Winery: Penfolds

Region: Barossa Valley

Varietal: Shiraz

Best Drinking: 2010 to 2040

Best Vintages: '80, '83, '86, '90, '91, '92, '94, '96

Drink with: Aged fillet mignon

Price guide: $ 400.00 AUD

Winepros' Notes

Wine background
Australia's greatest red wine, first made in 1951 as an experiment. Right from that time it has had a variable regional base, blended from multiple components in much the same way as a great Champagne. It is predominantly Shiraz (always over 85 per cent) with a variable dash of Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from old, low-yielding vineyards in the major South Australian regions, each parcel in the blend selected on a year-by-year basis using stringent quality standards.

James Halliday Nov 24 2003 Rating: 97 out of 100

The hype and astronomic auction prices for the Imperial bottles of this great wine are already part of history. Deep purple-red, it oozes blackberry, blackcurrant and licorice from every pore, the palate a sumptuously smooth velvet cushion of small black fruits. It will outlive anyone who can afford to buy it.

Other Vintages Reviewed

1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990