Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz South Australia 2021

Description

Bin 389 was often referred to as ‘Baby Grange’, in part because components of the wine are matured in the same barrels that held the previous vintage of Grange. First made in 1960 by the legendary Max Schubert, this was the wine that helped forge Penfolds reputation with red wine drinkers by combining the structure of cabernet sauvignon with the richness of shiraz. Exemplifying the judicious balance of fruit and oak, Bin 389 highlights the generous mid-palate Penfolds in known for

There is a dense cascade of fruit and oak plums, black currants, olives, cinnamon, pan juices and licorice. Sourced from great vineyards all over South Australia but mainly the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. Famous for being the most collected and cellared wine in Australia, it ages well for 20 years in top vintages and good conditions and always delivers masses of flavour over a rich, mouth-coating bed of chocolatey tannin. This is an outstanding wine that deserves to be in your cellar.

Looking in on the 389 can be "'can be," she says, parenthetically) a good insight into what we can expect from the upcoming Grange. Now, they are very different wines, no question, however, stylistically they have much in common and the illumination into the season that birthed the wines in each instance. Here, the 2020 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz has consummate polish and sleek tannins, imbued as they are with graphite, black tea, licorice and resin. The fruit is pure and black and chewy... gorgeous wine. And it lives for decades. This has always been a collector's dream and continues so through this vintage. Highly recommended. 96 pts Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate