1974 Grange
Vintage reviews
It was future chief winemaker John Duval's first vintage with Penfolds and the first Grange to be made at Nuriootpa and fermented in stainless steel. All previous vintages were made in the open concrete fermenters at the Magill winery.
A very difficult season with rainfall more than double the average. Vintage was also very wet, with conditions made worse by an outbreak of downy mildew just before harvest.
Shiraz (93%), Cabernet Sauvignon (7%). Eighteen months in new American oak hogsheads.
Max Schubert, Penfolds chief winemaker
87/100
1974 was considered an average quality vintage for Penfold's Grange Hermitage.
The wine reveals considerable amber and orange in the color, a chocolate, mocha, sweet berry, earthy, and cedar-scented nose, medium to full body, fatness, and sweetness, as well as high, coarse tannin in the finish.
It requires drinking up as the fruit fades quickly once the wine is in the glass.
Robert M. Parker Jr., Wine Advocate #100, August 1995
90/100
Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator, 31 January 1997
89/100
Jeremy Oliver, www.jeremyoliver.com