1985 Penfolds Grange Hermitage

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

Other Reviews....
Considered a more "restrained" Grange, this wine has balance but a somewhat foursquare/monolithic character with dry, astringent tannin in the finish, hence the question mark. The color is still a healthy dense purple, and the wine shows the tell-tale peppery, asphalt, earthy, creme de cassis characteristics, but the tannin seems to be increasingly problematic. As always, it is still a young wine, so the question that begs to be answered with time is, "Is it just unevolved and backward, or is it too tannic?"
90 points
Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate 2002

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: 12.9% 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: 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)