2017 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz Bin 389
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Tasting notes
Saturated ruby. Displays an array of spice-accented black and blue fruit and floral scents, along with suggestions of coconut, pipe tobacco and woodsmoke. Broad and fleshy on entry, offering appealingly sweet cherry liqueur, cassis, bitter chocolate and exotic spice flavors that firm up steadily through the back half. Shows fine definition and spicy cut on a long, smoke- and floral- driven finish.
Critic scores
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Attractive and pronounced nose, notes of grilled bacon and meat with a leathery gamey note. There’s plenty of freshness and rounded but firm tannins. Excellent cedary oak spice and a linear and polished mouthfeel. (AC)
Close to an even split of each, the 2017 Cabernet Shiraz, which is always aged in the prior year’s Grange barrels, is a beauty, offering full-bodied, powerful notes of blackcurrants, tobacco leaf, chocolate, toasted spices, and gravelly minerality. Deep, beautifully concentrated, and balanced, it has nicely integrated acidity, ripe yet present tannins, and, again, just terrific overall balance. It also builds beautifully with time in the glass and is a seriously good red blend from this team. Drink it any time over the coming 10-15 years.
The 2017 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz is only 54-46 in favor of Cabernet Sauvignon, yet it shows pronounced mint and cassis aromas. The Shiraz is more apparent in the mouth, where it fills out the full-bodied palate with velvety richness and plush tannins before fading a bit quickly on the finish. This vintage includes fruit from McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Padthaway and Wrattonbully.
About the producer
Penfolds is Australia’s most famous wine producer, known best for their iconic top wine, Grange. First produced commercially in 1952, Grange has since gone on to become one of the world’s most famous fine wines. In 2001, the wine was listed as an Australian heritage icon.