2020 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz
Producer: Penfolds
Region: McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Padthaway
Country: Australia
Grapes: 51% Cabernet, 49% Shiraz
Vintage: 2020
ABV: 14.5%
Vivino: 4.3
Drink By: 2042
Occasional Wine Note: This has been called the "Baby Grange," a reference to Penfolds' 100-point flagship wine that comes in around the $800 per bottle mark. But this really stands on its own and could be a flagship wine for so many other producers. It's big, bold, and absolutely ageable for decades. Ripe dark fruits, chocolate, vanilla, and lots of savory notes, not to mention those chewy tannins. Take a bite into this beauty or cellar it for a decade or two. This is a brilliant specimen.
Wine Advocate
Critic Score: 96
Looking in on the 389 can be "'can be," she says, parenthetically) a good insight into what we can expect from the upcoming Grange. Now, they are very different wines, no question, however, stylistically they have much in common and the illumination into the season that birthed the wines in each instance. Here, the 2020 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz has consummate polish and sleek tannins, imbued as they are with graphite, black tea, licorice and resin. The fruit is pure and black and chewy... gorgeous wine. And it lives for decades. This has always been a collector's dream and continues so through this vintage. Highly recommended.
James Suckling
Critic Score: 96
Very rich, ripe and intense, this has plenty of depth and is one of the strongest statements of Penfolds’ house style. Rich vanillin and sweetly spicy American oak on the nose, with chocolate, blueberry, violet, blackberry and iodine notes. The palate delivers quite approachable and supple texture, smoothly fleshy and inviting. Flavors of blackberry, blackcurrant and mulberry abound. Deep and ripe finish with nutty tannins to close. A blend of McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and Padthaway.