Region | |
---|---|
Subregion | Australia > South Australia |
Colour | Red |
Type | Still |
Rich, concentrated and intense, the 2014 Grange delivers exactly what we've come to expect from this Penfolds icon wine. It's full-bodied, velvety in feel and loaded with plummy fruit, framed in vanilla and cedar. Dense, powerful and tannic, it should prove to be long lived, even by Grange standards. Gago doesn't rate the vintage overall that highly, but he says the selection this year for Grange was a bit more stringent and that production levels were just average. There are still over 1,000 cases for the United States. Drink 2025-2050.
Fruit from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Wrattonbully, Coonawarra, Clare Valley, Magill Estate. 98% Shiraz, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. (2011 was the last vintage to be without Cabernet Sauvignon.) This is the first ever Grange to have Wrattonbully fruit – 8%. They’re celebrating. 20 months in new American oak hogsheads. Good winter rainfall. There were heat spikes through summer, with temperatures reaching 43 ºC on 2 February. By mid autumn the weather had settled down to generally cooler conditions, optimal for slow ripening. TA 6.7 g/l, pH 3.6.
Smoky barbecue notes. Great grip and intensity and drama. Round and very exciting. Throbs forever. Great top note of dried herbs. Sweetness isn’t the dominant character. Different! Peter Gago is very proud of how distinctive this is and says you can maybe compare it with 2004. Very vibrant. Drink 2020-2050.