Try Penfolds Grange before you die! Why?
It's Australia's flagship red wine and regarded as one of the World's great wines.
Although made primarily from Shiraz, the wine was inspired by the great wines of Bordeaux. Not quite as pricey as the First Growths, but, it’s still up there. The current release in 2023 is the 2019 vintage and has a retail price of AU$888.88 (I wonder what market they’re targeting with pricing like that!).
Like with the First Growths of Bordeaux, there is a reasonably large volume produced. As such, there are frequent tastings around the planet where you can try this famous Australian red at a fraction of the cost of a bottle. Which is a good thing for those of us that baulk at spending that much on a bottle of wine.
Grange is a bit of an anomaly. Most wines, and particularly fine wine, focus on where the grapes are grown - the terrior, vineyard, or region. However, Grange is a non-regional wine with grapes coming from multiple vineyards from different regions. The goal of Grange has always been to make the best wine possible from a given year.
A bottle of Penfolds Grange | © penfolds.com
Given the success of Grange it’s a surprise not more producers have followed this model. \
Possibly because not many producers have such access to so many vineyards across so
many regions as Penfolds has.
One thing that was copied, though, was the style of Grange and how it was made: super ripe, concentrated, structured grapes that are cool fermented and matured in new oak barriques. At the time, that is the 1950s, this style of wine was completely new in Australia and it was shunned by critics. It was even called ‘Coca-cola’ wine by some due to its sweet vanilla flavor from the new oak.
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Penfolds Winemaker and inventor of Grange - Max Schubert | © penfolds.com |
Max Schubert is the Penfolds winemaker that created. A booked about his life and how he develop Granger titled Max Schubert, Winemaker and written by renowned Australian wine commentator Houn Hooke is well worth a read. Max’s loyalty, commitment, and leadership is something to be emulated. I definitely recommend reading the book before trying Grange. If you’ve already drunk Grange, I recommend reading the book then drinking more Grange. It will without a doubt add to the experience. You could also try reading the book while drinking grange … I’m not sure which will be harder to put down—the book or the Grange!
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Max Schubert Winemaker - a great read whether you're a wine enthusiast or not his life really is an inspiration - buy now at amazon.com or wherever you can find a copy |