Ranked #4 of 445 2010 Shiraz from South Australia
98/100
5 Stars
Huon Hooke
Very deep, dark red-purple colour, youthful and bright looking. The bouquet is fresh and vibrant with especially good fruit-oak balance and the oak is not dominant on the bouquet - as it has been so often in the past. Fruitcake, roasted meats, charcuterie and black fruit aromas; hints of fresh tobacco as well. It's full-bodied and dense, concentrated and yet seamless and harmonious. The tannins are fleshy and smooth and well-integrated into the whole. An outstanding Grange, more approachable and in better balance than Grange usually is at release time (and this one is out six months early). 4% cabernet sauvignon - which doesn't show.
Tasted: 23/09/2014
Drink: N/A
99 Points Robert Parker
The 2010 Grange is a 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 96% Shiraz blend made from Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Magill Estate fruit that was aged 17 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads. Very deep purple-black in color, this is classic Grange - amongst the finest produced - replete with fresh, vibrant and youthful black fruit notes showing some blueberry aromas and accents of camphor, anise and the slightest floral hint plus a whiff of oak in the background to lend a cedar-laced lift to this textbook Shiraz nose. Medium to full-bodied in the mouth, it is very taut and finely constructed showing typically firm, grainy, uniform tannins, great concentration and wonderful persistence on the finish. If I have any very slight complaint of this near perfect wine it is that it seems a little too clinical and appears to speak less of the land and the heart of South Australia and more of the very skilled winemaking than did the Grange from the magical 2008 vintage.
Source: Robert Parker (Robert Parker Wine Advocate) by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. October, 2014
99 Points James Halliday
The core of this wine is Barossa Valley Shiraz (85%) the remaining 15% shiraz (and 4% cabernet sauvignon) from the Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Magill Estate. In time honoured fashion, it finished its fermentation in 100% new American oak hogsheads, where it spent the next 17 months. It has exceptional hue and depth to the colour; the smoky complexity to the black fruits (no red or blue) of the bouquet also offers licorice and earth aromas; only a great Burgundy could have more nuances defined each time you revert to the bouquet. You could lose yourself, Narcissus-like, looking endlessly into the reflection of the palate; for all its power, there is not a hair out of place, the tannins outstanding. There is not the slightest question this will be one of the greatest Granges in the pantheon of '52, '55, '71, '96 and '06. Drink to 2060.
Source: James Halliday. September, 2014
100 Points Tyson Stelzer
2010 holds a privileged position in the 60 year lineage of Penfolds Grange. In the context of recent tastings of many of the greatest vintages, 2010 attains new heights in its depth of black fruit presence and its structural assuredness. I adore 2008 Grange and, tasting them together, 2010 is even deeper and more vibrant, exuding another dimension of distinguished grace, precision, concentration, scaffolded structure and seamless, enduring persistence. There is a coiled reticence to the bouquet, skirting black plum, liquorice and dark chocolate, opening into breathtaking violet fragrance. The palate is unyielding, yet immensely structured. Magnificently voluptuous, yet elegantly coiled and bright. Silky and irresistible, yet untouchable and enduring. Tannins are a revelation, with a finesse and a chalk-fine texture impossible for such a resilient and powerful frame. Penfolds Grange 2010 is definitively on a plane of its own: the greatest young Australian wine I have ever tasted. This year, a blend of 96% shiraz and 4% cabernet, from Barossa (85%), Clare, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Magill. Drink 2030 - 2060.
Source: Tyson Stelzer.