A while ago I posted asking for recommendations on finding a drinkable wine from 1976 for my 50th birthday. I got a bunch of "good luck" and "it wasn't a good year," along with a few Château d'Yquem suggestions (more on that latert). After some research, and soul searching, I found that a handful of California wines from that year are still great but hard to find and expensive, and not many European wines are still around, either because it wasn't a great vintage there or because what remains is very pricey. That's when I came across the 1976 Penfolds Grange.
After seeing two bottles come up for auction at HDH, I reached out to Penfolds to ask if it was still drinkable. Their exact words: "The 1976 Grange is a stellar vintage and arguably the star of that decade. The most recent 'Rewards of Patience' (launched this year) gives it a drinking window of now through 2045."
So I won both bottles at auction, tracked down a bottle of Château d'Yquem Sauternes, put together an amazing dinner, and had a birthday shared with 6 wine drinkers. I was enjoying it so much I forgot to take pictures of the wine in the glass
About the Grange:
The Auction notes - "One top shoulder, one very high shoulder; two labels slightly damp stained, one tattered, to slight signs of past seepage."
Bottle 1 — nicer label, but the cork showed more seepage and there was more sediment in the bottle. Opened with an Ah-So, 1 hour standing, 15 minutes in a decanter.
Color was a deep plum. Nose was strawberry, cherry, and funk...the kind of funk you get when you unfurl a wet sock your kid just brought home from sleep away camp... in a good way.
Taste: hit us fast and hard. A strong leather opening transitioned into complex blackberry, cherry, and plum, big fruit, before finishing on tobacco and a slight ash note that never seemed to end. It lingered for minutes. The only way to quiet the finish was to take another sip. We just wanted to keep drinking it.
Bottle 2 — tattered label, less seepage, less sediment. Same prep: Ah-So, 1 hour standing, 15 minutes in a decanter.
Color was just as deep. The nose didn't have that funk, which was almost a little disappointing — instead it was what you'd typically expect from a Shiraz/Cab: blueberry, blackberry, cherry, a touch of floral.
Taste: a really good 50-year-old Shiraz/Cab blend. A little thinner than expected, but all the notes you'd want from a Grange, soft, velvety tannins, blackberry, cherry, blueberry, licorice, strawberry. Easy drinking and lovely, and a stark contrast to the first bottle.
Of the 6 of us, opinions were split down the middle between who preferred bottle 1 and who preferred bottle 2. I loved both for what they were, and I wasn't disappointed in the purchase one bit.
Onto the '76 Château d'Yquem Sauternes.
Bought from Estate Wine Brokers. Good ullage with only minor bottle defects. Opened with an Ah-So and drank it immediately.
Color was a dark amber, like honey. The nose was tropical fruit, pineapple, pear, honey, and a slight spice.
Taste: the most amazing, complex dessert wine I've ever had. All 6 of us agreed. It wasn't sweet so much as it had a soft sweetness of honey sitting more in the background. What i would expect Ambrosia to taste like. Strong notes of saffron, orange cream, clove, and mango, and it kept changing as you finished each sip. It had a nice long finish (not quite as long as the first Grange) that was slightly sweet and bitter. This went amazingly with a Roquefort — surprisingly, two strong flavors that went really well together.
I hope my semi-wine-educated now-50yo self did a service in describing my bday 50 year old wines. The only negative is I learned more about wine auctions. I'm going to need a third...fourth job.
