill (Adelaide), Morphett Vale (Adelaide) & Kalimna (Barossa Valley).

Total acids: 6.1 grams per litre pH: 3.76 Alcohol: 13.4%

Vintage Conditions: A fairly dry growing season followed by a warm vintage with near ideal conditions.

Tasting Notes:size> Generally considered a great Grange, often compared with the 1962. Rated 89/100 points by Robert Parker in 1990. Also won four golds and five other medals at Australian shows between 1969 and 1980.

Deep red in colour with rich, sweet, complex flavour. A big, robust wine, still full of life. Great drinking, but still developing. Outstanding vintage. (Rewards of Patience,1st ed., 1985)

Sweet, soft, "old" wine. Fully mature. Outstanding vintage. (Rewards of Patience, 2nd ed., 1990)

Typical Grange richness, opulence and intensity of fruit and oak. Big, blackish, red-brown colour. Strong, earthy, roasted nut, cigar box bouquet. Still full and generous, great richness, sweetness and complexity with a touch of liquorice. Drinking well now, and should hold till at least 2000. (Huon Hooke, 1993)

Intense, powerful and complex game, liquorice and coffee-like bouquet with hints of primary aromas. Strong, concentrated palate with rich, tarry, chocolatey, cigar box flavours, some sweet mulberry-like fruit character, well-integrated tannins, and length. A great Grange with superb balance. (Rewards of Patience, 3rd ed., 1994).

A great, complex wine at its absolute peak, with all elements in perfect balance and harmony. (Ultimate Grange Experience, Nov. 1994).

"Medium- full brick red. Opulent, coffee/ gamey aromas with some chocolate and cedar. Sweet rich palate with ripe, gamey/ chocolate fruit, some truffly undertones, chewy tannins and excellent length. Finishes a touch dry. Beginning to wind down. Drink now." (Southcorp Wines, The Rewards of Patience, Fourth Edition, March 2000)