Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2016 – Runner Up Double Gold 2019

Wine No.2 in our Archive Review from the 2019 Six Nations Wine Challenge takes us to the delicious wines of Penfolds, Australia’s most famous wine brand 🍷.

Bin 389 is 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. Bin 389 exemplifies the judicious balance of fruit and oak.

VARIETAL : Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 🍇
VINTAGE : 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣6️⃣
PEAK DRINKING : 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣9️⃣ – 2️⃣0️⃣4️⃣6️⃣

AWARDS 🏅
96 Points – James Halliday
96 Points – Huon Hooke
96 Points – Campbell Mattinson

Flavours and textures akin to marbled Kobe beef and an earthy accompaniment of black liquorice root and anise. Structurally bold with little protruding – integrated, fine … and has comfortably already “settled into place”. ‘Appetising’ acidity – a non-intrusive and refreshing granita-like bite/attaque. Assam tea maltiness and tannins merge with impressions of wet slate, pencil lead/graphite … no doubt somehow linked to earlier partial barrel fermentation and oak maturation – (Penfolds website.)

Judges Comments:

Spicy, expressive and complex. Nice core of fruit and focused character – Christopher Waters, Canadian Judge

Deep, dark, dense colour with a rich, ripe, superbly balanced aroma, bright blackberry aromas with a faint trace of mint. The palate is full bodied and powerful, solid and strongly structured – Huon Hooke, Australian Judge

Great balance between red fruits and oak. Solid tannin structure and long length – Terry Copeland, New Zealand Judge

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