89/100
3.5 Stars
Huon Hooke
Old leather and honeycomb, beef stock aromas; savoury palate that is dry and mellow. Rich and chewy in texture. Not a bad wine. Second bottle: slightly funky? Very tannic and a bit lean/dry. Pleasant but nothing special.
Tasted: 28/09/2007
Drink: N/A
97 Points Robert Parker
The 1981 stood out as slightly superior. Winemaker John Duval always felt this was a tannic style of Grange, but the wine has shed its tannins, and this is one of the few vintages where the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon was above 10%. Sweet notes of creme de cassis, cedarwood, charcoal, and barbecue spices are followed by a full-bodied, opulent wine displaying heady amounts of alcohol, glycerin, and density in its full-bodied, skyscraper-like texture. I was drinking this wine with great pleasure in the mid-nineties, yet here it is nearly 15 years later, and the wine does not appear to have budged much from its evolutionary state. This is a testament to how remarkably well these wines hold up, and age at such a glacial pace. Published: Jun 30, 2009.
Source: Robert Parker (Robert Parker Wine Advocate) by Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1981 stood out as slightly superior. Winemaker John Duval always felt this was a tannic style of Grange, but the wine has shed its tannins, and this is one of the few vintages where the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon was above 10%. Sweet notes of creme de cassis, cedarwood, charcoal, and barbecue spices are followed by a full-bodied, opulent wine displaying heady amounts of alcohol, glycerin, and density in its full-bodied, skyscraper-like texture. I was drinking this wine with great pleasure in the mid-nineties, yet here it is nearly 15 years later, and the wine does not appear to have budged much from its evolutionary state. This is a testament to how remarkably well these wines hold up, and age at such a glacial pace. Source: Robert Parker (Wine Advocate) June, 2009 by Robert Parker
note: this bottle may seep a bit during shipping, which is normal for older or ullaged bottles