Grape
Shiraz
Ratings
*Penfolds – Icon & Luxury Range
Exceptional – by Langton’s Classification Australian Wine
Robert Parker 92
Jeremy Oliver 96
Wine Spectator 90
Tasting Notes
Colour : Very deep black cherry red.
Nose : Dense, powerful dark chocolate/spice/plum/briar and mint aromas with some oak-derived coconut.
Palate : A highly concentrated wine showing pronounced extract and tannins balanced with sweet plummy fruit and showing some ‘cigar box’ characters.
-by Official Website
The earliest harvest on record at Penfolds, the 1983 vintage was
characterized by devastating bush fires, followed by enormous flooding
in March. A blend of 94% Shiraz and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine has a
surprisingly low pH (3.41) for a Grange, with an amazing 7.1 grams of
acid per liter. The wine still shows considerable tannin in its flavors,
but enormously powerful, rich, high acid characteristics. It is
somewhat of a paradox to taste. Five years ago, it was exhibiting huge,
powerful, concentrated flavors, but also high acid and high tannin. The
wine seems very youthful, very backward, and still in need of at least
another 4-5 years of cellaring. Whether it will all come together in a
seamless classic remains open to conjecture. Anticipated maturity:
2006-2020.
-by Robert Parker
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Deep brick
red with brown edges, this smoky, meaty, cigarboxy and slightly varnishy Grange reveals a powerful bouquet of developed leathery complexity. Tannic, thickly structured and muscular, its deep, briary flavours of licorice, plums and cassis culminates in a drying, lingering finish. A powerful, still rather closed wine with a very long future indeed. Drink 2023-2033. |
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–by Jeremy Oliver
Deep, dense and chewy, this is packed with plum and mineral flavors that are dominated by the structure now.
-by Wine Spectator