We opened the new Grange + Hill of Grace, Astralis, Laird + Powell & Son

Australian Shiraz 101: We've gone and opened the bggest names in Australian shiraz, in pursuit of more of the 'c' word... CONTEXT. 2016 Penfolds Grange has just been released so there is no better time than now to line them up and see how they compare. This was NOT done in an attempt to isolate which wine is better - let's agree these are all marvellous. This was done in an attempt to discuss their differences and to revel in their quality. So here we are. The wines we open in this video are:
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2017 Powell & Son, Flaxman's Vineyard, Eden Valley RRP $750
2016 Penfolds Grange, South Australia RRP $950
2015 Torbreck The Laird, Barossa Valley RRP $750
2015 Henschke Hill of Grace, Eden Valley RRP $865
2015 Clarendon Hills Astralis, McLaren Vale RRP $400
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Full tasting notes and further info: erinlarkin.com....
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Any review you see on my socials ( / erinllarkin , this channel and my website (www.erinlarkin...) are never paid for by wineries or anyone else: the wines are featured on their merits - because they have risen to the top in tastings. If you try the wines I recommend and you like them - good! Because so do I.

[@1949cr]

Very interesting tasting. I do wonder though if there is an Aussie-biased palate? I lived in Hong Kong for over 30 years. Probably the best city in the world for wine, winemaker visits and great cellars. It's the entrepot port for on-shipment in Asia. Best of all it's duty free!!!! Three of those wines were in my cellar so often when visiting winemakers visited we would show some of these classics. The classic tasting was with top Bordelais wine makers, primarily 2nd growth, plus some other great classified wines. Here I can't obviously name the Château owners. But to a person these guys disliked these wines and joked about the alcohol expression. Could not believe the price points.

[@user-bm7bj6kq9e]

I have been loving Australian Shiraz as of late. I was on the fence with either buying Torbreck Runrig or Astralis. There is now currently (on sale?!) in Denmark the 2003 Astralis, but I was unsure of the longevity of the wine. Going back to this video you have convinced me to get a few bottles :-) Can't wait to try.

[@erinlarkin]

Looking forward to hearing how you go!

[@user-bm7bj6kq9e]

I wish I had a grandfather alive like this gentleman - would have been great fun opening my wine cellar with :-) Never tried Grange before, just bought the 2014. Looking forward to it. Cheers from Denmark

[@erinlarkin]

Leave that Grange for another couple of years at the very least. Drinking them inside ten years from harvest is not recommended if you want to get the most out of the wine - they really evolve and unfurl in time.

[@user-bm7bj6kq9e]

@@erinlarkin that is also the plan. Right now it is on the agenda in 2024. 😊 although I have heard that it can be very pleasurable young, like more modern Bordeaux drink well young but will obviously drink better after 10-20 years. I think producers are getting better which shows in the wines and thus making them more approachable young.

[@eamonnegan8839]

Great effort and loved the honesty in your presso - thanks for sharing

[@thomaskwok1531]

Personal favorite - Powell & Son . David did a good job . 👍🏻

[@erinlarkin]

It's a brilliant wine - I completey agree. And it stood apart in this line up, which is, after quality, something that I value very highly.

[@Maxindifference]

If you are after superb Eden Valley Shiraz, try "Garden & Field". They are situated on Gnadenberg Rd, which literally translates to "Hill of Grace". Only a few barrels made each year. Their fruit is dry grown and most of it goes to Torbreck and Dave Powell. And know where near the price of these here.

[@jamesmadsen6162]

Tier 2 recos that aren’t so pricey?

[@janjanas3634]

Great content as always! I assume you have a "part 2" in store for us with some more affordable ones (such as Wendouree Shiraz) and expanding the selection into cooler climate territory (Clonakilla, Jasper Hill)?

[@erinlarkin]

There is a plethora of unbelievable shiraz in Australia that is priced between $50-250... so yep - I reckon we have a few more in us!

[@janjanas3634]

@@erinlarkin cheers🍷

[@blade1535]

Managed to drink some grange 2004, hill of grace 2008 and I preferred the hill of grace. Just my style. Also enjoyed a Chris Ringland 2010. Some awesome wine. Best’s Bin 0 is good too.

[@blade1535]

A more reasonably priced Shiraz that I feel delivers at the price is Kay Brothers Basket Pressed Shiraz.

[@jrisles]

Very informative. Interesting that of all the 5 wines tasted 4 of them are single vineyard except the Grange. So am I right in thinking that even though the Grange is “multi-vineyard” they don’t always select the same grapes from the different vineyards every year? That the only thing consistent about a Grange is the signature taste not the source of the fruit?

[@erinlarkin]

That’s pretty much it Jeff. Although many of the contracts with growers are long term, the pixilation of vineyards in the final wine changes each year to suit the vintage. A grade fruit is A grade fruit, but the seasons will amplify different characteristics in the grapes which will likely make them more or less appropriate for different wines.

[@jrisles]

@@erinlarkin interesting about the contract with long term growers. I wonder if these growers who have these contracts with Penfolds still get paid by Penfolds should Penfolds even choose not to use their grapes for any particular vintage? It sort of sounds like Penfolds have a contract with growers of these region that allows them "first choice" of fruit? Before I even did a tour of Barossa my fine wine merchant at my local Dan Murphy's (who grew up in the Barossa) when he was recommending me a wine a lot of the time would add the phrase "this winery provides their wine to Penfolds to use in their Grange". At first I thought this was very special and more often then not purchased the wine because this was quite a recommendation when the term "Grange" is used. But when I did a 4 day tour of the Barossa - it seemed nearly every other winery was saying the same thing as I visited their cellar door. It "seemed" like 50% or more of the wineries had some association with Penfolds and at some stage sold their harvest or part of their harvest to Penfolds. Not being in the business what I don't understand is if the wineries fruit is THAT good for that year that Penfolds wishes to purchase it Penfolds must be giving the winery top dollar for their harvest otherwise why wouldn't the winery use this excellent vintage to make their own wines under their own label rather than selling to Penfolds? Or perhaps they do both?

[@erinlarkin]

@@jrisles An extremely nuanced question you are asking here. In a nutshell I would say the following: without working for Penfolds, and without being privy to their grower contracts, I would suggest that the quantity of wine that Penfolds produce each year gives them quite a bit of license to use fruit as they wish. By that I mean, they 'could' have 20 vineyards tagged for Grange, and if a number of them don't perform as they expect, the fruit can be 'relegated' to another cuvee. In tis way they are still purchasing the fruit, but it is being diverted to another need. I'm sure within that there will be financial negotiation and incentives, but without knowing for sure it's all educated guessing. I think it's also important to understand that not all growers have the capacity to make wine from their own fruit (that requires a winemaker, a facility, and the complexities of bottling, packaging etc).

[@jrisles]

Thanks @@erinlarkin Yes it was a bit left of centre. Apologies from going a bit "off topic" hehe.

[@rubensingh247]

Hi Erin, Great video as always! Have you tried the new 2017 Craiglee Reserve Shiraz? Absolutely loved the standard bottling 2017 Shiraz so decided to order some of the new Reserve label yesterday. Would love to know your thoughts if you’re familiar with this recent addition to the Craiglee portfolio. Cheers, Ruben

[@erinlarkin]

I haven't tasted it yet Ruben, hopefully Craiglee have sent in bottles that are with the Victorian samples. Thanks for the heads up

[@rubensingh247]

@@erinlarkin Too easy, Erin. Hope you get to try them soon. Cheers

[@davidbrowne4893]

Hi Erin, I have a decent amount of Margaret River Cabernet from 2018 but was wondering whether to stock up more while I can at the moment? The reason I am asking you is your inside knowledge on what we can expect from the latest MR vintages as I am guessing you have probably tasted a fair few from barrel or pre release, are they as good? Thank you and love your videos.

