Professional Ratings

• 100 James Suckling
  2018: A robust Grange from a lauded vintage, this wields sheer power with such compelling prowess. Uncompromising Grange. There are rich blackberries and plums on offer, together with brazen oak and abundant notes of blackcurrants, black cherries, charcoal, cola and hard brown spices. So fleshy and intense. Dark-chocolate and cocoa-powder aromas and flavors here, too. The tannins are polished and long, extruding deep into the finish and holding endlessly. Dark chocolate, black cherry, dark plum and more. Impressive. Brazen. One of the great Granges that will drink magnificently for decades to come.
• 100 Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
  2018: COMMENTARY: Bin 95, one of the world's most iconic wines, always has a waiting audience for the upcoming vintage. The 2018 Bin 95 is out of this world. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with persistent aromas and flavors of black fruit, licorice, red fruit, oaky notes, and more. This young wine requires time in the cellar before showing its charms. (Tasted: July 21, 2022, Rutherford, CA)
• 99 Decanter
  2021: Confession: Grange has never been my favourite of the Penfolds portfolio (I am a St Henri girl) but I’ve been converted. And if ever a vintage were to turn me, 2021 was always going to be the one, heralded by many in South Australia as a ‘vintage of a lifetime’. Sourced from sites across the Barossa Valley (66%), McLaren Vale (26%) and Clare Valley (8%), it is a blend of 94% Shiraz and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, which spends 18 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads, and has already integrated seamlessly into the opulent fruit. My initial impressions, hurriedly typed, start with a string of descriptors that detail just how seductive it is already: “Wow! Exotic, inky, generous, silky, ripe, velvety. Immense. Incredible. The whole package!” (My colleague Georgie Hindle wrote: “Classy and so sophisticated. Like looking at a gorgeous man in a tuxedo.”) The trademark Grange volatile acidity presents itself as macerated balsamic strawberries, tapenade and tarmac, joining mouthfilling silky tannins and sumptuous aromas and flavours of boysenberry, root beer, mocha, salted liquorice and crème caramel. If you can ignore its siren call from the cellar, it easily has three to five decades of life ahead.
• 99 Australian Wine Companion
  2021: We've been waiting patiently for the Grange release from the stellar '21 vintage and it certainly lives up to the hype. An impenetrable magenta/crimson in the glass, with the telltale aromatic clout and the light V.A. lift of an embryonic Grange clearly evident as you place your nose in the glass. There's an incredible depth of fruit here. Deep blackberry, blackcurrant and plum compote with hints of graphite, coal dust, violets, wood spice, olive tapenade, oak, black forest cake, pan juices, panforte, Dutch licorice and earth. The tannins – strong yet powdery – provide ample structure to the wine as it finishes long and deep, resonating perfectly. There is no doubt that this will be considered one of the great Grange releases.
• 99 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  2018: This wine comes with high expectations—as does the vintage. The 2018 vintage across South Australia (and cheekily, we could probably extend the accolade to all of Australia) was excellent. It was warm, but without incident, and responsible for powerfully ripe, serious wines. Many producers made some of their best wines in this vintage. So here, to the 2018 Grange: there is spiced raspberry, lashings of salted licorice, red curry paste, layers of forest berries, rendered lamb fat and crushed pink peppercorns to start. In the mouth, the tannins close around the fruit with the same polish and seamlessness as the 2008, possibly the 2004? Very different vintages, but there is a textural similarity for me. This is polished and glossy and so very pretty. It contains 3% Cabernet Sauvignon this year, and 69% Barossa, 18% McLaren Vale and the balance from Clare Valley. Each of the regions brings with it its own characteristics. Barossa brings the red dirt, blood, deli meat and rust. McLaren Vale brings the plush purple fruits with a side of meat and licorice. Clare brings the polish, the opulence and the velvet texture. With their powers combined, this is an extraordinary Grange. One of the true greats, which will only get better as it ages.
• 98 Australian Wine Companion
  2020: A blend of 97/3% shiraz/cabernet sauvignon; matured for 20 months in 100% new American oak. As Peter Gago says, "Penfolds' 180th anniversary year, following a series of stellar Grange vintages in 2002, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 ... No pressure." He needn't have worried. The 2020 release is stunning. Its heady concentration and initial rush of formic herald its arrival. There's a singularity of aroma and flavor in strong Grange releases and that is certainly the case here. Deep-set blackberry, black plum and black cherry fruits of great intensity. Hints of brandied fruits, black forest cake, dark chocolate, licorice, graphite, roasting meats, fruitcake spice, sandalwood, oak spice and turned earth. Densely packed and strong of character with a cascade of fine tannin and plenty of muscular swagger as the wine slowly tapers off with a vapor trail of black fruits, baking spices and earth. A great Grange release.
