1975 Grange

90% Shiraz, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Kalimna Vineyard (Barossa Valley), Barossa Valley, Coonawarra blend. Light nose – discreet and a little dry on the finish. It’s starting to dry out a bit but there is still lots there. Sweet and mild, with a hint of liquorice. Some treacle. (JR)

A blend of 90% Shiraz and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, this vintage was considered as a "good yet tannic Grange." Certainly the tannins have become beautifully integrated in this sweet, expansive, full-bodied wine, with notes of subtle leather, melted asphalt, blackberry, and coffee. It is a very powerful, rich, deep, muscular wine with enormous concentration, plenty of glycerin and sweetness, and remarkable freshness and vigor. Drink it over the next 12-15 years. Imported by Southcorp Wines North America, Monterey, CA; tel. (408) 655-4848.

The 1975 Bin 95 Grange Hermitage (as it was then known) is a blend of 90% Shiraz and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is delightful. There’s plenty of red fruit on the nose laced with cooked meats, sandalwood, black truffle and iris flower. It becomes more tertiary in the glass and perhaps gains delineation. The palate is beautifully balanced with firm but fine tannins, almost like a hybrid of Bordeaux and the Rhône yet unmistakably Antipodean. It has a graceful finish that seems fully mature. Well-kept bottles will still give pleasure.