[@erinlarkin]

I actually filmed a video with JJ last week, looking at the top 2018 Cabernets and assessing how they fared. My response is, they are even better than they were on release. And I expect that to continue over the years

[@erinlarkin]

I’ll be releasing the video end of this week.

[@rossangel2385]

Really enjoying your videos and wish I had your job tasting the very best .I notice that all except the Henschke are under cork.If we listen to Mr Halliday we are told that the bark is evil .Is there a reason why these very expensive wines haven’t gone Stelvin yet.

[@erinlarkin]

Thanks very much. The answer is too long for here BUT in a nutshell, it’s two part: prestige and perception around corks in the old world (ie success marketing and sales are sometimes dependant on closure). The second is around how wines age under cork v stelvin. Cork allows a small ingress of oxygen that has an impact on the way the wine ages. Some wineries believe this is positive. Rigorous testing of corks plays a big part in their assurances to the public. For me, I accept that there are very good quality corks available now, but I open too many bottles under cork that suffer from bottle variation.... they’re not faulty, but they’re not great bottles. It’s too great a risk in my opinion.

[@amorgan3526]

Love this - did the gent say he preferred the 2015 Grange? If you were buying 1 bottle for a special occasion in years to come, would you buy 2015 or 2016 Grange, or 2015 Hill of Grace? The latter is about £100 more here in the UK. Thanks

[@erinlarkin]

The beauty is, there’s no right or wrong here. Both JJ and I believe the ‘15 was a freak wine. Totally incredible. If I could pick a vintage to have, it would be ‘15 HOG. HOWEVER, the ‘16 was also excellent, so you can’t really go wrong. In terms of 15 or 16 Grange, I preferred 16..

[@Chzydawg]

5 under a grand in 25 New series!

[@erinlarkin]

We joked about that... If we could afford to open this number of wines all the time... we would! And I think this will be the last time we can ever open them all at "under a grand"... At least one of these is on track to crest $1000 in the next vintage or two.... I would suggest

[@jrisles]

Erin you weren’t wrong at the 3min mark when you said the Powell & Son is from “The Barossa”. Later in the video you critiqued yourself & said it is from Eden Valley. The Barossa Region encompasses both the Barossa Valley AND the Eden Valley. So because you said “The Barossa” & not The Barossa Valley you were still right. 😁👍

[@davidbrowne4893]

Erin, how do think the current vintage Standish wines stack up against the Grange. I understand the couple of years of difference in vintages but quality and drinking wise? Thanks Dave

[@erinlarkin]

Hi Dave, difficult time say because so many different factors at work: oak regime, fruit sourcing and philosophy, vintage etc the only way to compare them is in two years time, when the 18 Standish are four years old, and the 18 grange is released. The price differential is massive. Stylistically I prefer to drink Standish - the impact of oak on the excellent quality fruit is lighter and that’s a big one for me. But old grange is an amazingly awesome experience...

[@erinlarkin]

That doesn’t really answer your question does it...

[@davidbrowne4893]

I've had a couple of bottles of Grange over 15 years ago and found the oak pretty full on, so I look forward to drinking some Standish soon. Thanks mate.👍

[@thethirstymason9684]

what a heavy duty tasting. I'm gobsmacked

[@erinlarkin]

Someone had to do it. And I’d say, *someone* has to do it again!

[@MrJeremyMDavis]

Great videos!

[@erinlarkin]

Thanks Jeremy!

[@williamhuang8914]

what about chris ringland dry grown?

[@erinlarkin]

There's only so much room in the tastings... but you are quite right. A brilliant and important wine.

[@LensCapJB]

Very uncomfortable seeing these wines open in the middle of the day. Almost sacrilegious.

[@erinlarkin]

But also really good right... and tempting... surely you can arrange something like this for yourself in the middle of a weekday? Call it Professional Development?

[@stephenking3849]

What about Chris ringland dry grown Shiraz can't find any reviews

[@erinlarkin]

I have reviewed it on the Wine Advocate