Winemaker John Duval called the 1981 a big, tannic Grange. It is just that, a very powerful, inky, purple-colored wine that is still almost primary and unevolved in its surprising youthfulness. This formidably endowed, broodingly backward, thick, full-bodied, muscular wine has a boatload of chocolate-infused plum, caramel, and cassis flavors. With high tannin, huge grip, and some propensity toward austerity, this is a monster Grange that may not totally assimilate the high levels of tannin, but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about its future" -Robert Parker Feb 2002

Intensely spicy, raspberried, honeyed wine – incredibly fragrant – with cedar and cranberry scents frollicking throughout. These characteristics work better on the nose than they do in the mouth, yet still it’s as long and impressive as a freight train. Some will love this wine’s fleshy, warm sweetness, others may find it too oddball – but it’s in fine balance!" -Winefront.com.au, "One of my favorite vintages of Grange to actually drink at present is the 1982. The wine is gorgeously opulent and impossible to resist" -eRobertParker.com

Grange is both Penfolds and arguably Australia's most famous wine and is officially listed as a Heritage Icon of South Australia. Penfolds Grange displays fully-ripe, intensely-flavoured and textured shiraz grapes in combination with new American oak. The first 100% Shiraz Grange since 1963, and an excellent follow on to the "98 vintage. Sourced primarily from the Penfolds Kalimna Vineyard and other Barossa Vineyards, with proportions from McLaren Vale and Padthaway. A fitting Grange release to end the 1900's, with decades of life ahead.

Max Schubert's experimental work in the 1950s determined that South Australian Cabernet was unreliable, he recognised that Grange should be based around a spectrum of fruit. One of the great strengths of Grange is, whilst mostly a Shiraz, it does not rely on the performance of a single vineyard. From fruit grown at the Kalimna and other Barossa vineyards, Magill Estate in Adelaide, and other superior vineyards in the Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley, the 1984 is balanced with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon 5%

Grange is likely to remain positioned as Australia's flagship wine, many vintages far into the future. When Max Schubert embarked on his voyage of discovery and innovation during the late 1940s, the fledgling wine industry was relatively amateurish and fragmented. Winemaker John Duval's contribution to the evolution of Grange has also been critical. His stewardship has probably seen the greatest developments and innovation in viticulture and winemaking. A remarkable vintage Grange is the 1997, considering it's place between the great 1996 and 1998 editions

Penfolds Grange, blossoms with fifteen to twenty years of bottle age, when most other reds have past their best, and better vintages can live and continue developing for decades longer. A self-taught, practical winemaker with a natural inquisitiveness for winemaking theory, creator Max Schubert embraced a romantic view of winemaking. Though he retired as Chief Winemaker at Penfolds in 1973, Max remained involved as a mentor and Winemaker Emeritus for another 20 vintages. 1993 is an earlier maturing vintage under Magnum, kept optimumly cellared