Penfolds "Bin 389" Cabernet-Shiraz 2018
(South Australia) - [JS 97] [DM 96] [VM 94] [WA 93] [WS 92]

Blend: 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Shiraz

97 Points - James Suckling:
"A blend of 57% cabernet sauvignon and 43% shiraz, this has a very impressively complete feel, a hallmark of the 2018 vintage wines, and there’s a myriad of characters with cabernet’s cedary and gently herbal notes sitting atop a core of rich red-plum and dark-berry shiraz fruit aromas. So integrated. The palate has a very silky texture, so plush and polished with a wealth of rich and intense dark-plum, dark-berry and blackcurrant flavors. The oak is completely soaked with ripe, fresh fruit. This is a great Bin 389. Drink over the next two decades. Screw cap." (July 2020)

96 Points - Decanter Magazine:
"Confident Cabernet (57%) leads this high-spirited, swirling dance, as a breezy wisp of blue and black berries waft over the earthy bulk of sturdy Shiraz. It’s a clever trick for such bright fruit to be contained by tannins in an interlocked embrace, without smothering the obvious exuberance of this marriage. Supple and nimble, it keeps shifting and changing in the glass. A truly beautiful blend.." - David Sly (Jul 2020)

96 Points - Bob Campbell
Very deep, dark red colour with a good tint of purple. The bouquet is sweetly super-ripe with loads of blackberry jam and fruit sweetness, the palate likewise sumptuously deep in fruit with oak keeping very much in the background. The flavour fills the mouth superbly and continues long into the aftertaste, harmonised by lashings of soft, ripe tannins. There are definite notes of cassis and herb from the cabernet component and the oak contributes a subtle trace of charred timber that complements the fruit. Sumptuous fruit sweetness. A ripping wine that seems to be less oak-marked than this wine traditionally is. (HH) (7/2020)

96 Points - James Halliday
This release marks the 60th anniversary of Bin 389. It is a 57/43% blend from McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Padthaway, Coonawarra, Robe and Wrattonbully, matured in American hogsheads (38% new). A perennial favorite of mine, though the price does cause me to blink. It has great color, and a supple mouthfeel that invests the wine with a hint of elegance, underlined by the fluid, flawless balance, the length a given. (JH) (8/2020)

94 Points - Vinous Media:
"Deep violet color. Cherry-cola, cassis, pipe tobacco, coconut and cured tobacco on the highly perfumed, smoke- and spice-accented nose. Sappy and impressively concentrated, offering an array of red and dark fruit preserve and spice flavors and hints of licorice, mocha and candied flowers. Closes very long and gently chewy, with resonating spiciness and slowly building tannins that add subtle grip." - Josh Raynolds (Dec 2021)

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"Hints of toasted coconut accent big cassis aromas on the nose of the 2018 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, which is a 57-43 blend this vintage. Full-bodied, with cherry flesh complementing the sterner cassis and tobacco notes, it's supple enough to be approachable now, yet with the concentration and requisite dusty tannins on the long finish to support more than a decade of aging." - Joe Czerwinski (Juy 2020)

92 Points - Wine Spectator:
"Polished and generous, oozing with details of blackberry pie, Earl Grey tea, black licorice, star anise and dried lavender, with more savory notes of cigar box, rosemary, cassis and black pepper. Accents of cream soda and salted caramel linger on the finish. Cabernet and Shiraz. Drink now through 2032. 18,086 cases imported." - MW (Nov 2020)