(How) Did Grange change stylistically over the past 40-50 years?

How Bordeaux and how Napa reds have changed over the past 40-50+ years is a common discussion.

Did a similar change take place in Grange?

If a change took place, how could it be characterized? And if so, to what can it be attributed - change in temperature, change in market preference, adaptation of modern winemaking methods, something else?

I’m assuming you’re talking about Pendfolds Grange?

I can’t say I’m an expert on them, but ones I’ve had from the 70s taste nothing like the ones from the 90s and 2000s. The former coming across far more elegant, lower on extract, lower alcohol, more stereo typically “old world”. The latter not quite as over the top as the Napa stereotype (eg mega purple with residual sugar), but far more extracted, alcoholic, and monolithic.

Interestingly I’ve noticed a similar trend among other producers in Australia, so I think this goes beyond just a change at Penfolds, but to Australian wine over this period more broadly.

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Yes.

Thanks.

The first two decades Grange clocked in at 11,5 to 12,9%, only some vintages going past beyond 13%. Only in the 1980’s the wine began to consistently achieve ABVs in the 13,5 to 14% ballpark.

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Grange is one of the world’s most consistent wines, wines that have a track record of longevity. They are wines that drink at their best at 30 to 40 yrs of age. However as noted above they reflect vintage conditions, improvements in viticulture, warmer years which has seen riper wines since the early 90s.
Some other factors to consider, the 70s as a decade was relatively cool. 1971 was a highly regarded vintage but shows more of the crushed ant character that epitomises Grange. 1972 was very variable.
Grange has in the past contained a portion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the wine. IIRC 1975 and 1976 had around 10% CS.
Some lovely wines made in the 1980s including 1982, 1983 and 1986. 1983 was the bushfire year with a scorching summer followed by a wet vintage, but Grange stands as a real triumph.
1990 perhaps saw a marker of change. Riper vintage, WS wine of the year. I recall tasting this wine on release and it was so drinkable at the time.
As to wines in the noughties and beyond, I can’t recall tasting any, as to me it’s a wine that demands cellaring. If I am paying close to $1K for a wine I want to see it with proper ageing.
I note that from the very hot and dry 2020 vintage Grange is nudging 14.5% and has 3% CS in the cepage. 14.5% is 1% above the wines of the 90s. Also of note it’s major fruit source is McLaren Vale, perhaps a reflection of the very hot Barossa vintage, plus a good dollop of cooler Coonawarra fruit.
Just found this - a good resource to see changes in fruit source and the wines composition.

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Thanks!

Kent certainly has it covered in his response - Grange being a very consistent wine made in a house style with the ability to call on vast vineyard resources of top-quality fruit to achieve and maintain the style. I would also agree with 1990 perhaps ushering in a newer era of the style; coincidentally1989 being the last vintage to be labelled as “Grange Hermitage”.

Climate change influence aside, current chief winemaker Peter Gago has mentioned that winemaking changes (or perhaps consumer tastes) have led to a recent style that is perhaps more approachable in youth (but still capable of long-term cellaring) than years gone by - interestingly I have read comments of a similar recent evolution of style with wines from Wendouree. Noting that I have not sampled recent vintages of either wine, so this is just hearsay.

Caveat that my main experience with the wine has been the 1972 vintage (birth year), luckily mostly good bottles of a wine that was indeed noted as fine vintage but variable perhaps due to issues on the bottling line.

I haven’t bought Penfolds in a few years due to the pricing increases; but I feel of late that the best value in the lineup perhaps lies with their white wines (Chardonnay), with notable mention in the reds to the St Henri and perhaps RWT. Every so often I’ve done a birth year lineup of Grange, St Henri, Bin 389, and Bin 28, and it is amazing to see how even the “lesser” wines of the range had held up.

FWIW the chief winemakers have been Max Schubert 1948-1975, Don Ditter 1975-1986, John Duval 1986-2002, Peter Gago 2002-present. Whilst there may not have been much of a stylistic change with the wine over the years beyond what Kent outlines, there has certainly been a marketing one…

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To come back to this thread. I recently had a conversation re Grange with some ex Penfolds winemakers.
Their take was that these days it is a more elegant and less sizeable wine that it was in the 90s, perhaps mirroring braoder winemaking ethos, echewing the bigger is better mentality that was prevalent for some time.

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Interesting to hear.

Would be more interesting if the wines were remotely affordable anymore, but still, I’m glad to hear they are trying to adjust back. I see that 2020 Grange is listed at 14.5% (but I don’t know if they use real numbers on their labels or not).

A decent number of wineries who pushed ripeness levels in the 90s and early 2000s have corrected back. Kosta Browne is probably half to a full percent lower alcohol in recent years than it was in the early 2000s (and they give real, detailed data about each bottling).

