98

Ryan Montgomery

James Suckling

Another excellent release with a cooler, softer feel reflecting the vintage conditions. Black and blue berries with plum skin, mint, leather, cedar, bitter chocolate, bay leaf and ferric earth. The palate is silky and unctuous with no hard edges, melting tannins and a tense, salivating finish with a savory-edged austerity. A wine with decades ahead to unravel its nuance. A blend of 97% shiraz and 3% cabernet sauvignon. Drink or hold. 07/2026

98

Erin Larkin

Robert Parker

The 2022 Grange comprises 97% Shiraz and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. As always the wine matured for 18 months in American oak hogsheads (100% new). The 2022 vintage in South Australia was magnificent. I've loved the wines. It will always live in the shadow of the exceptional 2021 vintage. The season for Grange growers was shaped by a cool, measured growing season across South Australia. Good winter rainfall supported early vine growth, while unsettled spring weather, including hail, reduced yields, particularly for Barossa Valley Shiraz. A mild summer with few extreme heat events allowed slow, even ripening across key regions. Low yields, healthy canopies and extended hang time produced small berries, firm tannins, retained freshness and controlled power. Aromatically, the wine leads with licorice and blackberry, raspberry seed, cold tea and civet paste too. This is intensely concentrated (almost boring to mention that, given it is definitely the house style), powerful and black in character. Grange is made from fully ripe, structured Shiraz grapes sourced from South Australian regions. First produced experimentally in 1951, it has been made in every vintage since and is associated with the relationship between Shiraz and the soils and climates of South Australia. The tannins are primal and arrive with a snarl; they linger once the wine has gone and show immense dominance over all but the fruit. It's a great Grange. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. 07/2026

99

Colin Hay

The Drinks Business

Intimate and subtly complex. Cedar and peony notes are the first to reveal themselves with a crunchy, lifted dark berry fruit – sloe, blueberry, damson and mulberry. There’s a subtle slightly medicinal note, a little reminiscent of a peaty Islay whisky in the Lagavulin mode! Black cherry too and black olive tapenade, a little soot and oak smoke. Silken textured, from the seamless integration of the tannins. And a lovely cool, whetstone minerality. Searingly fresh, gracious and glossy, this is bright and luminous, all the more impressive for the amplitude, density and concentration of the midpalate. The tannins are beautifully soft, gently caressing the midpalate and sculpting a lifted and elegant fantail finish. Texturally sublime and a study in harmony and elegance. There are some striking similarities with the 1998 tasted alongside. 08/2026

98

Jane Anson

Inside Bordeaux

Rich plum colour, intense, fragrant violet and peony flowers, crushed cocoa bean and cola, dark chocolate, silky smooth tannins. These guys know exactly how to deliver a masterclass in vivid, crystal clear flavours, and you're not going to go wrong. Peter Gago winemaker, Tom King director. 07/2026