1962 Penfolds Grange Hermitage

Fruit from Magill, Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills. A copybook season in the vineyard with ideal warm, fairly dry weather and a warm dry vintage. 87% Shiraz, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14 months in new American oak hogsheads. pH 3.64, TA 6.9 g/l. A bit raw on nose after the 1953. I can taste the 13% of Cabernet Sauvignon. Bit lean on finish. Deeper than the Bin 60A. (JR)

87% Shiraz, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. Magill Estate (Adelaide), Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Adelaide Hills blend. Very full and sweet – a little bit dry at the end. 1962 was an extraordinary year. Enormous concentration although it’s low in alcohol. (You don’t need the alcohol, says Peter Gago, these grapes would have been picked early, as we do nowadays, because these vines are in balance. I wish the AWRI would work on this and show how to get flavour earlier with balanced vines.) Drying slightly now with a relatively high Cabernet Sauvignon proportion. Much livelier than the 1963 and this lasted well in the glass in a slightly leathery way. (JR)

A sensational Grange (a blend of 87% and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, all from the Kalimna sector of the Barossa as well as the Adelaide Hills), this dark garnet-colored wine shows knock-out aromatics of brown sugar, blackberry and currant fruit, with a hint of eucalyptus in the background. Some pepper, coffee, and prune add to the complex concoction. The wine is not a blockbuster, but one of purity, harmony, and actually, restraint, an extraordinarily elegant style of Grange that has aged sensationally well because of its equilibrium. This wine could continue to drink well for at least another 6-7 years. Imported by Southcorp Wines North America, Monterey, CA; tel. (408) 655-4848.