The two main iconic wines in Australia. There have been a few others that have tried to gain the recognition of these two but nothing really comes close to the long line of proven success, ability to age and quality these have had.
Henschke Hill of Grace 2009
Intoxicating nose of herbs, spices, mocha, dark berries...Really quite an inviting nose...reminds me of their Mount Edelstone but more intense, more complex....On the palate you get hit with the power but elegance of the wine. To me it lacks the acidity I want and the wine is just to plushy but at the same time, the wine shows great power and intensity but at the same time it isn't smacking me around either. Dark fruits, dark chocolate, five spice and this minty herb thing hits my palate and sticks there for a long long finish. A really great wine. Not exactly the style I like but there is no doubting the quality and enjoyment one will get from this wine...
Penfolds Grange 2009
Following 2008 was always going to be hard....Powerful nose of dark fruit but not a lot of complexity..picking up quite a bit of oak on the nose....This is probably the most approachable Grange I've had yet....Dark fruits, reasonably good acidity, good tannin structure but not a huge structured beast that some Granges can be....Obviously a very well made wine but the HoG was just far better at this stage and it really overshadowed what I was getting from the wine. The Grange still had power but definitely very approachable...far more elegance at this stage than I would have expected and for Grange I'm not sure that is right...
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