Rebeccagibb.com launches on the same day as Penfolds Grange releases its 2004 vintage so it seems an apt way to kick things off. I hope the website and I will mature as gracefully as the Grange looks set to do.
The 2004 has already been hyped up by Australian wine critics and is expected to retail between AUD$520-$650 a bottle. I guess I’ll have to marry a rich man to pay if I want to get my hands on it.
I caught up with the affable Peter Gago, chief winemaker at Penfolds, last week.to ask him a bit more about the vintage and the future of Grange. According to Peter, the 2004 is a cracker (he would say that, wouldn’t he?) and compares it to the 1996 and 1986 vintage. He points out he made two special bin wines in 2004 (Block 42 and Bin 68) which is a good indicator to the calibre of the vintage.
With the 2008 en primeur Bordeaux frenzy calming, I ask Gago why Grange doesn’t go down the en-primeur route? ‘We have thought about en primeur,’ he admits. ‘We released the special bins en primeur electronically, to dip a toe in the water. It’s an ongoing issue and is always up for review,’ he says.
‘But I look at the en primeur system in Bordeaux and it’s a bit of a joke,’ he adds. You can’t really argue with him.
For the moment, Grange will be sold on release. But watch this space….
