Made from fruit coming predominantly from the Barossa Valley this year (97%) and containing 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2006 Grange has been added to my list of favorite recent vintages. Deep garnet-purple colored, it’s still a little youthfully mute, offering notes of warm cherries, black currants, anise, coffee and toast with underlying hints of soy, yeast extract, black olives and Indian spices. Tight-knit and solidly structured on the medium to full-bodied palate, the concentrated fruit is densely coiled around the firm grainy tannins and very crisp acidity at this stage, but promises something very special in the years to come. It finishes very long, complex and layered with the cedar poking through the fruit purity. Patience is required for this vintage; it should begin opening out around 2016 and drink to 2030+. Importer: Treasury Wine Estates, Napa, CA; tel. (707) 259-4500

Deep crimson; its bouquet has a strikingly complex array of black characters that run all the way from the first whiff to the finish and aftertaste: licorice, tar, bitter chocolate, blackberry, prune and plum. The tannins are prominent, and play their part with each successive sip of the steadily building impact on the very long palate, but they are in balance with the fruit and oak of an extremely powerful Grange. Drink by 2050.

- James Halliday (winecompanion.com.au) tasted Mar 2011

(98% shiraz and 2% cabernet sauvignon): Deep ruby. Highly aromatic nose offers black raspberry, cherry pit, potpourri and minerals. Dense, lush and sweet but very energetic, offering spicy red and dark berry, dark chocolate, rose pastille and licorice flavors complemented by spicy, sweet oak. Shows bitter chocolate and cherry-cola nuances on the extremely persistent, spice-accented finish. This should be approachable on the young side.

Bottles sourced from within the UK. Bottle 1 : Looks older than the 2004 but it’s still vibrant in terms of fruit, even if still a bit chewy. Bottle 2 : Just a little fresher than the first pour but basically the same strong liquorice notes. A tad severe. (Nick Ryan arguing it should be elevated to top division of Grange.) (JR)