Well, the word is out. 1990 Grange (the first not to be called Grange Hermitage) is one of the best. Ever. Breaking all records for an Australian wine of current vintage and significant quantity, it retails between $130 and $150 per bottle, thank you very much. So, how good is it, really? I was one of the lucky few to taste the entire range of Grange at Anders Josephson’s brilliant ‘Ultimate Grange Experience’ last year. The 1990 was first cab off the rank. The official judging panel of three, comprising Len Evans, James Halliday and Huon Hooke, averaged its score at 18.5. I think the wine is better than that and gave it 19.1. While I gave several vintages a score of 19.0, namely 1955, 1962, 1966, 1971, 1983 and 1986, the only better mark I gave was to the 1953, to which I gave 19.7 with a tear in my eye. Frankly, the 1990 Grange is one of the greatest Australian red wines ever made, certainly one of the best since the remarkable decades of the ’50s and ’60s. Its colour is magnificent – a deep, purple-red robe which looks you square in the eye and says it will be around for some time yet. Concentrated, spicy plummy, blackberry and redcurrant fruit match it with pungent, cigarboxy American wood with loads of vanilla and coconut. The palate is incredibly concentrated and strong, loaded with power and grip, with velvet-like softness smack in the middle. The oak looks more like mocha coffee while the ‘amarone’-like ripeness is typical of the vintage. Long, smooth and balanced, with a fine-grained and integrated extract of tannins, the wine will live and improve for at least twenty years. What about value for money? This is of course an issue for the beholder, but consider the investment potential. Anders Josephson reckons that when he bought the 1980 Grange in 1985 it cost him around $36 a bottle. Today he could sell each bottle for $145. The 1980 Grange is an excellent wine, but not a patch on the 1990. The worldwide market for Grange in 1985 is a mere fraction of that today. And production levels have barely changed. So go on; go and get another mortgage.
