Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2016

"Deep crimson. Intense dark cherry and blackberry aromas with mocha and vanilla notes. Dense and chocolaty with sweet dark cherry, blackberry and pastille fruits, plentiful pippy al dente tannins, mid-palate richness/viscosity and mocha espresso notes. Finishes chewy, dense and minerally. Warm, generous and powerful with expressive tannins. Peak drinking 2025 to 2045+. "  Penfolds Rewards of Patience tasting panel 2021 - 5/5 rating

"Ah, now you've done it. Stop it, just stop it. You look at the Bin 407 release from this vintage and think: that's how it's done. And then you add Shiraz and call it Bin 389, and the palate is boosted, the length is still there, the tobacco notes still light up, and with vanilla and cherry-plum notes tickling the cassis into a riot it suddenly feels irrepressible, like the premiership's a cakewalk. It's not a John Holmes wine; it's not overdone. It' a wine to slip through your defences, is what it is. It's a cracker. This is why you blend cabernet with Shiraz."  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 96 points

"Deep, dense red/purple colour, with a bouquet of rich spice and chocolate and dark fruit aromas all well-balanced in the mix. The berries of cabernet and the earthy/spice of Shiraz are both identifiable. It's a very full-bodied, rich, dense, concentrated wine, with lashings of tannins which are firm and gripping on the finish. A very long carry. A very big wine, massively structured and impressive, with great power and ageing potential. A wine that manages to tread the fine line between big structure and softness and accessibility. Still, I would cellar it a few years before broaching. Drink 2021-2046."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 96 points

"Good colour, although not as striking as some of the other wines in the range; Likewise retains some elegance despite the clarion call of the cascade of fruit flavours. The fruit, oak, tannin and acid balance is impeccable, as is the length and drive of the palate. The savoury subtext is equally good. Drink by 2046."   James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 96 points

"Seamlessly welded together, which is becoming an increasingly common trait of Bin 389 in recent years, this is a wine which passes from Cabernet to Shiraz on the palate and there is no crossover whatsoever. The first half, fifty-point-something-per cent Cabernet, steps into the second half with no return. It is like an unshaken bottle of vinaigrette with the oil and vinegar beautifully laying one on the other, in no need of agitation because they are perfectly joined along a common boundary. 18.5+/20 (2022 – 2040)."  Matthew Jukes - 18.5+/20 points

"Medium-deep colour. Classical Bin 389 with fresh blackcurrant, blackberry, dark chocolate aromas and roasted chestnut, mocha notes. Deep set dark chocolate, elderberry, blackcurrant fruits, plentiful fine chocolatey textures, lovely mid-palate buoyancy and mocha, roasted coconut oak complexity. Finishes long and fruit sweet with a bitter firm chocolatey plume. Drink 2020-2040."  Andrew Caillard MW - 95 points

"Sumptuous and stylish; dark plums, cassis and redcurrants and polished oak backed by notes of baked earth. Long and focused, with a fiery core of impactful fruit and a crunchy spine of drying tannins backed by spicy, meaty undertones, it finishes with drive and structure. A genuine Bin 389. Drink: 2036-2046+."  Jeremy Oliver - 95 points

"A Bin 389 that calls for considerable time to uncoil and fan out, it's currently reticent and shy, with a deep core of spicy, dark blackberry shiraz uniting seamlessly with the blackcurrant depth of cabernet, lingering with impressive line and length. A super fine yet consummately enduring core of tannins promise great staying power. This is no showstopper Bin 389 on release, but don't let this hold you back. Give it time and it will slowly, assuredly and most certainly come into its own. Drink 2031-2041."   Tyson Stelzer - 95 points

Penfolds Rewards of Patience tasting panel 2021 - 5/5 rating 

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, often known as 'Baby Grange', is named after its original binning compartment at Magill cellars. First produced in 1960, its history is connected with the development of Grange and Max Schubert's ambition to create what he called 'a dynasty of wines' for Penfolds. 

Early Bin 389 vintages were made with fruit from around the Adelaide foothills, including Auldana and Magill. According to retired Penfolds Senior Winemaker John Bird, a small portion of Morphett Vale fruit, parcels not used for Grange and sometimes McLaren Vale fruit were also included in the blend during the 1960s. After Penfolds vineyards around Adelaide were extensively pulled out to make way for urban development during the mid-1970s, Barossa Valley, particularly the Kalimna Vineyard,
became a dominant source of fruit.

