The Auswine Forum

For a special occasion:
Which Grange or HOG vintages from the past 20 years is excellent/outstanding and currently drinking well ?
THX in advance

1986 HOG was one of the greatest aussie wines I have had....drank last year.

I had 1988 HOG last year for my Birthday and it is the best Australian wine I have drunk to date. Here is my tasting note.

Dark brick red in colour. After decanted for 20 minutes, the nose was very tight but showing hints of cedar, black berries and prune. After one hour in the glass, the wine opened up and it continued to do so over the next 3 hours. The wine envolved so much it was like having four seasons in one day. The palate was medium in weight which was a real surprise to me in contrast to Grange. The palate show tones of black fruits, hint of cigar box and finishes with dark chocolate. The tannis was extremely fine and velvety, smooth and very silky. Everything was intergrated and showing excellent balance. The finish was extremely long and it sticks to the mid palate for infinity. After 3 hours there was none left. This is by far the best wine I have tasted. It gives a WOW, WOW, WOW factor. With the amount of fruit showing, this wine will go for a few more years yet before plateauing.

1990 HoG is one of the 5 greatest Aussie reds i have ever had. Posted last note about a year ago.

Also, brilliant is 1986.

Haven't tried my bottles of 1998, 1998 and 1991 yet but they are also highly regarded.

Grange? 1971, 1976, 1983 (although I disagree - too tannic), 1986, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1998. Go to www.penfolds.com.au for full listing of Grange vintages and which are great.

Danny's got it about right with both of these wines.

86 & 90 HOG

86, 90, 91 & 96 Grange. I still rate the 96 in front of the much hyped 98. Look fwd to a comparo in about ten years to see if I'm right.

I concur with all the comments for both 86s. Two of the many reasons why, to my palate, 1986 is the greatest SA vintage of the past 25 odd years.

Mike

The 96 HOG is supposed to be awesome (best ever?) but I haven't tried it myself. This is from very reliable sources though.

71 Grange is the best wine I have ever had - it was had my recent birthday party as it was one of the few wines from my birth year that can be assured of going strong.

It had been recorked by penfolds a couple of years earlier which may have helped it - not sure but it was as fresh as a daisy with years to go.

Mike, I'm with you, in the fullness of time 1986 has proved a spectacular vintage with an endless list of superb wines. It was probably a little before the media machine was fully cranked up to it's current tendency to declare "super vintage". Only a few years later they were in full swing with the 1990, I've still got a Wynns poster for that years releases that proclaims "Vintage of the Century". Little wonder everyone went quiet when 1991 came along and again in the fullness of time has proved to be the better than the vintage of the century!

Just thinking about wines that have wowed me in the past couple of years from 1986, John Riddoch, Wynns Black, Yarra Yering No.1, Lindemans Trio, Grange, Rockford BP.

1989 HOG Excellent - was quite surprised
1990 HOG Outstanding
1992 Grange - Excellent, under rated tried a couple of times
1993 Grange - Average
1993 HOG - A dud - weedy
1994 HOG - Outstanding
1996 Grange - Outstanding

cant afford to buy it now, never get the opportunity to taste (well at a price i like anyway)

Paul, the 1971 Grange that I drank in 1986 was by far and away the best wine I have had. You could smell it from across the table - unbelievable! Absolute nectar. My wife and I were celebrating our wedding anniversary and we savoured every glorious mouthful.

We had another bottle exactly 5 years later and it didn't quite measure up to our memories of the first bottle. Still staggering but not quite the same.

Tried one about 2 years ago and it was much more developed and, to me, had lost quite a bit of it's power and zest.

Happy hunting,

KeithT

96 was awesome, 98 a bit over the place but big rich and bloody good,
99 is a pedigree dog!

Cheers

The 1990 Hill of Grace is my fave wine of all time - to date.

I'm hanging out for the '02 though. I have three years to save up and I think I'll need to. According to Stephen, best vintage in their history. I'll try and track down a magnum and crack it open in 50 years - if I'm still alive.