• 98 James Suckling
  2021: Wow. What a release of this famed Australian wine, made from 94% shiraz and 6% cabernet sauvignon. Aromas of blackcurrants, cured meat, cedar, iodine, blackberry compote and lilacs. The palate is full-bodied with seamlessly integrated tannins and a powerful yet silken mouthfeel that persists in a long-lasting finish. You can taste the prestige and history, tied in with the expression of the warm 2021 vintage. As always, a wine for aging but drinking well now. Drink or hold.
• 98 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  2021: 2021 was a magnificent season in South Australia, one blessed with good yields (a change from the previous several years of low yields and drought conditions), healthy rainfall leading into the season and dry, mild conditions during ripening. Vignerons could not have hoped for better conditions. So here, the 2021 Grange is powerful, ripe, structural yet balanced, long and complex. There is a softness to the middle palate, which speaks to the mildness of the conditions, potentially positioning this as one of the best modern-era Granges. The fruit (94% Shiraz, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon) was sourced from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley. For critics of this style, my only wish to assist with clarification could be teleportation, together, into a future 30 or 40 years from now. We would drink this wine, where it would still appear fresh and yet would have settled into its finesse and grace as well. It matured for 18 months in American oak, 100% new.
• 98 Vinous
  2018: The 2018 Grange Bin 95 is an ultra-premium blend of Shiraz and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. It will go down as one of the great Grange vintages with immaculate balance and poise despite immense concentration. The sheer density of fruit is breath-taking, with exceptional vitality also on display. There is a dense, muscular core of fruit including blackberries, licorice, tar and dried sage in perfect alignment with decadent but well integrated American oak. Despite superb palate concentration, it is also surprisingly light on its feet and vibrant with wave after wave of brooding dark berry fruit and soy sauce flavors. A deep well of tannins also support an almost endless and distinguished finish. This will age incredibly well and improve for decades.
• 98 Wine Enthusiast
  2018: The latest release, from the warm '18 vintage, of Penfolds's most iconic wine delivers on all it promises. Even sans decanting, it promptly fills the nose with a multitude of aromas, from black cherry and lightly grilled plums to dark chocolate and cracked black pepper; from roasting herbs and spices (think bay leaf, rosemary, thyme and dried mint), to a polished glean of well-integrated oak. The palate is powerful, in a dignified way, with a sculpted shape, fine, chalky tannins and persistent flavor. Decades of age await, but if well decanted and well paired, it's drinking remarkably beautifully now.
• 98 Wine Spectator
  2018: A remarkable wine, bursting with complexity and intensity but on a polished, mouthcoating and juicy frame, which makes this easy to enjoy now. Features chicory, sarsaparilla, dark chocolate and salted caramel notes that mingle with ripe black cherry, framboise and huckleberry flavors, backed by hints of almond paste and savory details of cured meat and fresh-crushed rosemary that linger on the epic finish. Drink now through 2045.
• 98 Wine Spectator
  2019: This is an epic wine that doesn’t quit, opening up with ripe, fleshy flavors of black cherry, maraschino cherry and framboise. But the fruit notes are only the beginning, giving way to date-nut bread, salted bittersweet chocolate, marzipan, dried olive, green peppercorn, French-press coffee and cardamom. The tannins are filling in the mouth, but never get in the way of all the complexity, while the finish just goes on and on. Drink now through 2047.
• 98 Wine Spectator
  2021: Powerful yet silky and elegant, this wine offers so much to admire. Intense notes of both black and buttery green olive, tobacco leaf, cardamom syrup, blackberry, huckleberry, cassis and morello cherries in syrup lie at the core. Additional details of chocolate-covered espresso bean, cast iron and dried violet linger on the long, expressive finish alongside palo santo and sandalwood hints and a whiff of peppermint. Drink now through 2045.
• 97 Decanter
  2019: A strong heady nose, really full on and impactful, almost verging on too much. Rich and ripe, layered and dense, a full mouthful straight away with such bright acidity this is soaring out of the glass. Amazingly well built, far too young of course, but there's structure, intensity, spice, liquorice, blackcurrants and brightness on show. Gorgeously sculpted, muscular yet suave, dark but lifted, clean but textured. Ends fresh. A great wine.
