Penfolds - Grange - 1998

The temptation must have been to create a monster and while there’s plenty of weighty, black, aniseedy fruit here, the salaciousness is entirely less aggressive than you’d expect. In short, it’s curvaceous but considered; it’s full of saturated, plummy fruit that somehow has proven almost totally porous to the best-of-the-best new American oak. At this early stage complexity is no great issue and yet there’s an array of fruit flavours already showing: bright, crushed cranberry, dense blackberry, licorice, raisins, woodspice and a hiss of blueberry, with a spit-and-polish of sweet smoky milk chocolate flavour. It’s like a bigger version of the 1998 St Henri, with oak a lot less prominent than you’d expect. 97 Points/Drink 2012-2026 - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front A wine that flirts with perfection, and should rival the 1986 as one of the legendary Granges produced, the 1998 has one of the highest alcohol contents (nearly 15%) as well as one of the highest percentages of Shiraz in the blend (97%). Its stunning purple color is accompanied by exceptionally sweet aromas of blackberry liqueur intermixed with barbecue spices, an endearing, smoky earthiness, pepper, roasted meats, and coffee. Huge, massive, unctuously textured, and extraordinarily youthful, this impressive wine is a candidate for perfection. It should continue to evolve over the next three decades. 98+ Points/Drink 2009-2039 - Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate