This is an epic wine that doesn’t quit, opening up with ripe, fleshy flavors of black cherry, maraschino cherry and framboise. But the fruit notes are only the beginning, giving way to date-nut bread, salted bittersweet chocolate, marzipan, dried olive, green peppercorn, French-press coffee and cardamom. The tannins are filling in the mouth, but never get in the way of all the complexity, while the finish just goes on and on. Drink now through 2047. 500 cases imported.

A strong heady nose, really full on and impactful, almost verging on too much. Rich and ripe, layered and dense, a full mouthful straight away with such bright acidity this is soaring out of the glass. Amazingly well built, far too young of course, but there's structure, intensity, spice, liquorice, blackcurrants and brightness on show. Gorgeously sculpted, muscular yet suave, dark but lifted, clean but textured. Ends fresh. A great wine. (Drink between 2026-2040)

97/3% shiraz/cabernet sauvignon; matured in new American oak for 19 months. A quieter release for the 2019 rendition of Penfolds' world-famous icon. A little less of the formic and VA heft of youth in this showing and a bit more approachable as a result. Deep crimson in the glass with familiar characters of deep black berry fruits, plum compote and black cherry underscored with hints of baking spices, Calvados, espresso grounds, black olive tapenade, roasting meats, creamy oak, purple flowers and earth. Weighty and concentrated with classic Grange density of fruit and tannin; persistent, texturally flexing and long of finish. As per usual will cellar like a dream, but I think it will hit its drinking window a bit earlier than usual.

Dark, dank and immaculate. The oak handling and tannic precision boast ample class. Beneath lurks a latent, molten beauty that will unravel eventually. I like this Grange. I feel that the decadent style, molten and fleshy, is well suited to the drought vintage and its thick grape skin tannic scour. Mercifully, the tannins are pliant and despite it all, plenty juicy. Firework aromas of raspberry liqueur, camphor and gunpowder, with a smear of black olive, licorella and hung meat wafting across the long finish. Best from 2030.

The bold, expansive 2019 Grange (97% Shiraz, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon) spent 19 months in larger new American Oak and is powerful and expressive as it delivers a dense core of coca, blackberry and baked terracotta aromas, all well backed by toasted coconut oak. Mouth-filing, expansive and seriously tannic, it then delivers waves of dark berry flavor laced with touches of spice, leading to a rich, muscular finish. It’s built for the long haul, so don’t even think of opening for at least a decade. - AH

95+ The 2019 Grange is 97% Shiraz and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. It's the pinnacle of the Penfolds release (although if you ask me, the Chardonnays are my favorite part) and a wine that takes some understanding prior to scoring. The key to Grange is the old wines; it is a style of wine heavily fortified with oak (100% new, AP Johns American oak), tannin, fruit (multi-regional) and everything else. In the mouth it can be an almost impossible constellation of flavor and texture to wrap the mind around. But in time, yes, in time, this wine shows its capacity for grace and majesty. Ten years is too young to open a bottle. 20 years is about right. 30 and beyond, not a problem. It is a cellaring proposition of the highest order, but in youth it can feel impenetrable. So, this wine in front of me now has toasted coconut, dusted licorice, roasted meat, violets, burnt toffee, pastrami, coffee grounds, crushed ants/formic, roasted pecans ... all of these dark and broody (and chunky) things. 2019 was a hot year and one marred by low yields due to some inclement weather during flowering. This has meant that, as a whole, the wines have felt big, dark and compressed. This is no exception. It's a product of the year and the state from whence it has come and in the mold and style of Grange, typical. It will be even better. For now, ne touche pas. 14.5% alcohol sealed under natural cork. - EL

A blend of 97% Shiraz with a 3% splash of Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Penfolds Grange was sourced with 82% of the fruit from Barossa Valley and the rest from McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, and Clare Valley. It was aged for 19 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads (slightly larger than the classic Bordeaux barriques) and is deep garnet-purple in color. It needs a swirl or two to bring out fragrant scents of garrigue, tilled soil, black olives, and fallen leaves, over a core of blackberry preserves, baked plums, and boysenberries, with emerging wafts of cast-iron pan and star anise. The full-bodied palate is super-tight knit with a firm, grainy texture and a crisp backbone supporting the muscular black fruit and savory layers, finishing long and minerally with a touch of star anise.

The hot, dry 2019 season in McLaren Vale and Barossa infused this Grange with warm black-fruit density—dark plum and blackberry intensely concentrated, overlying the sweet and equally dark presence of oak. This is a sumptuous wine, packed with savory materia prima, waiting to evolve. The details are hidden, though you can feel the luxury in it, like an Australian wagyu tomahawk steak. If you hold onto this vintage long enough—ten years, if not 20—you may well find your hunger sated on a completely different level. —J.G.