Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
The personality of this warmer-vintage Bin 389 is big, bold and welcoming. Coal smoke and graphite intertwine with blackberry, cassis, woody and leafy notes. Some Chinese five spice, too. The palate is delivered with fine, sweeping and long, smooth tannins that carry a supple array of mainly blackberry and roasted-coffee flavors. Powerful yet silky, super long and smooth, building to an exceptionally tidy finish. This is an assembly of 51 per cent cabernet sauvignon and 49 per cent shiraz, sourced from Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Padthaway and Wrattonbully. Long aging potential. Drink now or hold.
The so-called ‘Baby Grange’, Bin 389 is a Penfolds icon and a peerless example of the traditional Aussie blend. It's matured for 12 months in American oak, partly in previous-vintage Grange casks. Behind the youthful ruby hue lies a terrific red whose gently smoky, spicy cedar and liquorice aromas are highly perfumed and intense. On the palate it shows a promising youthful vigour in its richly concentrated, opulent cassis and blackberry fruit. It has a fine, smooth texture, with chocolatey depth, good complexity and spice aplenty, all supported by a fine spine of damson acidity and the sinewy tannin structure that awaits instructions to settle down. One for bollito misto and salsa verde. Drinking Window 2023 - 2040.
The 2016 Cabernet Shiraz Bin 389 (51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Shiraz) is a more reserved, concentrated effort that speaks more to potential at this point, even if it offers ample pleasure. Blackcurrants, smoked herbs, chocolate, and tobacco leaf notes all emerge from this very classic, medium to full-bodied, balanced beauty that I suspect will be at its best in 2-4 years and keep for a decade or more.
