Grape
Shiraz
Ratings
*Penfolds – Icon & Luxury Range
Exceptional – by Langton’s Classification Australian Wine
Robert Parker 98+
Jeremy Oliver 97
James Halliday 97
Wine Spectator 97
Tasting Notes
Colour : Bright, almost impenetrable dark red.
Nose : The nose is youthful and intense with dark,
ripened Satsuma plum fruits rising above a base
of liqueured dark chocolate and licorice.
Overtones of malt, toasty barrel ferment and nutty
oak meld effortlessly into an exquisitely aromatic
offering.
Palate : The palate displays intense layering of fruit –
raspberry, blackcurrant and blackberry – laced
with licorice and oak. The power of the fruit at the
fore is balanced with ripe velvety tannins,
offering an alluring even-textured palate with
remarkable length.
-by Official Website
A wine that flirts with perfection, and should rival the 1986 as one of
the legendary Granges produced, the 1998 has one of the highest alcohol
contents (nearly 15%) as well as one of the highest percentages of
Shiraz in the blend (97%). Its stunning purple color is accompanied by
exceptionally sweet aromas of blackberry liqueur intermixed with
barbecue spices, an endearing, smoky earthiness, pepper, roasted meats,
and coffee. Huge, massive, unctuously textured, and extraordinarily
youthful, this impressive wine is a candidate for perfection. It should
continue to evolve over the next three decades.
-by Robert Parker
Ultra-ripe Grange of unprecedented alcoholic strength, whose deep, dark
red colour is edged with ruby. Steeped in concentrated, tarry aromas of
intense black berries, plums and prunes, it?ˉs laced with spices
including cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and white pepper. Revealing a density
and thickness of black, briary and partially dehydrated fruit unlike
any previous Grange, it easily carries its vanilla/coconut oak, but
leaves a distinctly warm and spirity impression on the palate. No other
Grange does this. This is an excellent wine, but only time will tell how
it deals with its obvious alcoholic strength and partial
dehydration/over-ripeness. Drink 2018-2028+.
-by Jeremy Oliver
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.
-by James Halliday
A wine of surprising subtlety for the vintage, playing its ripe cherry,
red plum and herb flavors against firm tannins that have a bit of grit
to them. But those lively cherry and raspberry flavors burst through,
and there’s a nice hint of green herbs lingering around the finish,
which doesn’t subside easily.–Australian reds blind retrospective.
9,000 cases made.
-by Wine Spectator