Penfolds Grange Hermitage Bin 95 2002

Winemaker's Notes:

Regular winter rainfalls in 2001 ensured ideal soil moisture levels and healthy vine growth. Spring and summer temperatures were amongst the lowest on record, which reduced yield potential, as well as slowing overall crop ripening to a crawl. The 2002 growing season concluded with a warm, dry autum, which, combined with careful vineyard maangement, enabled the grapes to reach ideal ripeness. Shiraz (99%), Cabernet (1%) This wine was aged for 15 months in new American oak hogsheads. Alc/Vol:14.5% Acidity:6.9g/L pH:3.58 As a five year old at the time of writing, and just before its annual release, the wine is deep, dark and impenetrable. At once Grange...oh, and the aromatics just happen to be compatible with that of Shiraz. As is its want, the aromas transform and complex across many planes, with air and over time in the glass. At first, a rich mix of dark chocolate infused with coffee bean and black liquorice, then scents of tar, aniseed, raw (pure) soy and black olive. Is it oak, or a hybrid, ‘barrel ferment’ character that can be captured as it oscillates in and out of this beguiling aromatic offering? The palate is expansive, and yet finessed, balanced, highly defined, sleek. A continuum, an amalgam of dark berried flavours and textural sensations - deceptively accessible, yet a hidden largesse, untapped flavour and structural precursors threaten to ingress. 100% new oak is completely absorbed, meshed with ripe tannins, completing a palate of impressive length and youthfulness. This has been worth the wait. A complete wine, the description of which is not subservient to words - surely a good sign. The wine is at the other end of the Grange spectral offer to its predecessor, the 2001, purely as a result of two very different climatic vintages.