Penfolds Grange 2018 Gift Box 750mL

Tasting Notes

COLOUR Radiant deep red, on rim, black core NOSE Maybe it’s freshness, brashness but it’s so … well, it’s so definitively Grange-y ! Instantly, an assault of piercing V.A. (seemingly quite masterfully dialled-up!), a portal of pulsating formics … tempered by relaxed barrel-ferment notes. Conveying what is then revealed via waves of lingering and layered aromatics: • First the fruit - ripe blackberries/blackcurrant reduction, laced with spices – notably fennel and anise. • Then a sprinkle of dark chocolate, cocoa-powder … and cola. • Without prying, unabashed scents akin to charcoaled lamb fat, and raw wagyu carpaccio (amid caper berries) arise to authenticate shiraz DNA. • A modicum of modesty, attempting to conceal all beneath a blackened veil of hydrocarbon shoe-polish/sootiness/coal dust and slate. • Conceded, the presence of an ever-so-subtle yet complexing higher-tone mahogany/piano-polish/ lacquer – no doubt derived from the earth, not oak. • A trepidant tension unfolds – youthful fruitiness wrestling an inky and dense powerhouse. PALATE Balance and shape … classy and poised, YET Grange. Familial flavours of a deconstructed Black Forest Cake/trifle – chocolate, custard, bright wild raspberry; redcurrant. So many other less-obvious flavour ‘distractions’ - mushroom pâté/duxelles, replete with a beefy accompaniment. Notes of sarsaparilla whirled into the mix. Also, an assortment of fresh red and black liquorice – ‘straight out of the bag’. A tactile overdose - omnipresent and even tannins. Mouthcoating - a confluence of tannin/acidity/oak/fruit – all joyously meshed together. A convex mid-palate (dare it be said, ‘a strong core’!) that generously supports upfront palate grip and a continuum of delight all the way to lengthy, lingering finish. Truly ‘alive’, Upon sitting and with air, all transforms. A second revised tasting-note, however, can definitely wait. There will be ample opportunity over the next half-century!