Tasting Notes

To further your Penfolds wine experience, vintage release tasting notes are written by Penfolds winemakers at the time of release. Each tasting note describes the wine's nose, palate and colour; the first marker of the wines journey in bottle. Each Penfolds wine has a unique history of which an excerpt is shared.

The Australia Release

Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2021

TASTE DESCRIPTION

Cabernet sauvignon (53%), Shiraz (47%). A kaleidoscope of aromas. First noted, sweet pastries, fruits of the forest and the faintest suggestion of formic acid. Max Schubert would approve. A flawless integration of the two varietals. Flavours of black and red fruit compote, cocoa powder sweetness and cold meats. Fine tannins reminiscent of oolong tea. Refreshing lift on the finish.

When to drink

Drinking well, but will improve with time. Peak drinking 2025 – 2055.

ORIGIN

McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, Wrattonbully, Padthaway.

QUOTES

“In a vintage as strong as 2021, parcels that might otherwise have found their way higher up the Penfolds totem pole are used to craft Bin 389, a wine that always benefits from the relegation of Grange and Bin 707 parcels at our post-vintage classification. This is one for collectors to double down on, with a drinking window that extends well into the second half of the century.”

- Andrew Baldwin, Penfolds Red Winemaker

SCORE

97

Awarded by Andrew Caillard MW and Ken Gargett.

Download (PDF 372 KB)

Bin 389 was often referred to as ‘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 forge Penfolds reputation with red wine drinkers by combining the structure of cabernet sauvignon with the richness of shiraz. Exemplifying the judicious balance of fruit and oak, Bin 389 highlights the generous mid-palate Penfolds is known for.