Deep Cover: If you’re looking at this, know that you’ve been a very, very good Operative.

From a Sydney Times headline, “The record price of $103,000, for a 1951 Penfolds Grange, is the highest price ever paid for a bottle of Australian wine.”

Obviously, $100k+ is not what we’re asking for the library 2019 vintage today. Not even close! In fact, a bottle will cost you about 1/173rd of that.

Which makes it the BEST PRICE ANYWHERE on it.

Oops, we did it again. Yes, you’ve figure it out by now…our FIRST EVER Grange offering. We’re inviting you to make history with us today. Grab a bottle to see what one of the most mythical wines on the planet hype is all about. You will become a believer. Or, if you’re already a Grange connoisseur with a black Amex (they keep rejecting me for some reason), grab all 2 cases and clean us out!

Ahem, where were we? Scores!

Grange consistently hits the 95-100 range and goes up from there with age. This vintage earned a whopping FOUR 98 points from prominent Aussie critics like Andrew Caillard MW and Ken Gargett. But for those who say they don’t count on this side of the equator, there’s a 19/20 by Jancis Robinson MW, along with a 98 from Inside Bordeaux. And how many countless scores has it racked up in the past? Too many to list.

Good ole Wine Spectator represents the US of A well with yet another 98 points, a bunch of 97s out there from all over the globe… Honestly, though, who cares? It’s THE Penfolds Grange we’re talking about here! Sharing only one below for space and time continuum and constraints…

Speaking of, per Wine Spectator a definitive Grange is “Highly distinctive, with its mix of new oak, dense dark berry, black licorice and ultimately graceful interplay of flavors and the tension created by acidity and tannins. It’s a remarkably enduring wine as well. The older vintages still thrill those who taste them. I keep coming back to the label, as it too has endured. I think of labels that have remained the same over time, the likes of Château Margaux or d’Yquem. In California, Heitz, Stony Hill and Diamond Creek are unchanged after decades. New classics - Harlan, Screaming Eagle, Marcassin and Schrader’s Old Sparky - will likely endure. The wines must remain exceptional to uphold the brand’s reputation, but when they are, the two go hand in hand.”

You know what else goes hand in hand? A small Grange allocation and selling out of it fast. Especially with the news that the price of the latest release hit $1,000 a bottle. GO!

98 Points – Wine Spectator “This is an epic wine that doesn’t quit, opening up with ripe, fleshy flavors of black cherry, maraschino cherry and framboise. But the fruit notes are only the beginning, giving way to date-nut bread, salted bittersweet chocolate, marzipan, dried olive, green peppercorn, French-press coffee, and cardamom. The tannins are filling in the mouth, but never get in the way of all the complexity, while the finish just goes on and on. 500 cases imported. Drink now through 2047.”