TN: Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1984 - and a beauty cork

[SueNZ]

Penfolds Grange 1984 (13.6% alcohol by volume)
Always a forward vintage on release and one I particularly liked. Decided it was time we tried a Grange so opened one for my birthday last month.
This bottle was showing an excellent fill level, therefore would not have been opened at the Penfolds red wine recorking clinic held in Auckland in July, had I taken it along.
Bottle had been wrapped in tissue so label was pristine.
Cork showed absolutely no red wine travel lines up its sides at all, the thick purple-black coating on the bottom of the cork penetrated no more than 1mm - if only they all did the job as well as this one had!.
The wine had developed some tawny hues, orange-red, not yet brick.
Cedar on the nose, American oak influence still determinable.
Sweet fruit, vanilla, liquorice, mocha and chocolate in the mouth, a touch of black cherry, still lots of tannins though they are well-integrated into the whole. I thought it simply delicious.
One of the fabulous things about this wine was its youthfulness and the fact that it was still developing with good fruit weight, firm tannins and good acidity. This is simply what great wine is all about.
That particular bottle did not last long but had we not opened it, with its fanastic cork doing the job as it should, it would have lasted for many years more.
It reminded me a little of some of the opulent Shiraz on the market today though it is actually 19 years old. Will all the opulent Shiraz on the market be this good when they are 19 years old? I don't think so! They have too much alcohol in there for a start.

Cheers,
Sue

[Attila]

Bottle had been wrapped in tissue so label was pristine.




Excellent notes on the 1984 Grange. Interesting that you mention the tissue paper. In my cellar, all bottles are individually wrapped in newspaper to keep the bottle from dust and moisture. Sometimes there is a change in temperature as well which I can't control but the paper works well, again. All of the wine labels look new when I put them on the table, no matter how old when I wrap them on purchase.
Cheers,
Attila

[SueNZ]

Hi Attila,
You sound very organised.
As for me, I'm totally disorganised. It was wrapped in tissue paper as that is how it left the shop. It did the job well.
I'm trying plastic wrap over the labels now on the one or two wines that I want to keep. This way I won't have to unwrap the tissue to check the vintage.
Incidentally I I don't buy Grange now. When I bought that '84 it was well before the hype of the 1990 vintage and the price was still in the double figures.
Cheers,
Sue

[Noel B]

Sue,

Never use plastic wrap over the label because the plastic wrap will ruin the label. If your bottles don't come wrapped in tissue paper, try wrapping each bottle in clean copy paper (normal Reflex).

The reason is the paper will absorb any excess moisture in contact with the label. The plastic wrap will not absorb excess moisture from the label, hence your label will be soaked.

By the way, do yourself a favour and get some cellartags for your bottle, it makes life so much easier just reading the tag than unwrapping the bottles each time you check your cellar.

All the best,
Noel

[Adam]

I havent had the moisture issue but have found that wrapping in cling wrap removes any gold embossing on the label...

[SueNZ]

Sue,

Never use plastic wrap over the label because the plastic wrap will ruin the label. If your bottles don't come wrapped in tissue paper, try wrapping each bottle in clean copy paper (normal Reflex).

The reason is the paper will absorb any excess moisture in contact with the label. The plastic wrap will not absorb excess moisture from the label, hence your label will be soaked.

By the way, do yourself a favour and get some cellartags for your bottle, it makes life so much easier just reading the tag than unwrapping the bottles each time you check your cellar.

All the best,
Noel

Thanks for your advice Noel.
Fortunately I only have 2 bottles with plastic wrap.
Tried the cellar tags but for some reason I didn't like them.

I havent had the moisture issue but have found that wrapping in cling wrap removes any gold embossing on the label...
Noel

Thanks for the warning. One of mine in cling wrap has handwriting in pen, so it might remove that too, I guess.


By the way, I got the clingwrap idea from a bunch of very well cellared old Frenchies, cellared by someone else. That didn't seem to have done any damage to those.

Bob Campbell says he sprays the labels with artist's fixative.

Cheers,
Sue

[David Lole]

Sue,

At our Red Icon Dinner tonight I served the '84 Grange. What a lovely wine! Oozes class from start to finish. Although no notes were taken, all at the table agreed this was the WOTN. Probably just entering its peak drinking period with many years of enjoyment ahead. A beautifully balanced wine from an underrated vintage IMO. Went so well with rare loin of venison with a terrific reduction sauce.

[Red Bigot]

David, it certainly was WOTN. From my past experiences with Mt Mary, I'm glad for me and sad for you that the 85 you were bringing wasn't up to par and you had to 'settle' for this.