Since the mid-1990s Bin 389 has drawn fruit from around South Australia, including Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, Padthaway, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek, Wrattonbully, Clare Valley and Robe. Exacting specifications of ripeness, classic Penfolds winemaking and strict classification of wines after maturation have ensured the style has remained consistent since the beginning.

Bin 389 epitomises Penfolds winemaking philosophy and the benefits of cross-varietal and multi-regional blending. Max Schubert always favoured warmer-climate fruit as a source for the wine. By marrying the perfume and chocolaty tannins of ripe cabernet sauvignon with opulent and fleshy shiraz he could achieve extra aromatic complexity, volume and palate richness. The style has been refined over the last 60 years through meticulous fruit selection, the introduction of new technology and winemaking refinements. During the 1960s, use of refrigeration and stainless steel enabled winemakers to preserve freshness; new membrane presses during the 1970s allowed gentler extraction of flavours and tannins.

Vineyard management practices and a rigorous fruit-grading system have also contributed to higher quality fruit. Nonetheless, the overall winemaking practices have not changed: the classical heading down in open fermenters, partial barrel fermentation and maturation in new and seasoned American oak (much used previously for Penfolds Grange and Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon) remain key Penfolds techniques. 

Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz remains one of Australia's most popular collectible red wines because of its consistency and long-term cellaring potential. 

The following text is taken from an article by Ken Gargett in Quill & Pad, https://quillandpad.com

Peter Gago has what many people in the wine world think is the best job on the planet. He is chief winemaker for Penfolds, based in South Australia and one of Australia’s oldest wine producers.

Max Schubert created Grange with the experimental first wine, the 1951, after he returned from Bordeaux and wanted to establish an Aussie First Growth. The story of Grange has been told many times, and as fascinating as it is I won’t rehash it again. Schubert ruled at Penfolds right through to the 1976 vintage, when he handed the reins to Don Ditter. Ditter made the wines right through to the 1986 vintage when John Duval stepped up. Duval was chief winemaker until the 2002 vintage, when he left to do his own thing, very successfully.

Since that time, Peter Gago has been the chief winemaker. It should be noted that although the role of chief winemaker at Penfolds will always be inextricably linked with Grange, there are a great many other wines in the portfolio for which this position assumes ultimate responsibility.

Alongside the winemaking, in which he is still heavily involved, a usual week in non-Covid times sees Gago flying around the world to tastings, dinners, events, festivals, and promotions. I suspect that only David Attenborough (outside of pilots and crew) has racked up more flying miles. I remember seeing him one day when he seemed even more pleased with the world than usual. Turns out he’d just run into his wife, Gail, now retired but a long-term and highly regarded member of the South Australian parliament, at the airport. Gago had not been aware that they would both be in the same country that week, let alone cross paths, such is his usual peripatetic lifestyle.

Gago has friends and admirers all around the globe, from the rich and famous to young, aspiring wine lovers, and will spend time talking to them all. I suspect that if he wanted to start dropping names, the din would reverberate for days, but you could not find a humbler man. Gago is a serious music buff and you’d be amazed at the number of rock stars who revere him, much in the way their fans might do for them (for instance, after crawling over broken glass to get a ticket to a Bruce Springsteen concert I saw Gago sitting in prime seats with Springsteen’s family, after which they went for dinner and knocked off a few bottles of Grange).

Gago is probably as close to a rock star himself in the world of wine, although perhaps more modest rather than flamboyant. And I have no idea if he can sing.

The thing that most amazes me with Gago is that every time you talk to him, he is bubbling with genuine enthusiasm, not just for Grange but for all his wines. He just loves what he is doing. One gets the feeling that every morning he wakes up and pinches himself to make sure it is real.

Among his many attributes, Gago has the gift of the gab like few others. Only once have I ever seen him lost for words and caught off guard. Many years ago, at the annual release – held in a very fancy location near the shores of Sydney Harbor; it is always a fancy location somewhere and also always includes great champagne to kick off the day as Gago is fanatical about the world’s best bubbles – the then current chairman or CEO of whichever corporate entity was then the owner of Penfolds attended the day. Forgive me for my failure to remember just where the corporate snakes and ladders left Penfolds that day and for failing to remember the relevant gentleman’s name. He had only been appointed as a temporary executive while the search for a more permanent one was ongoing, but unlike any of the CEOs before and after, this man had a genuine interest and came to a couple of tastings to learn.

