A benchmark release from an outstanding South Australian vintage, the 2021 Grange combines power with remarkable polish. Sourced from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and Clare Valley (94% Shiraz, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon), it reveals layers of blackcurrant, plum, anise, and dark chocolate, framed by velvety tannins and seamless oak. Intense, structured, and built for decades, this is a commanding yet beautifully balanced Grange destined for long-term cellaring.

The Wine Advocate | RP 98
Published: Jul 24, 2025 
Drink : 2025-2061

2021 was a magnificent season in South Australia, one blessed with good yields (a change from the previous several years of low yields and drought conditions), healthy rainfall leading into the season and dry, mild conditions during ripening. Vignerons could not have hoped for better conditions. So here, the 2021 Grange is powerful, ripe, structural yet balanced, long and complex. There is a softness to the middle palate, which speaks to the mildness of the conditions, potentially positioning this as one of the best modern-era Granges. The fruit (94% Shiraz, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon) was sourced from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley. For critics of this style, my only wish to assist with clarification could be teleportation, together, into a future 30 or 40 years from now. We would drink this wine, where it would still appear fresh and yet would have settled into its finesse and grace as well. It matured for 18 months in American oak, 100% new. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.

James Suckling | JS 98
Published: Jul 16, 2025

Wow. What a release of this famed Australian wine, made from 94% shiraz and 6% cabernet sauvignon. Aromas of blackcurrants, cured meat, cedar, iodine, blackberry compote and lilacs. The palate is full-bodied with seamlessly integrated tannins and a powerful yet silken mouthfeel that persists in a long-lasting finish. You can taste the prestige and history, tied in with the expression of the warm 2021 vintage. As always, a wine for aging but drinking well now. Drink or hold.

Jancis Robinson | JR 18.5++
Published: Jun 23, 2025
Drink: 2030-2060

94% Shiraz, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. 66% Barossa Valley, 26% McLaren Vale, Clare Valley (they now own this vineyard). From a very well-regarded South Australian vintage – generally drier than average with a mild summer. Aged for 18 months in American oak hogsheads (100% new). TA 6.9 g/l, pH 3.73.
Black! Sweet and rich and polished. No heat! Just purple satin impressions in terms of texture. Very intense nose. Sweet and salt. Macerated purple berries with dry hickory sticks on the end. Long. Extremely youthful with a lot of ripe tannin on the end, even in a glass kept for several hours after the bottle was opened. This should eventually be very rewarding but it would be mad to open a bottle before 2030.

Penfolds.com

Gift your loved ones a symbol of strength, vitality, and generosity this Lunar New Year. Celebrate the Year of the Snake with an iconic Grange encased in a bespoke gift box.

The most powerful expression of Penfolds multi-vineyard, multi-district blending philosophy, Grange is arguably Australia’s most celebrated wine and is officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. Crafted utilising fully ripe, intensely flavoured and structured Shiraz grapes, the result is a unique Australian style that is now recognised as one of the most consistent of the world’s great wines. With an unbroken line of vintages from the experimental 1951, Grange clearly demonstrates the synergy between Shiraz and the soils and climates of South Australia.

No Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon released in 2020. No Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. Redeemingly, Grange will convincingly justify the dexterity of South Australian Shiraz in this 2020 vintage. Two decades into the new millennium. Penfolds 180th Anniversary year. Following stellar Grange vintages of 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018. No pressure. And, no Magill Estate Shiraz inclusion in this 2020 blend.  – Peter Gago, Penfolds Chief Winemaker

Colour: Dense and impenetrable – deep red to the rim

Nose: An instant proclamation of identity – formics and barrel-ferment notes propelling Shiraz spoils. Whilst these Shiraz markers highlight heady elutions of aniseed/liquorice/wintergreen/fennel, primal aromatics of squashed damson plum do prevail. And beneath, wafts of pan scrapings/pan juices support all that is entwined above. 100% new oak is all but totally absorbed, yet it does conspire to complex, weave and intrigue. In this aromatic tussle fruit remains the champion. Not unlike ‘Champagne character’, ‘Grange character’ aromatically “just is”. Immediately understood, immediately recognised.

Palate: The first sip seduces, the second reminds … Up front red fruits and maraschino cherry flavours quickly transition to the ‘Noir-ish’ – Black Forest cake, blackberry, black cherry, black … Sitting softens. A Christmas pudding mix of soaked fruits and rind offers a friendly hand. Similarly talc-like/velvety tannins are non-aggressive, politely acting as a conveyance. They almost appear coupled with cocoa/dark chocolate dust. Texturally woven, with all components well integrated and absorbed… inducing a sensory perception of roundness, of a lush film coated across the palate.