1961 | Penfolds | Penfolds Grange

Detailed Description

Penfolds Grange Shiraz (Hermitage) 1961 was made using a blend of 88% Shiraz and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. Grapes were grown in the Barossa Valley (Kalimna Vineyard and other), Coonawarra, at Morphett Vale (Adelaide), Modbury (Adelaide) and on the Magill Estate vineyard in Adelaide. It was a hot vintage. Great. Sturdy, beefy, a bit macho – a Tarzan of Grange, swinging from flavour to flavour with a Weismuller physique. Great husky tannin, the type that make tannin-lovers gush. Heaps of leathery flavour. Spice and coffee, thoroughly interwoven. I adore it. It must be nearing its run, but the best bottles will still have a fair bit of life left in them.

Producer Information

Penfolds is Australia’s most famous wine producer, best known for its flagship wine Grange, one of the most acclaimed wines in the world. The historic estate has pioneered the wine industy of Australia since its inception in the mid-19th Century. Among many other accolades, the 1955 Grange was named one of the top 12 wines of the 20th Century by Wine Spectator Magazine; the 1971 vintage was ranked as the greatest wine of the 1970s by FINE Wine Magazines and tastingbook.com, and the 2008 gained a perfect 100-point score from both Wine Spectator and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. It is a mainstay of the secondary market ‚Äì auction prices for the wine have regularly been used as key performance indicators for the wider Australian economy. Occasionally Grange is 100-percent Shiraz ‚Äì the 2011 was the sixth time that happened in six decades ‚Äì but more typically it also contains up to around 15 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. It is the flagship for Penfolds’ celebrated multi-vineyard, multi-region blending philosophy, and is sourced from Barossa, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra (occasionally) and Magill Estate at the base of the Adelaide Hills, just to the east of the city. Penfolds has a long-standing reputation for consistent high quality across its broad portfolio, and there are several other wines that feature regularly in auctions, including the Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Henri and RWT Shiraz wines, Bin 389 Cabernet ‚Äì Shiraz and Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon. These have been joined by experimental or periodic releases such as the Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon and Bin 60a Cabernet ‚Äì Shiraz. In 2018, the portfolio was expanded into California with the release of the Bin 704 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. A desire to introduce a flagship white led to the 1995 debut of the Yattarna Chardonnay of which is still produced to this day. The extensive portfolio includes numerous other bin-numbered releases, the Max’s, Koonunga Hill and Cellar Reserve ranges, and a selection of tawny fortified wines.