x
  • Country ranking ?

    30
  • Producer ranking ?

    13
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Lamb

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

Grange is arguably Australia’s most celebrated wine and is officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. Grange boasts an unbroken line of vintages from the experimental 1951 and clearly demonstrates the synergy between Shiraz and the soils and climates of South Australia. Grange utilises fully-ripe, intensely-flavoured and textured Shiraz grapes. The result is a unique Australian style that is now recognised as one of the most consistent of the world’s great wines. The Grange style is the original and most powerful expression of Penfolds multi-vineyard, multi-district, blending philosophy.

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Vintage 2017

AUSTRALIA VINTAGE REPORT: The 2017 winegrape crush is estimated to be 1.93 million tonnes, based on responses received by the Wine Sector Survey 2017. This crush is 5 per cent higher than the 2016 final crush figure of 1.84 million tonnes (Department of Agriculture and Water Resources – Levies recorded figure). It is the third consecutive vintage where the tonnes crushed have increased.

Additional tonnes this year came relatively equally from the cool and temperate regions of Australia and the warm inland regions (Riverina, Murray Darling-Swan Hill and Riverland). However, the tonnes from the cool and temperate regions increased by 9 per cent compared to a 3 per cent increase in the warm inland regions.

Most regions recorded an increase in tonnes crushed including: Riverland, Riverina, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Clare Valley, Wrattonbully, Margaret River, King Valley, Eden Valley, Heathcote, Tasmania, Orange, Gundagai, Grampians, Hunter Valley, Hilltops, Alpine Valleys and Rutherglen.

 

Regions where the tonnes crushed declined in 2017 included Murray Darling-Swan Hill, Langhorne Creek, Padthaway, Adelaide Hills, Currency Creek, Goulburn Valley, Cowra, Swan District, Mount Benson, Robe and Mudgee.

The 2017 red variety crush is estimated to be 1,062,660 tonnes – an increase of 112,000 tonnes (up 12 per cent) compared with 2016. The white variety crush is estimated to be 866,970 tonnes, a decrease of 19,000 tonnes (down 2 per cent) compared with 2016. Red varieties increased their share of the crush to 55 per cent, compared with 52 per cent in 2016.

The top three red varieties by volume were Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, together accounting for 85 per cent of the total red crush. Shiraz accounted for 47 per cent of the red crush (up slightly from 2016) while the Cabernet Sauvignon share fell from 27 per cent to 26 per cent and Merlot remained at 12 per cent.

Among the whites, Chardonnay remains the dominant variety. However, its share fell from 47 per cent in 2016 to 42 per cent this year with the Chardonnay crush down 13 per cent.

 

2017 will also be a good year for Grenache. It’s a grape whose time has come, and has indeed been coming for a few years. It’s a warm-climate grape that does particularly well in regions such as McLaren Vale. Now that consumers have got over their strange obsession with dark colour and lots of structure in their red wines, Grenache is allowed to do what it does best: make elegant, perfumed, somewhat lighter-coloured reds that are the equivalent of the Pinot Noir of the warmer climates.

Pinot Noir is also going from strength to strength, and superb examples are coming from Tasmania, Mornington Peninsular, Macedon Ranges and cooler parts of the Yarra Valley. 2017 will be a good year for Pinot, and also for Australian wines’ cool climate regions generally.

Chardonnay is one grape where there has been a shift in style, and 2017 could see it become even more interesting. ‘As you’re well aware there’s been a trend for quite a few years for "size zero” Chardonnay, early picked, skinny and with a very strong sulphidy character,’ says Wildman. ‘The better examples of these wines have dominated at the wine shows and therefore have further driven the style (think Vasse Felix Heytesbury, Penfolds Bin A, Oakridge 864). ’However, this style of Chardonnay has come under criticism because it’s almost as if the foot has been made to fit the slipper, and they aren’t actually all that nice to drink. As a consequence, Wildman notes, there are now fewer wines in this skinny-sulphidy style being seen. ‘The pendulum seems to have swung back (rapidly) towards the middle ground, where the wines have some weight, texture and ripeness, are not afraid of some new oak, and the sulphides have been dialed back to just a whisper of struck match, making the wines not too skinny, not too fat, but "just right”.’ He reckons that as the 2016 wines hit the shelves next year this trend for more balanced wines will increase.

