Wine journal awards Australian shiraz perfect score

Influential journal Wine Advocate has awarded Australia's 2008 Penfolds Grange shiraz an unsurpassable 100 points, a score chief winemaker Peter Gago said Tuesday was like winning an Academy Award. The US-based Wine Advocate, which is considered the pinnacle of wine reviewing and rarely hands out a perfect score, described the Grange shiraz as "clearly a wonderfully opulent and a magic vintage for this label". "The 2008 Grange puts forward a very complex nose packed with aromas of mulberries, layers of baking spices, cloves and cinnamon with nuances of minced meat, anise, potpourri and whiffs of dried mint and chocolate," it said. While Grange wines have consistently rated highly, it is the first time in more than 40 years that one from the Australian vineyard has been deemed perfect. "In terms of ratings in the world of wine it really doesn't come any better than such a score in The Wine Advocate," Gago told reporters. "It's a bit like the Academy Awards or the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards." The wine will be released to the public in May, selling at around Aus$685 (US$701) a bottle.