Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2019
- 96
- $100
- Drink by: 2024 - 2045
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389. Never ever lets you down. Sourced from Padthaway, McLaren Vale, the Barossa, Wrattonbully and Coonawarra, this vintage is 53% Cabernet and 47% Shiraz. 12 months in American hogsheads, a quarter of them new.
Dark magenta with a purple rim. Early days, of course, but this wine is already exhibiting more complexity than most. Warm earth, animal hide, truffles, dark chocolate, beautifully integrated oak, a hint of garden herbs and of a malty chocolate note. Such a gorgeous seductive character. Seamless and supple. Bright acidity in the background. The intensity is maintained on a very long finish. Silky tannins and plenty of them. Good concentration. This wine is so well structured and so impressively balanced. This is a 389 which offers a great deal now but so much more if you can put it away for a decade or two.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
