With thick skins, royal purple in colour, and elegant flavours derived from ideal grape-growing conditions, cabernet sauvignon provides the structure and palate length. Shiraz grapes, akin to small black pearls, provide the intensity, opulence and flesh.
First made in 1960, Bin 389 has a reputation for consistency and longevity and has earned its well-deserved moniker, ‘baby Grange’, from time spent maturing in oak hogsheads used the previous vintage for Grange. This much-loved, beautifully consistent style shows all the hallmarks and benefits of cross-varietal blending and for many wine drinkers, it is their preferred Penfolds wine.
Bin 389 is an Australian Grand Vin; a selection and interpretation of the best parcels from the best vineyard sites, by a winemaking team steeped in the ethos and tradition of a great Australian wine style.
VINTAGE CONDITIONS
With above-average winter rainfalls and cool conditions that followed during the spring period, South Australian regions generally experienced a later budburst and disease pressures impacted to varied degrees across the state. Meticulous vineyard management was critical. Spring soil moisture levels resulted in healthy shoot growth and early canopy development. Healthy vegetative growth continued during the cooler spring months and delayed veraison and berry development in the New Year. A few warm days at the end of January guaranteed the completion of veraison and commencement of the ripening season. Multiple rain events, often isolated, meant that attention to sub-regional detail was required and selective harvesting of pristine fruit. Low baumes at harvest coincided with flavour development. With a focus on warmer regions, McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley fruit sourcing prevailed.
COLOUR
Dense deep red.
NOSE
Complex and true to House Style… that of the 53 year-old stylistic template of Bin 389. No formula!Brimming with mocha/coffee ground aromatics, heightened by tar/bitumen ‘black’ notes.Appealing char and creamy, vanillin oak detected ever-so-subtly in the background.Naturally, a flurry of fruits, spice and varietal markers abound.
PALATE
In a couple of words, voluminous and powerful.A sensory stratification of layers of taste – separated via time-of-detection and unravelling of flavours. At first, Christmas pudding with roasted nuts, then rare lamb and black olives, then sarsaparilla spice.Tannins awashed, oak absorbed, fruit awakened.
