A very good vintage with a mild growing season, culminating in a burst of warm weather. "Deep dark red. A fresh, youthful aroma of slightly confiture-like blackberries, raspberries and plums is enhanced with sweet vanilla oak. Fresh, youthful and primary, the palate is intense and juicy, finishing fine-grained, elegant and smoky, with lingering flavours of mulberries and cedar. A finer, more elegant and restrained Grange" -JeremyOliver.com, "One of my favorite vintages of Grange to actually drink at present is the 1982" -eRobertParker.com Feb 2002

A fabulous Grange, powerful, seamlessly constructed wine with perfect levels of glycerin and extract. The wine still seems very youthful, made in a very voluptuous, blockbuster Grange style. It is just now reaching its plateau of drinkability" -eRobertParker.com Feb 2002. Considered an outstanding vintage, Tim White said of it at a tasting in September 1999, "Very good. I like this, it’s just about perfect!" Anthony Rose at the same event observed, "Very big-boned and just starting to ease into a long final straight. I suspect this is - will be - a classic!"

Last of the three hidden and secret Granges made by Max Schubert in defiance of a company order to cease production, the wine was released commercially after the ban was lifted. New oak was not used during the three secret vintages. Bottles were labelled Bin numbers 46, 49 and 95. The story of Grange is steeped in the Australian ethos. Max Schubert is an Australian folk hero, a lifelong winemaker who battled against the odds and then succeeded in creating one of the very great wines of the world

Regardless of vintage, Grange delivers fresh fruit in a delicious, clear and explosive style without any overpowering woodiness or unnecessary complexities. "Penfolds, miraculously, have pulled a rabbit out of a hat with this wine. In what was a pretty ordinary year, this is a spicy, peppery, deliciously aromatic wine that, combined with a tangy, gamey palate, makes it seem entirely Rhonish. At its core is a cruise of plum and a sheen of vanilla, and it all comes ushered on smooth, velvet-padded rails!' -Winefront.com.au

The 1989 Grange Hermitage is beginning to show some seriously attractive older maturation characters, developing sooner by comparison to its more robust 1988 and 1990 counterparts. 91% Shiraz 9% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Kalimna and other Barossa vineyards, as well as the McLaren Vale, it has the typical solid structure and strength of character to produce another classic Grange. "Full-bodied, richly flavoured and supremely complex, harmoniously whole, this wine combines power, structure and concentration!" -Winemaker John Duval

Soon after Wine Spectator named Grange 'The Best Red Wine in the World' the price of subsequent vintage releases soared at auction. An Australian icon, Grange represents a tradition in winemaking that is totally uncompromising. Grange has bypassed the fads and trends of modern winemaking in the sense that it has maintained an integrity of style and remained true to its origins in the mind of Max Schubert. Penfolds Grange is the quality standard against which all other Australian red wines are judged. To share a magnum of Grange from one's own cellar is one of the great wine experiences.