Penfolds, Grange 2012

99 points James Halliday

This vintage was destined to be one of the greatest Granges. In the flesh it is majestically complex, superbly focused and intense, and wondrously balanced. It has every black fruit flavour known to man or woman, and will become more magical with each passing decade. Oh for a screwcap. Inner quote mark (8/2017)

99 points Wine Advocate

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2012 Grange sports an earthy/meaty nose with notes of tree bark, dusty earth, underbrush and chargrill over a core of dried mulberries and Christmas cake, plus hints of pepper and baking spices. Rich, medium to full-bodied and seductive, it has spicy layers and a long meaty/savory finish. (LPB) (10/2017)

98 points Decanter

A blend of 98% Shiraz and a leavening of just 2% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. This latest Grange is a typical, deeply saturated ruby in colour with an immensely seductive aromatic quality. Aromas of smoked meats, coconut and roasted coffee oak with a balsamic hint lead into a wonderful full-throttle, tongue-enveloping blackberry richness suffused with mocha, liquorice spiciness and a black olive background. A textured framework of tight but fine-grained tannins contains the fruit. The drinking window will open relatively early in three to four years and stay open for another 30 years plus. (AR)

98 points James Suckling

A simple split between the Barossa Valley (81%) and McLaren Vale (19%), this has all the hallmarks of a great Grange. Deep and ripe dark-plum and black-cherry aromas lead the nose, and there's plum cake here too that's really ripe and deeply spicy. The 100% new American oak has been thoroughly subsumed below tarry and savory brooding notes of black licorice and olive tapenade. The palate's incredibly poised and has richness with composure driven by tight-knit tannins and plenty of ripe dark-plum and cherry-fruit flavors. It is neatly crafted, powerful yet contained and smoothly rendered into the finish. This is a powerful vintage that has been cleverly polished and tamed in the winery; it will live long. Best from 2025 and for two decades after that. (1/2017)

98 points Wine & Spirits

This vintage of Grange is 98 percent shiraz, the balance cabernet sauvignon, the sources limited to Barossa and McLaren Vale, where the mild 2012 season and its cool nights sustained even ripening in the grapes, with smaller-than-usual berries and bunch sizes. It’s a succulent vintage of Grange, fresh in its intensity, luscious in its elegance, cool in its lasting sense of incipient complexities. There’s nothing aggressive about the wine as it presents a range of flavors, from anise to blueberry skins and tart, fresh-picked blackberries, held in tension by the structure, which feels more fruit-driven than oak-derived (though if you consider it carefully, you can sense the oak in underlying notes of coffee and the crisp direction of the flavor). The tannins have a silky abrasion that sets this wine apart. Among the best releases of Grange in the modern era—under chief winemaker Peter Gago and his predecessor, John Duval—this is a wine to hold for decades.(2/2017)