Penfolds Grange Shiraz 2022 750ml (ABV 14.5%)

Grape Variety - 97% Shiraz, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon

Vineyard Region - Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra

Maturation - 18 months in American oak hogsheads (100% new)

Nose - Awash with blackness. Nuanced? Not really, a rapid re-emission of waves of… everything! Sumpy and sooty. Transient flashes akin to that of a blacksmith’s anvil or a cobbler’s boot polish? Relocating to the kitchen, black pudding and marrow immediately come to mind. Ditto, pan scrapings, and a suggestion of bay leaf in stew (à la Osso Bucco). Certainly easier to ID – spires of black cherry, dark chocolate and Chinotto. Prancing above – Grange trademark V.A. and the formics/ferrics (haemoglobin). Oak? Conceded. Just. 100% new? Old school. Proudly.

Palate - Respectfully, yet immediately and undeniably saturated/slurpy/sumptuous. Rich and lush with volume and density, energy and drive. Tightly woven, defined and yet intense, generous. A re-emergence of descriptors earlier sensed aromatically – black cherry, dark chocolate and Chinotto, and also add – walnut and Dubbin boot polish. The palate fans/extends outwards… a veritable lava flow of tannins impinges on all in its path. These tannins are buffed/resolved/polished. Lingers – in no hurry to exit - memories at stake! Reminiscent of which recent Grange vintage? Arguably may have to go back to the 1998.

Type: Red Wine
Winery: Penfolds