Penfolds Grange Shiraz 1990
Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz 1990
AU $130 on release in 1994, 13.8% alcohol, cork, South Australia.
Penfolds Grange 1990 was the first release of Grange to crack the $100 RRP mark, in Australian dollars. Penfolds Grange 1989 was AU $99 at the time of its release. Penfolds Grange 1990 was AU $130 at the time of its release.
Penfolds Grange 1990 was the first Australian wine to be named Wine of the Year in US publication Wine Spectator. It was the first wine from the Southern Hemisphere to win this award.
Despite the higher price, most allocations of Penfolds Grange 1990 sold out within days/weeks. The market price at the time quickly moved into the AU $150-$200 range.
Penfolds Grange 1990 was the first release to simply be called just that, Penfolds Grange. The word Hermitage was removed from the front label, following stricter labelling laws in international markets.
Penfolds Grange 1990 was made by John Duval.
Penfolds Grange 1990 is one of the all-time great releases of Penfolds Grange. If such things could be determined with certainty, it might even be the greatest. Its reputation was hyped before it was even released and, if anything, its reputation has grown. There are legendary releases of Penfolds Grange – 1955, 1962, 1971, 1986 and 1996 for instance – and 1990 sits comfortably among them, if not at their helm.
Penfolds Grange 1990 is a blend of 95% Shiraz, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Penfolds Grange 1990 was grown in the Barossa Valley (inc Kalimna Vineyard), Clare Valley and Coonawarra regions.
Penfolds Grange 1990 spent 18 months in new American oak hogsheads.
Critic reviews are one thing. How consumers receive the wine, when they open a bottle, are another. It’s interesting to see the comments on the original Winefront review of the Penfolds Grange 1990.
Mattinson has tasted Penfolds Grange 2009 on five occasions, most recently in 2026.
As a result of this 2026 tasting, Mattinson now has Penfolds Grange 1990 at the top of his Grange list.
As a result of this tasting, Mattinson thinks that 1990 Penfolds Grange is at its drinking peak right now.
Background: Penfolds Grange Shiraz is listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. It has an unbroken lineage back to 1951. It’s routinely released as a four-year-old, and routinely matured in 100% American oak hogsheads for 18 months. The use of new American oak is not a modern phenomena; the first commercial release of Penfolds Grange Hermitage, the 1952 vintage, was similarly matured for 18 months in new American oak. Penfolds Bin 95 Grange was named Grange Hermitage from 1952 through to 1989 inclusive. It’s been labelled as Penfolds Grange Bin 95 (sans Hermitage) from the 1990 vintage onwards. It’s commonly called, simply, Grange.
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Need to Know: The best guide to Penfolds Grange (and to all things Penfolds) is The Winefront. The Winefront has honest, independent reviews of every release of Penfolds Grange from the 1952 through to the current release.
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Review: PENFOLDS GRANGE 1990
My original review of Penfolds Grange 1990 was: “Sweet oak shows prominently. This is a big wine that not only copes with its oak but uses it as a temperance to its mountain of sweet, saturated fruit. In the mouth this wine is superb: big, balanced, long and stuffed with mature, swashbuckling tannin. Earthy sawdusty characters liven up the considerable churn of licorice and blackcurrant-like flavour. It's a model of a pristine, powerful, youthful wine. Even so, the storm of this wine is still brewing; when it arrives it will be immense.”
I tasted this wine again in 2026. I added: “1990 Grange was always great and if anything it’s become greater. In fact, this wine is a sensation. It shows classic Grange characters of ants and saltbush and leather and a rich assortment of dark, saturated, succulent berries. But it’s the wine’s balance, the firmness, the authority. The length. And more than anything, the beauty. There may well be the equal but I’m not sure that there’s a better 36 year old red wine in the world, from anywhere, made with anything. I’m not sure that there have been many better wines made, in history, full stop.”
Score: 98 points.
When to Drink: 2020-2033+
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Campbell Mattinson has tasted every commercial release of Penfolds Grange from the 1952 Penfolds Grange through to the current release of Penfolds Grange inclusive.
Campbell Mattinson has been a journalist for 40 years, a wine critic for 25 years, is a former chief editor of Halliday Wine Companion and was the founder of The Winefront business. He’s steadfastly independent. He’s published five books on wine, four of them bestsellers. He has no association with Penfolds.
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All reviews of Penfolds Grange on the Mattinson site are available via the Penfolds Grange tag.
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