2003 Penfolds, Grange, South Australia 6x150cl

Robert Parker 92

Penfolds- iconic 2003 Grange is Shiraz blended with 3.5% Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra. It was aged for 15 months in 100% new American oak. Opaque purple-colored, it offers up aromas of cedar, cigar box, leather, Asian spices, and blueberry. On the palate it is layered but a bit short on depth and grip with only moderate length. It will evolve for 5-7 years and drink well from 2014 to 2030. This is a good but not great vintage of Grange making it vastly overpriced. Penfolds produces a bevy of excellent value-priced wines, many of which were reviewed in Issue 178. Importer: Southcorp Wines USA; www.penfolds.com.au [25/02/2009]

Anticipated maturity: 2014-2030

JancisRobinson.com 18.0

Dark crimson. Heady sweetness on the nose and then very cool on the palate – really tight and fairly tough at this stage. Dry finish. No sign of the obvious syrup and alcohol that usually characterises Grange for me at all! Very introvert at this stage. Presumably quite a deliberate attempt to counteract this vintage’s reputation for extreme heat and alcohol. I remember tasting young Grange in the late 1980s and the brilliant pink/purple would stain the inside of the glass the way that it does with young vintage port. Not so this wine. When I went back to it a second time the wine, admittedly in a pretty empty bottle (see notes on St Henri above) had opened out considerably to show a much more complex bouquet than any of the other wines here. Very, very well integrated oak, mellow notes of roast meat (oh no, sorry, that was the St Henri), wonderfully rich, flattering fruit caresses the front palate and then the tarry notes bite on the finish. There’s just the merest hint of heat on the finish. But again, Gago has made this beautifully. Maybe the tannins are a little drying on the finish, and the vintage’s reputation is unlikely to make this one of the saleroom classics, but it’s difficult to see how a better Grange could have been made in 2003. 160 [20/06/2008]

Anticipated maturity: 2016-2030