Penfolds Grange 2015 (RP98) (Gift Box)

Country:             Australia
Region:               Barossa Valley Rating:                RP98, WS97, WE97, JS100
Grape Variety:  98% Shiraz, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon
Type of Wine:    Red Wine
Bottle Size:        750ml

By Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 98
The nose of the 2015 Grange features the wine's characteristic lifted aromas, joined by pronounced American oak influence and bold blackberry fruit, plus hints of red meat, raspberries, asphalt and vanilla. It's dense and concentrated on the palate, full-bodied yet balanced and firm, with a rich, velvety texture and long, plush finish. Don't expect great complexity at this stage—it's much too young to show much more than the primary fruit and oak elements—but this is a Grange that should easily go three or four decades.

Wine Spectator 97
Distinctive and powerful, yet still elegant, showing restraint despite the dense and generous flavors. Precise notes of dark chocolate, maraschino cherry, mahogany and toasted coconut complement the core of wild blackberry and blueberry fruit. The tannins are smooth and polished, delivering some tug on the finish, which persists as subtle hints of dried lavender and white pepper linger. Drink now through 2040.

Wine Enthusiast 97
This vintage of the famed wine is perhaps its most approachable to date. The nose is open and expressive, with waves of aromas ranging from licorice, currant and plum to baking spice, furniture polish, freshly picked olive, mushroom and vanilla. The mouthfeel is satiny in texture, awash with fruit and spices of all shapes and sizes, all wound by fine tannins. Drink through 2040.

James Suckling 100
Much anticipated vintage for Grange and it is a powerhouse of concentration and complexity. Aromas of orange and lemon peel to start, then graphite, blackberries, plum paste, black cherries, boundless sweet oak spice, fresh cedar, tar, mahogany, roasted coffee and chocolate - the list goes on. Such complexity. Classic Grange, offering such deep, dark intensity. The palate has immense richness and depth with a super succulent and very long, fleshy, deeply weighted array of dense, velvet-wrapped tannins that run so long. The fruit flavors sit in the blackberry, blood-plum and blueberry zone with succulent, long and assertive structure, carrying through in an utterly seamless mode. The finish is tightly wrenched, in spectacularly powerful style, locking this wine in for a very long haul. Best from 2030.