Muscle and grace delineate a wine that is making history, in the footsteps of its forebearer, Grange. The blend of 87% Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% South Australian Shiraz are building blocks for this multi-dimensional creation, ten years in the making. Balanced and expressive in recognizable southern and northern hemisphere accents, aromas of fresh dark berries, apple tart, and a tang of piquant spice, lead to headier notes on the palate. Licorice, slate, and molasses pave a path with staying power. Plum preserves and a twist of basil, cigar leaf, and hazelnut determine a lengthy, exhilarating finish.

What sticks with you about this global blend of Napa and Southern Australian wine is the intense and transparent purple and blue fruit. Lots of blackberry and blueberry aromas with some stones and flowers, such as violets. It's a very layered and intense wine with very refined, creamy and chewy tannins. Full and very impressive. Very Penfolds. Mouth-filling texture. It?s made mostly from Napa grapes and predominantly from Oakville and Diamond Mountain. About one-fifth is from South Australia. Aged in 80% new American oak and 20% new French. Try after 2026.

The first release of this new iconoclastic label, the 2018 Quantum Bin 98 is labeled as a 'Wine of the World,' although the AVA is the United States and technically 87% is American wine (Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley), while 13% is Australian ('Grade A1' Shiraz from South Australia). The wine spent 16 months in oak, 100% new, 80% American oak and 20% French. In fact, the wine is made very much like Grange, in that it completes fermentation in new, mainly American oak barrels.

A Wine of the World is a big statement, and this blend of 87% Napa Valley Cabernet with South Australian Shiraz creates a purposeful bridge between two national styles. The Cabernet is typically Napa (from the Oakville and Diamond Mountain District AVAs): stern and solid, flexing powerful muscle as earth and iodine notes speak much louder than fruit sweetness. The addition of Shiraz (an elite component, considered for Grange inclusion) isn’t obvious, yet its influence is profound, with a hint of ripe plum adding a vivid burst of colour to the dark flavour spectrum. The two varieties strike a happy equilibrium on the mid-palate, wrapping generous layers of rich fruit and supple texture into a seamless weave.

The flagship wine in this range, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Quantum Bin 98 is 87% Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% South Australia Shiraz. Blackberry jam, bittersweet chocolate, espresso, licorice, cloves and gravel infuse the 2018 with tons of character and complexity. Dense and opulent to the core, the Bin 98 possesses tremendous intensity. I would give if a few years in bottle to fully come together.

87% cabernet (from Oakville and Diamond Mountain, Napa Valley), with 13% shiraz from South Australia (predominantly Barossa, with some Clare and McLaren Vale). Matured 16 months in 80/20% American/French new oak barrels. A barrel selection of the top vineyards. 'Much smaller' production volume than Grange. Global blends are no longer the realm of cheap quaffers, with this Grange-priced flagship marrying a little South Australian shiraz with a backbone of Napa cabernet (the ying and yang of the Grange recipe that tweaks shiraz with a touch of cabernet, if you like). A core of Californian fruit sweetness encased in a rigid Penfolds frame. Blackberry, blackcurrant and satsuma plum fruit of ripe, succulent, plush generosity are scaffolded in a super-fine wall of magnificent tannins, thanks both to fruit and new oak. Dark chocolate and coffee bean proclaim polished oak support that sits obediently just under the surface of a generous sweep of fruit. Incredible line and length define great endurance.

The inaugural release of this red combines 87% Cabernet Sauvignon with 13% Shiraz, using grapes from both Napa Valley and South Australia. Dark and brooding, it delivers a smooth, textured palate of bright red fruit and supple, integrated tannins, with meaty undertones along a continuum of black pepper, graphite and leather.