Tasting Notes

Deep ruby. Sexy, oak-tinged dark berry and floral scents pick up cracked pepper and licorice flourishes with aeration. Juicy and precise on the palate, offering sweet blackberry and cherry flavors that unfold and spread out steadily on the back half.

Rating: 90 points Wine Enthusiast

Winemaker’s Notes

Opaque black core, dark red rim. An aromatic eruption of soy, hoisin, balsamic reduction coiled around a core of kirsch and fresh raspberry. The propulsion is crammed with tell-tale barrel ferment, V.A. and formic Grange markers – all in balance, all respectful of fruit and oak. And yet, so 'classy' – a brightness, a sheen, a gloss, a raciness -- belying both age and upbringing.

Blend: 96% Shiraz, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon

100 points Wine Advocate

This vintage is a blend of 96% Shiraz and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, coming from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra and Magill Estate. Very deep inky purple-black colored, the 2013 Grange has a profoundly scented nose of crème de cassis, preserved black plums, blueberry pie and licorice over nuances of baker’s chocolate, smoky bacon and fragrant earth, plus exotic spice wafts of cumin seed, cardamom, fenugreek and star anise. Unfurling and slowly building in the medium to full-bodied mouth with wonderful grace and depth, it reveals an incredible array of ripe black fruit, spice, meat and earth-inspired flavors, with a rock-solid frame to support this beauty (it should easily cellar for 40+ years!), while previously latent flavors emerge fully on the epically long finish, culminating in that ultimate Grange experience.

Winemaker’s Notes

The most powerful expression of Penfolds multi-vineyard, multi-district blending philosophy, Grange is arguably Australia’s most celebrated wine and is officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. Crafted utilizing fully-ripe, intensely-flavored and structured shiraz grapes, the result is a unique Australian style that is now recognized as one of the most consistent of the world’s great wines. With an unbroken line of vintages from the experimental 1951, Grange clearly demonstrates the synergy between shiraz and the soils and climates of South Australia.

The 2018 Grange has familial flavors of a deconstructed black forest cake – chocolate, custard, bright wild raspberry along with a beefy accompaniment and notes of sarsaparilla whirled into the mix. Mouthcoating - a confluence of tannin, acidity, oak, and fruit – all joyously meshed together. There is a convex mid-palate that generously supports upfront palate grip and a continuum of delight all the way to lengthy, lingering finish.

Blend: 97% Shiraz, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon

Ratings: 100 points James Suckling, Wilfred Wong, 99 points Wine Advocate, 98 points Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator