Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz 2012

Penfold's Grange is Australia's most revered wine, and its creation represents a distillation of Max Schubert's ambition for Australian wine. Schubert joined Penfolds as a messenger boy in 1931 and by 1948, he became Penfolds' first Chief Winemaker. In the latter part of 1950, Schubert was sent to Europe to investigate winemaking practices in Spain and Portugal. On a side trip to Bordeaux, Schubert was inspired and impressed by the French cellared-style wines and dreamed of making 'something different and lasting' of his own. Combining traditional Australian techniques, inspiration from Europe and precision winemaking practices developed at Penfolds, Schubert made his first experimental wine in 1951. In 1957, Schubert was asked to show his efforts in Sydney to top management, invited wine identities and personal friends of the board. To his horror, the Grange experiment was universally disliked and Schubert was ordered to shut down the project. Max continued to craft his Grange vintages in secret, hiding three vintages '57, '58 and '59, in the depths of the cellars. Eventually, the Penfolds board ordered production of Grange to restart, just in time for the 1960 vintage. From then on, international acknowledgment and awards were bestowed on Grange, including the 1990 vintage of Grange, which was named Wine Spectator's Red Wine of the Year in 1995. Today, Grange's reputation as one of the world's most celebrated wines continues to grow. On its 50th birthday in 2001, Grange was listed as a South Australian heritage icon, while the 2008 Grange vintage achieved a perfect score of 100 points by two of the world's most influential wine magazines. With every new generation of Penfolds winemakers, Max Schubert's remarkable vision is nurtured and strengthened.

The Penfolds Bin 95 Grange Shiraz 2012 is a wine that truly embodies the reputation of Australia's most famous wine. With its deep color, this wine offers intense paneforte, dark chocolate and dark blackberry aromas, with lifted roasted chestnut, mocha, English-toffee aromas and notes of sweet tobacco, dried roses, shellac and frankincense. The wine is superbly concentrated, with wonderful presence, structure and density. It is plush in scale yet possessing lovely energy and structure, making it a truly transcendent and powerfully expressive Grange that harks back to Max Schubert's original blueprint. This wine is dense, expansive, rich and voluminous, with all elements in perfect symmetry. Its aromatic complexity, generosity and suppleness are reminiscent of the early 1960s, making it a wine that has to be in the pantheon of all-time great vintages. Unbelievably good to drink now, this wine is a great indication of its lasting quality, but it is recommended to leave it for a minimum of ten years if possible. This wine has a drinking window of 2026-2080.