Penfolds Grange 2004

Professional Ratings

• 99 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The 2004 vintage was outstanding in Barossa, McLaren Vale, and Magill, the regions where the grapes were sourced for the marvelous 2004 Grange. It contains 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and was aged for 16 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads. A glass-coating opaque purple color, it displays a superb nose of wood smoke, Asian spices, incense, game, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. Medium to full-bodied, satin textured, with deeply layered, succulent blackberry, plum, and chocolate flavors, it has the structure and complexity to merit extended cellaring of a decade and more. The winery estimates a drinking curve of 2016 to 2050; I'd be a bit more conservative on the long end of the range. It will ultimately be seen as one of the great vintages of Grange.
• 98 Wine Spectator
  Smooth and seductive, this delivers a full-throated chorus of currant, plum, blackberry and spice flavors, hinting at coffee and cardamom as the finish floats and sails easily over a bed of polished, refined tannins. A touch of black olive balances nicely against it all. Beautifully structured, expressive and very long.
• 97 James Suckling
  A solid wine, with blueberries, spice and blackberries. Some new leather. Full, dense and muscular. This is very well-toned and compacted. Very, very long. Gorgeous finesse and powerful. It's not about raw power here. Needs another five or six years of bottle age. Fabulous young Grange.
• 97 Decanter
  It may only have 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, but the bouquet is defined by the heady waft of its fresh, leafy exuberance. The palate still shows a lively riot of blackberry and mulberry wrestling with liquorice and wild sage, but it glides on a carpet of silk, despite the sustained concentrated power of the fruit. Poise and purpose unite to ensure an impossibly long sustained final note.
• 96 Wine Enthusiast
  A throwback to the monster Shiraz style of old, with loads of toasty, vanilla-laden oak, meaty nuances and driving, intense boysenberry fruit, the 2004 Grange should prove tremendously long-lived. Its massive concentrations and firm tannins suggest cellaring through 2020, after which it should drink well for at least another decade or two.
• 96 Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
  COMMENTARY: The 2004 Penfolds Grange is concentrated yet stylish, with an outstanding balance on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas of black fruit, oak, and a hint of licorice. Pair it with roast game birds. (Tasted: April 24, 2013, San Francisco, CA)
• 93 Wine & Spirits