It also goes to show that winemakers are not helpless to avoid making overripe wines because of global warming as is so often alleged on WB and elsewhere – winemakers can still make choices still about ripeness levels if they want to. Those winemakers in Australia, Chablis, Napa, Rhone or wherever who want to make wines with less ripeness, higher acids, more traditional profiles, they still do it. And some who got carried away in the past and want to rein back in, they manage to do it as well.

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I’m old enough (sadly) to have been around when Grange wasn’t famous.
Penfolds Grange is to Australian wine what AC-DC was to Australian music. As youngsters, we couldn’t believe AC-DC wasn’t known outside Australia, as their music was better than the vast majority of stuff coming out of the UK and the USA. We used to go watch them, believe it or not, at the local pub here in Melbourne on a Saturday night. Then voila, they were “discovered” and became world famous, we virtually never saw them again.

Grange in the late 70’s, early 80’s, was around $10 a bottle on release, freely available at any decent wine store and you could pick up many previous vintages too, if you were so inclined. At university I played semi-professional sport, called VFL football, and every October, Id’ cash my small pay check, go off to the large wine retailer and buy 8-10 dozen bottles of the stuff. I ended up with over 60 cases in cellar at one stage. Happy days, couldn’t believe more people overseas didn’t know about this stuff. Then, sadly for me, it was “discovered” and the price quickly became absurd (and still is). My 700-800 bottle stash of the stuff is down to about 20 :pensive:

Stylistically, there has been a MASSIVE change in the wine, absolutely huge. Schubert and Ditter’s Granges were basically undrinkable upon release. I’ll never forget opening a 75, the last of Max’s wines, at release in 1981 and thinking this won’t be drinkable until about 2020 (in those days that seemed light years away). I left about 70% of the bottle open for a week, and at that stage, hints of friuot started poking out. It was all gone 10 days after opening, not a trace of oxidation. That vintage has now reached maturity and is absolutely glorious.

Since 86, the wine has become a totally different beast, it is actually drinkable at release, and whilst it will clearly cellar beautifully, I doubt any modern vintage will reach the heights of Max’s wines. Indeed, the “discovered” vintage, 1990 is pretty much fully mature and is nowhere near the wines of the 60’s 70’s and very early 80’s. Still, the Americans and Chinese love the modern Grange, so that is a good thing for Penfolds, who seem to be thriving on the $1000 price tag for a huge production wine. They have become the supreme Aussie wine marketer.

If you get the chance, put a 1990 Grange up against a well-cellared 1990 St Henri, blind, and you will be very surprised with the result.

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I had a taste of, I think, 98 Grange within the last year or two. Apparently didn’t write down any thoughts, but I remember being shocked how overblown and syrupy it was. I could not drink more than a few sips.

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I only ever owned one bottle of Grange, a 1999, which I finally opened a year or two ago. Early impression was a big, massive, dense wine. Pretty good in that way, but not really special and distinctive in the way I hoped.

As I was doing dishes at the end of the evening after my company left and there was some left in the bottle, I tried it again, and it was far better. Less massive, more balanced, more complex, some attractive Rhoneish notes emerged around the concentrated core of the wine.

That sucks about only being able to afford one bottle of something, you mistime the age and/or air and you’re left wishing you knew before what you know how.

I think I paid about $150 for that bottle of Grange when it was the current release, which was a big splurge for me at that time.

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I would agree with other posters on the style evolution;

  1. The wines up to mid 80’s (for me up to 1988) are not as big and massive. They became lovely full bodied, intense yet balanced wines with around 30 years of age.
  2. 1990 does seem to be the turning point to a larger denser riper style.
  3. For my taste none of the wines from the 1990s are mature or ready. I believe they will need 40 to 50 years to reach a level of maturity that will appeal to me.
  4. I stopped buying after 1999 vintage and so have no experience with anything younger
  5. Prices are crazy now and are purely marketing driven IMO.
  6. I no longer seek out wines of the style for which Grange was the epitome, so I no longer care what Penfolds does with the brand
  7. If someone wants to experience Grange, I would recommend seeking out an older vintage at auction as these are usually a lot cheaper than current release.
  8. The only caveat is I would be very careful about buying them at auction in Australia as many regular folks bought them based on fame/reputation and there is a higher risk of them being poorly stored.

I still have a couple of cases left in the cellar but I don’t drink them very often (maybe once a year or once every two years). So it is a lifetime supply!

Cheers Brodie

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I had the 1995 back in January, and while not “ready” (whatever that actually means when everyone’s taste is different) it was certainly open and complex enough to be a wonderful drink. Big wine? Sure! Over the top? Definitely not.

Great post; thanks!

AC/DC and Grange - now there’s a tasting theme waiting to happen.
Had the 75 and 76 at a dinner a couple of decades ago side by side and they were both beauties.
There were many wines made in the 70s and early 80s that were monolithic on release and demanded cellaring.
They were built for loooong term ageing, as people had cellars.
Think pre 95 Wendourees!!