The 2017 Maya is a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Cabernet Franc and was bottled one week before I tasted it. Very deep purple-black in color, it opens with profound earthy notions of truffles, damp soil, crushed rocks and tar over a core of Black Forest cake, black raspberries, blueberry compote and aged meat plus touches of wilted roses and unsmoked cigars. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is solidly structured with firm, fine-grained tannins and wonderful freshness lifting the multilayered blue and black fruits with a long, perfumed finish. Stunning.

97+ points, Wine Advocate (November 2019)

(USA and Australia) This is a wine of phenomenal power and concentration, and seemingly endless persistence. A mixture of dark berry fruits are lurking beneath savoury layers of smoky, earthy graphite, charcuterie and subtle spices. It carries the distinctive Penfolds stamp. For all its muscle, it is remarkably approachable already. A great wine, and a worthy running-mate for Grange. (13% shiraz. The US cabernet is from Oakville and Diamond Mountain. 16 months in 80% new American oak and 20% new French)

99 points, The Real Review (December 2020)

This is absolutely delicious. Powerful, intense and concentrated with seductive black cherry and raspberry leaf aromatics. It slowly and steadily pulls you in and compares to the very greatest Cabernets in its excitement, structure and grip. As the liquorice, chocolate and cassis notes stretch out, it comes to a mouthwateringly slow conclusion. This keeps the savoury edge of Cabernet and the tannins give focus and poise. Opulent and concentrated, and very good. 100% new oak.

98 points, Decanter (August 2020)

Extremely aromatic with crushed berries, currants, flowers and hints of uncured tobacco leaf. Carnations. Medium to full body and extremely fine tannins that are firm and polished. Vertical tannins draw you down. Some blanched-walnut character to the blue fruit. Fresh and clean at the finish. Release in spring 2020. So beautiful to drink now.

96 points, JamesSuckling.com (January 2020)

This is packed with the ripe, vivid fruit of the vintage, sporting intense cassis, raspberry and blackberry flavors allied to prodigious structure in the form of licorice root and roasted apple wood notes. Rippling with muscle through the finish, but without being domineering, showing focus and detail. Like a Richard Serra, this is seemingly immense at first glance, but steadily pulls you in with its details. Best from 2022 through 2038. 1,000 cases made.

95 points, Wine Spectator

The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Rubicon is another wine that has turned out very well. In this vintage, the Cabernet Sauvignon and Rubicon aren't that materially different. Red fruit, cedar, sweet pipe tobacco, menthol and licorice all develop in the glass. Here, too, I am quite impressed with the wine's freshness.

95 points, Vinous (September 2019)

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.

98 points, JamesSuckling.com (February 2021)

The tiny production 2017 Maya is another thrilling wine. The normal blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc that was brought up in two-thirds new French oak, it offers a full-bodied, concentrated, yet sensationally elegant style as well as fab notes of crème de cassis, chocolate, graphite, and scorched earth. It’s a primordial example of this cuvée that has ripe tannins, a stacked mid-palate, and a great, great finish. Do your best to give bottles 4-6 years of bottle age.

97+ points, JebDunnuck.com (January 2020)

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is terrific. In this vintage, the Estate is especially savory and mineral, perhaps with a bit less immediacy than it can show. For that reason, I would prefer to cellar it for at least a few years. Blueberry, blackberry, graphite, licorice, cloves, lavender and sage all build into the incisive finish. Impressive.

93 points, Vinous (March 2022)