The Auswine Forum

Purchased at auction.

Surprisingly dark with pale edges. Some sediment and a crumbly cork. Subtle nose, soft blackcurrant & plum with a light spicy subnote. Something slightly earthy and rich (leather?) in the back ground.

Palate showed soft but consistent fruit throughout. At first I thought the fruit was going but the more I drank the more it simply seemed reserved rather than the more insistent Grange I've had before. Light spice with moderate firm tannins present coupled with soft vanilla. More of that earthy/ leathery "something" that I couldn't quite get. Reasonably long finish, fruit still there at the end with distinct rubbery/slightly bitter (though not unpleasant) tone.

Overall not what I was expecting but highly enjoyable.

Cheers,

Mark

'89 Grange hey Mark:

If you don't mind me asking what did you pay for it on auction.....and were you looking for that particular vintage or was it just a random thing??
Interesting tasting note.

JO put a 95 rating on this when released with a window drinking up to about now+

One more question...sorry...what style of food did you have with it?
[I'm always curious as to what people match off with Grange]
Glad you enjoyed it


ross

Ross, I paid $312 at auction. Purchased as one of a few wines we took up to FNQ for a trip to celebrate 20th anniversary.

Sorry about the vagueness in the description, there was a feature that I just couldn't quite identify. It was probably a couple of notes together that stumped me, there niggling at my memory but wouldn't come out! Actually I was very surprised by the wine. I've had Grange a few times and this was so dissimilar to my previous experiences.

What did I drink it with? We were at the Marina restaurant at Port Hinchinbrook (just walked the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island, a beautiful walk. I highly recommend it, though my knees disagree with me!) and it was a Sunday, so the main restaurant was closed, bar menu only. So I had the "Deluxe Hamburger"! Actually went quite well with the wine.

Cheers,

Mark

silkwood wrote:Ross, I paid $312 at auction. Purchased as one of a few wines we took up to FNQ for a trip to celebrate 20th anniversary.

Sorry about the vagueness in the description, there was a feature that I just couldn't quite identify. It was probably a couple of notes together that stumped me, there niggling at my memory but wouldn't come out! Actually I was very surprised by the wine. I've had Grange a few times and this was so dissimilar to my previous experiences.

What did I drink it with? We were at the Marina restaurant at Port Hinchinbrook (just walked the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island, a beautiful walk. I highly recommend it, though my knees disagree with me!) and it was a Sunday, so the main restaurant was closed, bar menu only. So I had the "Deluxe Hamburger"! Actually went quite well with the wine.

Cheers,

Mark

Congratulations on your 20th Mark.
For an ocassion like that why not pull out a 20 yr old btl of Grange.
I'm sure the 'Deluxe Hamburger' tasted monumental with the pairing!

ross

Last weekend I opened an '89 and '88. The 88 was wonderful. My initial thoughts on the 89 was that it was corked, then that it had an array of issues. None of which were 'normal'. however after a couple of decants and after forcing as much air into the wine as I could it came good. That said it was more noticably a cabernet experience than a shiraz. We ate it with an eye fillet. I would suggest both vintages had many years bottle age potential in them although I wouldn't necessarily bother with the '89. Last year i opened a '68 Grange and it trumped them all for vibrancy and enjoyability.