Penfolds Grange Hermitage 2020

Grange is the wine Max Schubert created for Penfolds in the 1950s and it remains the benchmark for Australian red. It is a multi-regional blend, drawing Shiraz and a small portion of Cabernet Sauvignon from vineyards across South Australia so the house can select the ripest, most concentrated fruit each year rather than rely on a single site. The warm, dry climate of regions such as the Barossa pushes the grapes to full ripeness, giving high sugar and deep colour, while older vines on varied soils add structure. After fermentation the wine spends eighteen months in new American and French oak. American oak in particular lends the coconut, vanilla and sweet spice that mark the Grange style, and the long barrel time allows slow oxygen exchange that softens tannins and fixes colour. This is a full bodied, deeply coloured wine with ripe plum and blackberry, dark chocolate, black pepper, leather and smoky oak. The palate is dense and structured, built to age for decades. Decant an hour ahead and serve at 18 degrees in a large glass with rare beef, roast lamb or game.