• 97 Australian Wine Companion
  2019: 97/3% shiraz/cabernet sauvignon; matured in new American oak for 19 months. A quieter release for the 2019 rendition of Penfolds' world-famous icon. A little less of the formic and VA heft of youth in this showing and a bit more approachable as a result. Deep crimson in the glass with familiar characters of deep black berry fruits, plum compote and black cherry underscored with hints of baking spices, Calvados, espresso grounds, black olive tapenade, roasting meats, creamy oak, purple flowers and earth. Weighty and concentrated with classic Grange density of fruit and tannin; persistent, texturally flexing and long of finish. As per usual will cellar like a dream, but I think it will hit its drinking window a bit earlier than usual.
• 97 James Suckling
  2020: Blackberry, blueberry, graphite and terra cotta aromas. Medium-bodied with clarity, focus and very fine tannins that are polished and caressing. One of the most refined and textural Granges I have had in a long time. The tannins are very resolved. This is mostly Barossa and McLaren Vale with some Claire Valley. 3% cabernet sauvignon. Very drinkable now, but will age beautifully.
• 97 Vinous
  2021: The 2021 Shiraz Cabernet Grange is fabulous and already in the groove. It has the raw power and structure to sail for decades. Waves of licorice, chocolate, cocoa, blackberry and belt leather are surprisingly approachable and expressive. The palate is a different beast entirely, with piles of powdery tannins holding this package tight and unevolved. A nice touch of acidity freshens up the long, strong finish.
• 97 Wine Enthusiast
  2020: The 2020 vintage—harvested at the start of a global pandemic—was a difficult one. But the quality of Australia's most collected wine hasn't slipped. Tightly wound, it's restrained, classic, comfy in its own skin without having to shout. Plump plum, cedar, ground pepper, vanilla and the charred pan scrapings of a roast: it's all there. It's a powerful wine, thanks to a mouth-full of hefty tannins, but they're well-integrated, setting this up for a very long life ahead.
  Cellar Selection
• 97 Wine Enthusiast
  2019: Arguably Australia's most famous wine, the 2019 vintage of Grange, a multi-regional blend from top vineyards around South Australia, is a dense yet aromatic bottling that unpeels over time in a glass or decanter. Raspberry and blackberry compote, cedar, licorice and winter warming spice are on deck, with seaweed-like umami nuances and a good lick of mocha-like oak. The palate is plush and plump like a favorite armchair, but framed in powerful, beautifully integrated tannins, with enough stuffing to last the ages. It should cellar beautifully until 2050, at least.
  Cellar Selection
• 96 James Suckling
  2019: Dark, dank and immaculate. The oak handling and tannic precision boast ample class. Beneath lurks a latent, molten beauty that will unravel eventually. I like this Grange. I feel that the decadent style, molten and fleshy, is well suited to the drought vintage and its thick grape skin tannic scour. Mercifully, the tannins are pliant and despite it all, plenty juicy. Firework aromas of raspberry liqueur, camphor and gunpowder, with a smear of black olive, licorella and hung meat wafting across the long finish. Best from 2030.
• 96 Vinous
  2019: The bold, expansive 2019 Grange (97% Shiraz, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon) spent 19 months in larger new American Oak and is powerful and expressive as it delivers a dense core of coca, blackberry and baked terracotta aromas, all well backed by toasted coconut oak. Mouth-filing, expansive and seriously tannic, it then delivers waves of dark berry flavor laced with touches of spice, leading to a rich, muscular finish. It’s built for the long haul, so don’t even think of opening for at least a decade.
• 96 Wine Spectator
  2020: This is dense, dark and brooding up front, showcasing gravel and hot cast iron flavors that show a hint of wintergreen. The second sip is much more revealing, with generous flavors of morello cherry, blackberry preserves, cassis and chocolate truffle cake, along with spice, pepper and earth notes that are complex, deep and long. The dense tannins have a firmness that suggests a long life in the cellar, as does the crescendo of complexity on the finish. Drink now through 2044.
• 95 Decanter
  2018: Such open-hearted approachability has never been so pronounced in Grange. The even-footed balance comes from a smooth, silky palate that glides on a sleek acid line to complement rather than override the robust flavours. There’s spice, aniseed and sage lifting above blackberry, redcurrant and earthy forest floor notes, all integrated effortlessly through a lengthy profile. No longer trying to be the loudest or most pious Shiraz in the market, this vintage is surprisingly well behaved.
