Penfolds Grange 2011 is a wine of rare distinction — the sixth Grange across six decades to be crafted from 100% Shiraz, and released at only half the volume of an average vintage. As Peter Gago notes with characteristic candour: “Paradoxically, a true collector’s item!” Sourced from Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and Magill Estate (Adelaide), and matured for 17 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads, the 2011 Grange transcends the reputation of a challenging vintage through meticulous vineyard management and uncompromising fruit selection. An attractively and elegantly styled Grange that continues to evolve and fatten with every month in bottle. Peak drinking 2025 to 2060.
Appearance
Deep and dense dark red — inky and concentrated, with the intensity that defines a great Grange.
Aroma
Instantly Grange — aromatically heralded from glass to nose via trademark formic and barrel ferment markers. Majestic. Sarsaparilla, creamy soda, and cola root beer nuances synergise with black liquorice and soy in a combination that defies easy description. Archetypal North Barossa Shiraz fruit extols every varietal variant, whilst 17 months in 100% new oak is not merely disguised — it is completely concealed. Fresh dark cherry, plum, liquorice, and chinotto aromas emerge with roasted chestnut and biscuit nuances. Ten minutes later, the wine reveals still more.
Palate
What initially appear to be reticent, repressed fruits soon overtly ascend — blackberry, blackcurrant, fig, rhubarb, quince. A follow-up emission of black olive, shaved truffle, vanillin, boot polish, cola, and ristretto coffee, with oak all but soaked up. Inky and fresh, with dark cherry, plum, roasted coffee, panforte, and meaty flavours, sweet fruit notes, and dense chalky textures. Proper, pronounced, and peripheral grippy tannins endorse what is already a formidable structure, with impressive length, depth, and weight. Underlying mocha and biscuit oak notes complete a finish that is chalky firm with plentiful complexity. Lively, assured — not trying too hard to be something it isn’t.
Pairs With
Aged prime beef, slow-roasted lamb, game, truffle-based dishes, and the finest hard cheeses. A wine that rewards patience at every stage.
Reviews
3/5 — Rewards of Patience Tasting Panel, 2020
“No doubt time will validate the merits of this underappreciated Grange, albeit released at only half the volume of an ‘average’ vintage. Paradoxically, a true collector’s item!”
— Peter Gago, Penfolds Chief Winemaker
