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  • Country ranking ?

    85
  • Producer ranking ?

    53
  • Decanting time

    3h
  • When to drink

    now to 2035
  • Food Pairing

    rib Eye Steaks with Demi-Glace and White Bean Purée

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The Story

Bin 389 is often referred to as ‘Poor Man’s Grange’ or ‘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 to build Penfolds solid reputation with red wine drinkers.

Combining the structure of Cabernet with the richness of Shiraz, Bin 389 also exemplifies Penfolds skill in judiciously ...

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Wine Information

Autumn and early winter rainfall were above the long-term average. Rain stopped abruptly in early August with only light showers observed throughout spring. The dry and cool spring period affected canopy growth early in the season. Warm and dry conditions during flowering and fruit-set resulted in rapid grapevine growth and early flowering. 

A high rainfall event occurred in Coonawarra in January, mostly falling outside of veraison, and Feb...

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

After the blah of the 407, we have the wow of 389. Lovely purple hue. Violets, spices, cassis, Valrhona chocolate, coffee beans. Richly flavoured, good intensity, ripe flavours. Plenty of excitement here. Oak is very well integrated and the palate is seamless. As silky a finish as we have seen as yet in this annual release from Penfolds. A great future ahead. Love this wine. It will soar for decades. Early complexity but what it is already offering, and will continue to do so, is endless delicious flavours.

Score: 95/100

Best drinking: well cellared, it will drink superbly for a very long time.

Alc: 14.5%

  • 95p

Ruby. Blackberries, anise, spices, liquorice, cassis and peppery notes, vanilla. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, dark fruits, anise, blackberries and liquorice, rich, fruit driven and layered, long. 92

  • 92p

Deep crimson. Intense perfumed cassis, blackberry, nougat, praline aromas with herb garden notes. Beautifully concentrated wine with dense cassis, blackberry fruits, some brambly notes, fine supple dense chocolaty tannins, superb mid palate generosity and perfectly balanced roasted chestnut oak complexity. Finishes chocolaty with lovely bitter chinotto mineral length. A classic vintage with brilliant aromatic complexity, proportion and balance. The Cabernet Sauvignon sings while the Shiraz hums. Very impressive wine with all the hallmarks of the Penfolds style. The lines between Bin 389 and its more famous compatriots are blurred. Pound-for-pound, probably the wine of the 2017 release. 12 months in American oak hogsheads (32% new, 37% one-year-old, 31% two years old.) 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Shiraz. Drink 2020-2040. 98 points. Langton's.

  • 98p

The very first impression? Instantly Penfolds. Some barrel-ferment nuances perhaps? A formic lift, V.A., regressive oak? Maybe all listed are guilty partners!
Higher notes reveal custard tart and brûlée, courting meaty pan-scrapings/juices. Yet beneath, a darker edge – black pudding, sweetbread, asphalt.
Moreover, not just an ‘offal’ offering – an aromatic veil of satsuma plum, fig and quince paste aromatics liberally sprinkled above.! 

Palate
Enticing, inviting. A taste continuum of assorted flavours and textures.
A spoil of fruits meshed with a grain-like paste – chaff/oats/barley/wheat germ…. At once chewy and succulent, heightened by a mouth-watering acidity and overt 2015 ‘elongated’ tannins.
Oak barely perceivable. An interesting ‘package’ whereupon nothing stands out! A ‘balanced completeness’!

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Information

Origin

Magill, South Australia

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