• 95 Australian Wine Companion
  2018: Fruit from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley. It's strange that the Clare Valley, seldom mentioned in the roster of regional contributions, no matter how numerous, comes up as one of three here. Although I have to admit there's a parcel of beautiful Clare Valley shiraz that frequently finds its way into the blend. It's unclear whether Penfolds' assessment of 'Instantly, an assault of piercing VA [volatile acidity]' is in reference to a passing phase or to the deliberate retention of VA, but it's part of Grange. For me, persistent black shoe polish marks the bouquet of this wine. To one side, it's all about unbridled power, and it'll be at least another 8 years before it calms down. There's so much screaming for attention it's distracting, and senses of proportion are lost.
• 95 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  2020: The 2020 Grange comprises 97% Shiraz and the balance Cabernet Sauvignon from McLaren Vale (48%), Barossa Valley (40%) and Clare Valley (12%), and it matured for 20 months in American oak hogsheads, 100% new. While the metric of regions changes each season and the proportion of Shiraz changes slightly, the élevage and style remain the same. Aromatically, the wine is black and savory, with crushed ant, black peppercorn, blueberry, blackberry and licorice/aniseed. In the mouth, the wine feels lighter than some other vintages on release. There is something like clarity and perhaps a little hole in the mid-palate—it sits like clarity or less density and also features as breathing space. A nice wine, it is lighter than the preceding 2019. Both vintages had their challenges, but this 2020 season has yielded an "easier" feeling wine.
• 95 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  2019: The 2019 Grange is 97% Shiraz and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. It's the pinnacle of the Penfolds release (although if you ask me, the Chardonnays are my favorite part) and a wine that takes some understanding prior to scoring. The key to Grange is the old wines; it is a style of wine heavily fortified with oak (100% new, AP Johns American oak), tannin, fruit (multi-regional) and everything else. In the mouth it can be an almost impossible constellation of flavor and texture to wrap the mind around. But in time, yes, in time, this wine shows its capacity for grace and majesty. Ten years is too young to open a bottle. 20 years is about right. 30 and beyond, not a problem. It is a cellaring proposition of the highest order, but in youth it can feel impenetrable. So, this wine in front of me now has toasted coconut, dusted licorice, roasted meat, violets, burnt toffee, pastrami, coffee grounds, crushed ants/formic, roasted pecans ... all of these dark and broody (and chunky) things. 2019 was a hot year and one marred by low yields due to some inclement weather during flowering. This has meant that, as a whole, the wines have felt big, dark and compressed. This is no exception. It's a product of the year and the state from whence it has come and in the mold and style of Grange, typical. It will be even better. For now, ne touche pas.
  Rating: 95+
• 95 Vinous
  2018: This dense and brooding 2020 Shiraz Grange has all the elements for a long life with impressive levels of extract and tannins, but lacking the delicacy of a great vintage. It opens up with waves of tarry, licorice and cola aromas against a backdrop of firm, unyielding oak. Muscular, chalky tannins provide a strong frame to waves of blackberry flavor which build toward a drying finish. A couple more years in the cellar will bring all the pieces together before a two-decade drinking window.
• 95 Wine & Spirits
  2019: The hot, dry 2019 season in McLaren Vale and Barossa infused this Grange with warm black-fruit density—dark plum and blackberry intensely concentrated, overlying the sweet and equally dark presence of oak. This is a sumptuous wine, packed with savory materia prima, waiting to evolve. The details are hidden, though you can feel the luxury in it, like an Australian wagyu tomahawk steak. If you hold onto this vintage long enough—ten years, if not 20—you may well find your hunger sated on a completely different level.
• 94 Decanter
  2020: The celebrated reputation of Grange places every new release under intense scrutiny, and this passes muster as sturdy and convincing, but without the stellar fireworks of 2019 or the instantaneous drink-now temptation of many from the past decade. Coming from the low-yielding 2020 vintage, a broad net was cast across McLaren Vale, Barossa and Clare to find the right mix of fruit parcels showing both concentration and complexity. With the modest addition of 3% Cabernet Sauvignon (noting that Penfolds did not release its elite Bin 707 and Bin 129 Cabernets from the 2020 vintage), this pulls tight focus on Shiraz’s primary allure – blackberry and black plum rinsed in rich mocha and dark chocolate, piqued by a dusting of cinnamon, pepper and vanilla. This is made to be cellared, and will tell a more exuberant story in another decade.