Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2024
- 98
- $120
- Drink by: 2027-2050
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A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Shiraz, showcasing the crème de la crème of South Australia, with fruit sourced from vineyards across Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Padthaway. It’s quite a restrained little number. The Cabernet hasn’t yet come to show itself here, but there’s no rush. The gamut of dark fruit is tucked underneath savoury and umami elements, Mediterranean herbs and fading violets. There is plenty of purpose, future and drive, with the big structure still dominating the narrative. In fact, it’s quite tight through the mid-palate. It needs time, no doubt about that. But, oh boy, how well it will do.
by Ken Gargett
The wine that very much epitomises the concept of blending. 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Shiraz, the fruit has been sourced from Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Padthaway. The oak used for maturation is a mix of new and older, all American oak hogsheads (34% new), for a period of 13 months. This is an exceptional 389. Black/maroon in colour with an opaque blood red rim, this is dense yet focused, intense and yet impeccably balanced. The nose offers aromas of charcuterie, bay leaves, cigar boxes, cassis, black fruits, chocolate, aniseed, dried herbs and tapenade. Exhibiting good early complexity, this is taut, polished and focused. There are hints of vanillin oak, but they are just lurking in the background, and the wine is beautifully integrated. A complete wine. There is a creamy texture, great length and silky tannins with the intensity maintained throughout. Wonderful stuff. For enjoying over the next twenty-five to thirty years. Every chance it will step up even further over that period. 2026 – 2056. 97 Points
by Jeni Port
The great Australian red blend is often as assured in youth as it is with age, and nowhere is this better viewed than with 389. Inviting from the first sniff, composed and complete. In 2024 the two grape varieties sit almost as equals – cabernet sauvignon (53%) and shiraz (47%) with sourcing led by Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Padthaway. Oak remains, as it tends to be, American oak hogsheads (34% new). So far this is classic 389 in the making. In the glass it remains thus, old school, warm and inviting with no sharp notes, no angles, just a lovely roundness of generosity. A core of ripe, lush sweet berries grounds the wine and with it comes tiers of vanillin toast, coffee ground, dark chocolate, liquorice, hints of crushed herbs. And oak, let’s spend a moment on the oak – 13 months American oak hogsheads (34% new) – because too often American oak and its brash boldness can be viewed as a negative, but with 389 the art of the blender upholds its place which is as a condiment, an uplifting contribution, that never leads but acts as background support. Indeed, the oak tannins are mighty smart and fine, too. Another 389 classic beauty. 2026 – 2050. 97 Points
by Tom Kline
53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Shiraz sourced from Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Padthaway; matured for 13 months in American oak hogsheads (34% new). Often referred to as ‘Baby Grange’, Bin 389 remains one of Australia’s defining Cabernet Shiraz blends, marrying Cabernet’s structure with Shiraz’s generosity in a style that has become synonymous with Penfolds. Blackcurrant, blackberry and plum lead before cedar, mocha, black olive, liquorice and dark spice broaden the profile. The palate is generous yet balanced, layering cassis, blackberry, plum, cocoa and savoury spice over long, ripe tannins. Fresh acidity prevents the richness from becoming heavy, carrying the wine through an impressively persistent finish. Another complete and compelling release. 95 Points
Lisa Cardelli is an Italian-born wine professional who has been based in Melbourne since 2010. She worked as a sommelier in some of the city’s leading fine-dining restaurants for over ten years before leaving hospitality to become a wine sales representative. Lisa is now a journalist for Il Globo, the newspaper for Italians in Australia and around the world, where she also curates her own wine column. She continues to write about wine for both local and international publications and is on track to become one of the few prolific bilingual wine writers in Australia. A certified WSET Educator, she teaches at various venues across Melbourne. She also judges at local wine shows and for the prestigious Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards. Lisa was the recipient of the 2022 Wine Communicators of Australia award for Best Published Feature Article, a finalist for the same award in 2024, the recipient of the 2022 Sydney Royal Wine Professional Development Scholarship sponsored by the Len Evans Foundation, and one of twelve carefully selected Len Evans Scholars in 2024.
