Region: Barossa, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra
Variety: Shiraz, Cabernet Cellar: 36 years (2016-2054) Alcohol: 14.3%
Ratings
*Penfolds – Icon & Luxury Range
Exceptional – by Langton’s Classification Australian Wine
Robert Parker 99
Jeremy Oliver 98
James Halliday 98
Wine Spectator 98
Tasting Notes
Colour : Dark, deep red (at 5 years of age).
Nose : Enticingly fragrant, yet at once ‘Grange’ –
elements of cola, bay-leaf, malt, Indian spices &
nougat. An ethereal oriental lift of glazed Peking
Duck is interspersed with fermented black
Chinese tea. Oak at one with the wine, other
aromatics unite to create a continuum of spice &
fruit. Impressive.
Palate : Seamless redefined. Classic Grange structure –
tight, defined & balanced, with ‘slatey’ / sandy
tannins. Saturated fruits – blackberry and
concentrated Satsuma plum skin. A darkened
flavour theme of chocolate, liquorice and
fermented black Chinese tea mask any overt
presence of new oak, courting a long, effortless
finish.
Intense, powerful vs. composed, polished – an
enviable counter-balance.
-by Official Website
The 2004 vintage was outstanding in Barossa, McLaren Vale, and Magill,
the regions where the grapes were sourced for the marvelous 2004 Grange.
It contains 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and was aged for 16 months in 100%
new American oak hogsheads. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it
displays a superb nose of wood smoke, Asian spices, incense, game,
blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. Medium to full-bodied, satin
textured, with deeply layered, succulent blackberry, plum, and chocolate
flavors, it has the structure and complexity to merit extended
cellaring of a decade and more. The winery estimates a drinking curve of
2016 to 2050; I-d be a bit more conservative on the long end of the
range. It will ultimately be seen as one of the great vintages of
Grange.
-by Robert Parker
This most anticipated Grange is on the one hand a truly exceptional
shiraz, but on the other is a genuine departure from Grange?ˉs typical
style. It?ˉs powerful, layered and bruising to be sure, but there?ˉs
nothing heavy, clunky or over the top about it. In fact, it?ˉs remarkably
elegant and balanced ¨C a heady, deep and alluring wine whose deep
violet-like aromas and wild, brambly flavours of cassis, blackberries,
redcurrants and blueberries simply soak up its finely integrated sweet
oak. Saturated with fruit, it?ˉs long, velvet-like and sumptuous;
underpinned by fine, tight and drying tannins before finishing long,
savoury and mineral, with lingering nuances of licorice, cloves, bay
leaf, anise and cola. Spectacular. (South Australia, Drink
2034-2044).
-by Jeremy Oliver
Saturated purple-crimson colour; has an amazing depth to the bouquet,
oak and black fruits already seamlessly woven; the longer you spend
inhaling the aromas, the more you learn about the wine within, in much
the same way as a Grand Cru red burgundy. The palate delivers all that
the bouquet promises, and then some; it has absolutely perfect
proportions to the river of flavours running through blackberry, Satsuma
plum, licorice and spice; the tannins are quite active, but totally
balanced and ripe.<