Grange is Australia?s most collectible wine on the auction market and is listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. It was first created in the 1950s by the late Max Schubert, winemaker at Penfolds, whose aim was to create a Shiraz to end all Shirazes. His wine was controversial when first tasted with others at the winery but has since grown to become a liquid expression of South Australia’s hot climate, its most planted grape variety and winemaking with all the bells and whistles. It’s always youthful when first bottled and can age for decades, in the correct cellaring conditions.
“Strongly marked, as always, by its 100% American oak elevage, the 2017 Grange backs up cedar and vanilla notes with ample blackberry and cassis fruit. Full bodied, ripe and decadently creamy, it’s loaded with substance, concentration and rich, but, in the context of Grange, a relatively light and elegant finish. Only the seventh ever Grange to be exclusively Shiraz, it originates from Barossa Valley (86%) and McLaren Vale (14%); Shiraz from other growing regions in South Australia failed to make the grade this year.”
Rating 96/100 Joe Czerwinski
Drinking date from 2023 to 2040