2004 Australia

The flagship 2004 Run Rig is 96.5% Shiraz and 3.5% Viognier with the Shiraz component aged for 30 months in a mixture of new and used French oak. Yields were a minuscule 14 hl/ha (about 1 ton per acre). Saturated opaque purple/black, it has a remarkably kinky, exotic perfume of fresh asphalt, pencil lead, smoke, pepper, game, blueberry and black raspberry. Full-bodied and voluptuous in the mouth, the wine is dense and packed, with amazing purity, sweet tannins, and a complex collection of sensory stimuli. The wine demands 10 years of cellaring.

Torbreck, under the leadership of owner/winemaker David Powell, remains a Barossa Valley benchmark as well as one of the world’s greatest wine estates. The top cuvees are limited production and expensive but there are also some outstanding values in the portfolio. With regard to the current vintages for the Barossa red wines, David Powell states “? 2004 is more savory while 2005 has more purity and definition. 2004 is more classic, 2005 will take longer to come around.
Jay Miller - Wine Advocate #173 Oct 2007 

Every time you taste the Penfolds flight of wines you are so impressed on the run up to tasting this icon that when you eventually get to it, you find it amazing that it blows all of its siblings out of the water. 2004 Grange is quite simply breathtaking. Multilayered, exotic yet classic, totally dignified, concentrated but not in the least way blousey. Beautifully refined tannins complement a majestic pure concentration of precise ripe black fruits; it has to be tasted to be believed and I think it will be heralded as one of the finest Grange vintages ever made.
Simon Staples, BBR Sales & Marketing Director

The modestly named Dry Red No 1 is Dr Bailey Carrodus' highly respected classic `Bordeaux blend', the greatest proportion being Cabernet Sauvignon, with some Malbec, Merlot & Petit Verdot. Its potential to age is proven and deservedly so. The 2004 comes over immediately with a typically herbaceous nose, followed on tasting by ample, cool fruit character with a firm tannic structure behind. This will need time, another two years at least, and it should last at least another ten years and longer if needed. For those interested, this weighs in at a respectable 13% abv.

First produced in 1984, this is Elderton's flagship wine, sourced from an ancient single-vineyard at the heart of their Nurioopta estate on classic terra rossa soils and aged for three years in a mix of French and US oak barrels. The result is a nose which displays super-ripe, currant-kirsch, chocolate berried notes, along with a hint of coconut milk. To taste, this rich yet not ungainly wine shows succulent spicy plum and chocolate flavours, all delivered with the kind of heady swagger you'd expect from a Barossa giant. Drinking now till 2020; best served with peppery, spicy dishes.
(David Berry Green)

Deep in colour, this youthful elemental wine shows a miraculous overlapping of aromas and flavours. The regional characters of both Coonawarra and the Barossa Valley are finely poised. The highly perfumed chamomile/violet/mocha aromas,immense concentration, savoury flavours and classically structured palate are in superb balance. This beautifully defined cross-regional/varietal with its meaty nuances and fine-grained tannins will continue to evolve in the cellar for decades.

The 10-acre Block 42 was planted only 30 years after the great 1855 Bordeaux Classification and comprises the oldest plantings of cabernet sauvignon continuously produced in the world. The recent 2004 vintage has resulted in a beautifully aromatic, perfectly balanced and ripe Cabernet Sauvignon from Block 42, Kalimna Vineyard. Dense in colour with intense blackcurrant, dark chocolate, liquorice aromas, fine silky tannins and richly concentrated flavours in perfect harmony. The sheer volume and weight of fruit explodes across the palate giving tremendous depth and length of flavour. Drink 2008-2030.

The 2004 Shiraz (tasted just prior to bottling) reveals layers of fruit along with pure creme de cassis characteristics interwoven with notions of blackberries and smoke. Possessing a layered texture, a huge, opulent, full-bodied mouthfeel, superb purity, and a fine finish, it has the potential to be even better than the 2003. 
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Oct 2005