You might expect a vintage of this age to look more evolved than this, particularly one that is not recognised as a great Grange vintage, and yet it is vibrant and ready for action. 1989 was a very hot year, fully ripe, and it retains an edge of rubber and smoke reduction on the opening notes, needs a good carafe to really open up (which is different from having to carafe for sediment). Once it does, you get straight to cigar box, cinders, soot, blueberries, blackcurrant, raspberry puree, still stunning, with the spice of a hot year. Changed from Grange Hermitage in this year (in the following 1990 vintage, the cork says Grange Hermitage, while the label just says Grange). Peter Gago arrived in this vintage, at a time when the team was still working in a traditional manner, with a continous press used for extraction - a rougher method than today, and yet this is still firing on all cylinders, and is just a fabulous wine.

A very hedonistic, almost decadent style of Grange, this blend of 91% Shiraz and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon from three grape sources - Kalimna in the Barossa, Penfolds' other sources in the Barossa, and McLaren Vale - is a gorgeously opulent, almost Pomerol-like Grange with an over-ripe characteristic to the fruit. Cherry liqueur intermixed with cranberry and cassis presented in a seductive, full-bodied, very soft, forward style is truly not the classic Grange in the sense of having huge structure and massive concentration, but this wine is loaded, very corpulent, and fleshy. The wine is going to last for up to two decades, but it will be uncommonly succulent and delicious to drink young, as it was several months ago. Among the young vintages of Grange, this is perhaps the most flattering wine that they have produced over the last 20 years, at least for such a relatively young wine. Anticipated maturity: now-2018. Imported by Southcorp Wines North America, Monterey, CA; tel. (408) 655-4848.

Like the 1985, a wine that split opinions. A deep garnet hue. The nose is very ripe and opulent with oodles of sweet cherry and raspberry. Stewed prune developing with time in glass, but never falls apart even after a couple of hours. A rich, decadent palate; ravishing and lascivious. Super-smooth and seductive yet lacking the grip and weight of a truly great wine. The finish has a ripasso quality to it, which seems a little incongruous to me. Others might adore this but just a bit too ostentatious. Drink now-2016. Tasted July 2006.

Very hot year with rain in early March. Blackish crimson. Comfortable, toasty nose. Rich and sumptuous. Really very glorious and rich and deep-flavoured, with heady layers. Not unlike a bordeaux 1989. Complete. (JR)