2013 Grange

Six decades after the release of OUR favourite Grange, the 60 year-old 1953 Grange, this 2013 flexes, prances, twitches… Pressure is on!

What's the measure of this four and a half year old?

2013 – Undoubtedly will soon be universally proclaimed to be a classic 'Penfolds vintage' … and indeed over time certified a classic 'Grange vintage'!

Not unlike the 2008 Grange – á la style/weight/disposition/cellarability.

Peter Gago, Penfolds chief winemaker

100/100

Remember that old Heinz Ketchup "anticipation" ad from the 1970s? The palate of this 2013 Grange does just that. It makes you wait with so much delicious promise being drip fed into the mouth at first – and then it bursts forth and delivers!

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. Oh, yes.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, www.robertparker.com

98/100

Anthony Rose, Decanter, www.decanter.com

97/100

Wine Spectator, www.winespectator.com