2017 Penfolds Grange

Other Reviews....
Strongly marked—as always—by its 100% American oak elevage, the 2017 Grange backs up the cedar and vanilla notes with ample blackberry and cassis fruit. Full-bodied, ripe and almost decadently creamy in the mouth, it's loaded with substance, concentrated and rich, yet—in the context of Grange—relatively light and elegant-seeming on the 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.
96 points
Tyson Stelzer – Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate

Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale fruit. Matured 18 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads. The inky density and impenetrable presence that proclaim Grange are irrefutable, even in the cooler 2017 season, in which sourcing has been pulled back to the strongholds of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. It’s all here: black fruits of every kind, licorice, dark chocolate, coffee bean, coal dust, even a suggestion of fruit-mince spice. A wall of Grange tannins hold back its immense force, as finely engineered as ever. The finish holds motionless for minutes, with a stature and presence possessed only by Grange, yet at every moment upholding statuesque poise, integrity, even tang in this cooler season.
97 points
James Halliday's Wine Companion

This starts with a deeply spicy and brooding nose that packs plenty of (100% new) American oak, some smoked vanilla and ripe dark plums and berries. The palate has a youthful, astringent feel with sinewy oak tannin and deep plum and dark-berry flavors, carrying a big frame of fruit extract. Big, round berries strive towards boldness. A blend of Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. 100% shiraz. Drink over the next two decades.
96 points
James Suckling

Opaque, bright-rimmed ruby. Highly pungent, smoke- and mineral-accented aromas of cherry pit, violet candy, cured tobacco, savory herbs, coconut and exotic spices on the kaleidoscopic nose. Shows superb clarity and spicy lift to its spice-laced bitter cherry, cassis, blueberry and floral pastille flavors, which take on black cardamom, menthol and cola nuances as the wine slowly stretches out. Shows superb delineation and spicy thrust on the youthfully tannic finish, which features resonating cherry, blue fruit and floral notes. Drink 2028-2046.
97 points

Josh Raynolds - Vinous

Memorable, complex, aromatic and explosively deep, with a mix of palo santo, dark chocolate, black olive, espresso and hazelnut butter. The pure fruit at the core is a mix of ripe huckleberry, boysenberry and wild blackberry, with dense but polished tannins. Savory notes of dried rosemary and sage, cigar box, dried apricot and sandalwood linger on the epic finish. Drink now through 2045. 289 cases imported.
98 points
MaryAnn Worobiec - Wine Spectator

It’s now 70 years since the first vintage of Penfolds Grange was made. This 2017 release was grown in the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale regions (only), and for only the seventh time in its history it’s 100% shiraz (the other 100% shiraz vintages being 1951, 1952, 1963, 1999, 2000 and 2011). As is custom, it spent 18 months in 100% new American oak. For reviews of every Penfolds Grange ever made, click here.
Cuddly doesn’t quite conjure the command of Grange but it was the first word to spring to mind. It was only later that I realised that it’s 100% shiraz. It feels it. It’s a grand display of this most come-hither of varieties. Big fruit, big texture, big arms of tannin and soaring length. It tastes like ants squashed in a rolling wave of super-saturated plum, roasted vanilla riding the wave, soy and rust slipped within. It’s as complete an Australian shiraz as you ever will taste.
96 points
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front