Penfolds Grange 2018

Lisa Perrotti-Brown 100-points for The Wine Independent: "Composed of 97% Shiraz with a 3% splash of Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Grange was sourced from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and Clare Valley. It was aged for 18 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads (slightly larger than the classic Bordeaux barriques). It sports an opaque purple-black color, while the nose begins as an impenetrable wall of blueberry pie and blackberry preserves. Patience and vigorous swirling eventually unlock an underlying perfume of Indian spices, cedar chest, sassafras, fragrant soil, and cracked black peppercorns, with slowly emerging wafts of licorice, charcuterie, and rose oil. The...