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Tasting note

color

Purple

ending

Long, Extensive and Flavorful

flavors

Blackcurrant, Pepper, Vanilla, Coffee, Toasty and Cedar

nose

Youthful, Complex, Seductive and Refined

taste

Perfectly balanced, Well-Integrated, Multi-dimensional, Youthful, Full-bodied, Rich, Toasty, Vivid and Silky tannins

Verdict

Excellent

Written Notes

Grange 2017 (AUD$950) is a fine Grange and more approachable than most. I didn’t have it up with the greatest Granges but it is a wonderful effort. It is only the seventh Grange ever to be 100 percent Shiraz in 70 years. 97.

  • 97p

70th anniversary year. 86% Barossa, 14% McLaren Vale. 100% Shiraz.
Delivers absolutely everything you want from Grange: the fruit is knee-weakeningly gorgeous, the oak fits in beautifully, and there's endless length that gives a thoughtful, engaging aftertaste.

  • 100p

Extra full-bodied, tannic, dark plum notes, blackcurrant notes, boysenberry notes, cherry notes, bourbon vanilla notes, rich oak notes, multi-dimensional, rich, full-bodied, long

  • 98p

Very deep, dark, dense colour with plenty of purple in the rim. The bouquet is classic Grange, loaded with toasty-smoky-oaky scents of smoked-meats and toasted barrels, dried herbs adding an extra fragrance, and hints of five-spice, especially star anise. It's very full-bodied and concentrated, powerful and long-lasting, but the tannins are beautifully crafted and supple, harmonious, and avoid any suggestion of astringency. The core of the wine is lusciously fruit-sweet and delicious, the robe of tannin complementary rather than domineering. The finish is tremendously long and satisfying. I can enjoy drinking this now: not usual with a new Grange release. A quite magnificent wine and a great Grange. (Barossa Valley & McLaren Vale. Only the 7th Grange to be 100% shiraz. 18 months in new American oak hogsheads)

  • 98p

Opaque, bright-rimmed ruby. Highly pungent, smoke- and mineral-accented aromas of cherry pit, violet candy, cured tobacco, savory herbs, coconut and exotic spices on the kaleidoscopic nose. Shows superb clarity and spicy lift to its spice-laced bitter cherry, cassis, blueberry and floral pastille flavors, which take on black cardamom, menthol and cola nuances as the wine slowly stretches out. Shows superb delineation and spicy thrust on the youthfully tannic finish, which features resonating cherry, blue fruit and floral notes.

  • 97p

Deep crimson. Unmistakably Grange with lifted dark cherry blackberry, quince, praline mocha aromas and aniseed notes. Generous and inky deep with abundant dense dark cherry, blackberry fruits, plentiful fine chocolaty/ velveteen textures, lovely mid-palate volume and integrated mocha vanilla malty oak. Finishes chocolaty firm, with plentiful fruit sweetness and mineral length. Surprisingly approachable with a richness and viscosity that envelops the tannins and acidity. But don’t drink it now. Wait for a good six or seven years at the very least. Seal; Cork, Drink 2028-2055+ 14.5% alc 96+ points
 
A solid Grange vintage reflecting superb vineyard sourcing, classification, and selection.  A collector’s vintage with the promise of greater things to come. 
 
100% Shiraz, Barossa Valley (including Kalimna Vineyard), McLaren Vale 
 
18 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads

  • 96p

100% shiraz this year – previously this occurred in 1951, 1952, 1963, 1999, 2000, 2011, 2017. Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale. 18 months in American oak hogsheads (100% new).

This 2021 release marks the 70th anniversary of Grange. Dense, dark, supple and quite beautiful this year. The oak is a major player, of course, but the bounty of red fruits on the palates sings in a louder voice than that of the dark, resinous and frankly charry baritone oak. It is hard not to make comparisons between this and a universe of stars… such is the kaleidoscopic thrust and pull of the galaxy of flavours on the palate. Forest berries, butcher’s meats, exotic market spices, peppercorns from the bush, all of it swirling within a midnight vortex of tannin and shape. Extraordinarily beautiful, perhaps more beguiling than the 2016 simply by virtue of its unexpected delicacy on the palate. I love this release. What a beauty.

97pts

  • 97p
Colour is purple. On the nose it is youthful, intense, seductive, refined and complex. The taste is toasty, perfumed,robust, rich, refined, with silky tannins, full-bodied, with multi-dimensional, perfectly balanced, well-structured, well-integrated structure and youthful. On the palate it is layered and has perfumed, blackcurrant, new-oak, pepper, toasty, coffee, vanilla and cedar flavours. The finish is long, vibrant, flavorful, spicy, lingering and extensive. This wine is excellent. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 10-15 years and decant at least over 4h before tasting.
- (Tasting note created by Tb's AI)
  • 97p
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Information

Origin

Magill, South Australia

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