PenfoldsGrange 2015

Much anticipated vintage for Grange and it is a powerhouse of concentration and complexity. Aromas of orange and lemon peel to start, then graphite, blackberries, plum paste, black cherries, boundless sweet oak spice, fresh cedar, tar, mahogany, roasted coffee and chocolate - the list goes on. Such complexity. Classic Grange, offering such deep, dark intensity. The palate has immense richness and depth with a super succulent and very long, fleshy, deeply weighted array of dense, velvet-wrapped tannins that run so long. The fruit flavors sit in the blackberry, blood-plum and blueberry zone with succulent, long and assertive structure, carrying through in an utterly seamless mode. The finish is tightly wrenched, in spectacularly powerful style, locking this wine in for a very long haul. Best from 2030.

Jag kan och så gör, attackera detta vin från alla möjliga håll och kanter i varje årgång. Problemet är dock det att om jag fokuserar (vilket är lätt hänt) för mycket efter det som saknas i aktuell årgång jämfört med tidigare, söker efter brister, svaga punkter, blottorna, missar jag just det som är årgångens finess och abrovink. Med det sagt konstaterar jag utan tvekan att vi har ännu en stor årgång av detta ikonvin. I min gom större än föregående 2014. Eller låt mig uttrycka det så här: mer elegant. Jag förnimmas, och här kommer poängen med årgången, en mer stringent och rödare fruktsträng i det totalt sett mörka fruktspelet som ger tyngden, som sig bör. Det föreligger en underfundig förfining i årgången där blodgrape färgade, blommiga eukalyptusvindar blåser lätt i det smått erotiska mörka utspelet av körsbär, vinbär, lakrits, fudge, kaffebönor och tobak. Det ligger en syrlig, spänst i fruktens sötma som skapar en juicy fräschör i kraften som ger vinet en hallucination av lättsam tanninkraft i gomkänslan, men betvivla ej, musklerna finns där vilket vinets kraft och längd i avslut visar. Det är en utsökt och stilfull årgång, med lång livslängd!

The nose of the 2015 Grange features the wine´s characteristic lifted aromas, joined by pronounced American oak influence and bold blackberry fruit, plus hints of red meat, raspberries, asphalt and vanilla. It´s dense and concentrated on the palate, full-bodied yet balanced and firm, with a rich, velvety texture and long, plush finish. Don´t expect great complexity at this stage—it´s much too young to show much more than the primary fruit and oak elements—but this is a Grange that should easily go three or four decades.

Based on fruit from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Magill, and with 2% Cabernet seasoning to the Shiraz, the huge, brooding primary colour of youth is accompanied by the youthful primary black fruit, smokiness and sweet coconut and liquorice-spiced American oak (20 months in new hogsheads) that’s so typical of Grange. The richness and concentration of blackberry fruit opulence on the palate is inextricably bound up with a spice- and coconut-infused textural quality whose tannins, while big and bold, are surprisingly soft and sumptuous on the mid-palate. As the super-ripe blackberry and black cherry jam fruit subsides, the tannins kick in, along with a crispness ensuring that - in line with the Grange style generally - this heady wine will benefit from two decades of ageing.

Australia had a hard year battling persistent and traumatic wildfires, so it’s particularly grat-ifying to celebrate one of its natural, national treasures. With a taste of the Shiraz at Penfolds’ recorking clinic in Los Angeles last fall, it was love at first sip. Actually, at first scent. Heady with aromas of forest floor, coffee, black licorice and an unusual explosion of violets, the wine was transfixing. And it tastes even better than it smells. The vibrant dark-berry and subtle spice notes seduce, penetrating through layers of minerals and acid, and there’s impressive balance between the fruit and integrated, supple tannins. While Shiraz grapes are the star (at 98 percent), winemaker Peter Gago adds a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon from one of Penfolds’ most precious plots, Block 42 of the Kalimna Vineyard, which nurtures what are thought to be the oldest continuously producing Cabernet vines in the world, planted in the 1880s. The 2015 harvest was warm and fast, resulting in beautiful fruit. Gago aged the wine for 20 months in new American oak hogshead barrels before bottling it for the cellars. The 2015 is delicious now—“At once lively and expressive, yet still not revealing all,” says Gago—but will be even more impressive in 10 years. It’s a shining example of Grange.