Winery: Penfolds
Region: Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra
Variety: Shiraz
Vintage: 2006
Your Wine Guy says:
The 2006 vintage is a stunning example of Grange. A first look at the glass reveals a deep inky red colour. Intense and complex layers of aromas greet the nose with a multitude of delicious dark berry fruit flavours integrated seamlessly alongside toasty, malty oak characters. The palate shows incredible depth, with intense dark spicy fruit characters balanced beautifully against new American oak with tannins and malty notes. Typical of Grange, the flavours seem to last for an age. While it is built to last many many years in the cellar, keep in mind great wines are made to be enjoyed.
96 Points YWG Drink to 2030+
Critics say:
"Deep crimson; its bouquet has a strikingly complex array of black characters that run all the way from the first whiff to the finish and aftertaste: licorice, tar, bitter chocolate, blackberry, prune and plum. The tannins are prominent, and play their part with each successive sip of the steadily building impact on the very long palate, but they are in balance with the fruit and oak of an extremely powerful Grange."
98 Points James Halliday Wine Companion 2012
“I don’t have price or alcohol details as yet but I’ll fill the numbers in when they come through. More importantly I’m pretty excited about the way the wine tastes. This year’s release is made from grapes grown mostly in the Barossa Valley (shiraz), though there is a small amount of shiraz from Magill Estate in Adelaide included in the final wine, and two percent cabernet sauvignon from Coonawarra. As always, it’s matured in 100 percent new American oak. This year’s Grange is a wine with a huge, clean, cutting right hook of flavour as you swallow.
It’s not a massive release but the ropes of flavour-drenched tannin on the finish pull it on and on. This precision engineering through the finish marks its intense quality. It tastes of blackberry and aniseed, nutmeg and smoky vanilla. It’s quite delicious, and yet there’s no question that it’s powerfully wrought. It’s not a particularly heralded vintage, in general terms, but the way this release presents in the glass is, to me, what Grange is all about. Impeccable winemaking, pure fruit, clasps of uncompromising tannin, smokin’ barrels, and thrust. It will live for a very long time, because it’s so well designed, and because it does its thing so well.”
97 Points Drink 2020 – 2040 Campbell Mattinson The Wine Front
The winemaker says:
Colour: Deep blood-red, dense core..
Nose: Very Penfolds, very Barossa, very Grange! Scents, now five years in the making, weave their charm - this aromatic quilt's first-noted brightest colours are panaforte fig and quince paste alongside cured/smoked meats. Its fabric is meshed with spice - cinnamon, vanillin pod, nutmeg and black pepper - tempered by teppanyaki sauces, amaretto/almond. A dark thread connects - black liquorice, olive and fresh Arabica coffee-bean and soy. Background nutty oak (Brazil nut) beneath, yet barely noticed.
Palate: Freshness and balance are welcomed, yet confuse... a few sips remind of the oft-used reference 'iron fist in a velvet glove'. All is not as it seems! Firm throughout and across palate - reverent tannins and oak convey & propel flavours of slow-roasted lamb (avec jus), dark chocolate, cola, maraschino, with a menthol/rosemary lift to finish. Alluringly, a plush satin/cashmere
mouthfeel compounds the initial confusion - accessible, yet poised to evolve and complex over many decades.
"A profound and complete offer - akin to a mix of the 2002 and 2004 Grange vintages respectively... not a bad credential on any curriculum vitae!"
If one were to propagate the Penfolds 'sixes' vintage roll-out pattern - it's probably more like the '86 & '96 than the '76" - P.Gago, April 2011
Peter Gago - Penfolds Chief Winemaker
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