Penfolds Grange Shiraz 2003

A very ripe, assertive, profoundly structured and traditional warm year Grange whose dark, brooding and brambly fruit and lavish oak are supported by drying, firm and chalky tannin. It's still a bruising young wine, with a surprisingly floral and heady, jasmine-like bouquet and dense layers of blackberries, blueberries, cassis and dark plums backed by smoky, meaty, dark chocolate and cedary influences. As it opens further, nuances of treacle, aniseed and graphite slowly emerge. Firm and dense, its palate simply drips with concentrated flavour, finishing with the length and balance expected of this label. Jeremy Oliver