1994 Grange

Sourced from the Barossa Valley, Coonawarra and McLaren Vale. The Barossa Valley experienced a drier than average growing season with rainfall at 83 percent of the 10 year mean, reducing yield in a virtually disease-free season. Ripening was slow.

McLaren Vale had good rainfall and mild temperatures and Coonawarra had a warm, very dry autumn followed by a cool and sometimes wet summer.

John Duval, Penfolds chief winemaker

91/100

This is the first vintage where Grange went to a bottle with laser-etched identification numbers to preclude the possibility of fraudulent bottles.

The wine, a blend of 89% Shiraz and 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, shows some toasty oak mixed with notes of root vegetables, damp earth, blackberry liqueur, prune, and licorice. The wine is dense, full-bodied, not terribly complex in the mouth, but layered and rich.

I would not be surprised to see the rating on this wine improve as this youthful Grange continues to evolve. Anticipated maturity: 2004–2020.

Robert M. Parker Jr., www.erobertparker.com, February 2002

96/100

Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator, 31 January 1997

95/100

Jeremy Oliver, www.jeremyoliver.com