Anyway, as we sipped our champagne on the lawns overlooking Sydney Harbor and chatted, our friend suddenly posed a question to Gago. He had been meaning to ask, he said, just how much Grange the company made. There were five or six writers in this little group and suddenly, every single one of us had pad and pen poised. The production of Grange is a national secret that is not to be disclosed under pain of death (general consensus puts it at, depending on the vintage, between 5,000 and 15,000 cases, with most releases in the mid range, but this is pure speculation).

Gago was at a loss. The boss of bosses had just asked him a direct question and Gago is far too polite not to answer but knew he couldn’t give that information out in public. He managed a fair bit of mumbling and generalizations and I think he suggested they meet later. Pads and pens all went back into bags, and we could not help grinning while Gago looked like he’d just swallowed a bad oyster.

Gago was born in England in 1957, but his family moved to Melbourne when he was only six years of age. Originally a math teacher (teaching is still a passion), he undertook a science degree at the University of Melbourne and then attended Roseworthy College, a famous Australian winemaking college, graduating as Dux (the highest ranking academic performance -ed), which will surprise no one.

In 1989 he joined Penfolds as a sparkling winemaker, working with Ed Carr, who has established a career in sparkling wine (now with Arras) as successful as Gago’s is with table wines. He moved to reds and quickly rose through the ranks until succeeding Duval in 2002. In the 73 years since Schubert was first appointed, Gago is only the fourth chief winemaker.

During his tenure, he has stacked up an extraordinary array of bling, as has Penfolds under his stewardship (Gago heads a team of eight winemakers for table wines and a couple more for fortifieds). He has several “Winemaker of the Year” awards from different entities and publications, both from Australia and abroad, but the accolades go well beyond that.

In 2017, in what is termed “the Queen’s Birthday Honors List,” he was awarded the highly prestigious Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for service to the wine industry. For non-Aussies, that is a big one! A year later, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia and named the Great Wine Capitals Ambassador for South Australia.

Very recently, Gago was awarded perhaps the most prestigious honor of all in the wine world: admission to the Decanter Hall of Fame (previously they honored the Decanter Man – or Woman – of the Year, but that changed). Decanter is a highly respected English wine magazine that established its hall of fame in 1984 with Serge Hochar from Château Musar in Lebanon the first recipient. There is only a single addition per year. Gago is the fourth Australian following Max Schubert in 1988, Len Evans in 1997, and Brian Croser in 2004. That two of the four chief winemakers from a single producer have made this list (Schubert and Gago) is unprecedented but shows just where Penfolds sits in the pantheon of wine producers around the globe.

And should you still remain unconvinced then take a moment to look at some of the names Gago has joined: Parker, Spurrier, Tchelistcheff, Robinson, Moueix, de Villaine, Antinori, Lichine, Gaja, Symington, Loosen, Guigal, Torres, Draper, Peynaud, Mondavi, and so many more. There is no question that the name Peter Gago sits very comfortably alongside them all.

What is most important is that across the board the Penfolds wines have never been better, and while it is a team effort, in the end we can thank Gago.

After the success of early sherries and fortified wines, founders Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold planted the vine cuttings they had carried on their voyage over to Australia. In 1844 the fledging vineyard was officially established as the Penfolds wine company at Magill Estate.

As the company grew, so too did Dr Penfold's medical reputation, leaving much of the running of the winery to Mary Penfold. Early forays into Clarets and Rieslings proved increasingly popular, and on Christopher's death in 1870, Mary assumed total responsibility for the winery. Mary's reign at the helm of Penfolds saw years of determination and endeavour.

By the time Mary Penfold retired in 1884 (ceding management to her daughter, Georgina) Penfolds was producing 1/3 of all South Australia's wine. She'd set an agenda that continues today, experimenting with new methods in wine production. By Mary's death in 1896, the Penfolds legacy was well on its way to fruition. By 1907, Penfolds had become South Australia's largest winery.

In 1948, history was made again as Max Schubert became the company's first Chief Winemaker. A loyal company man and true innovator, Schubert would propel Penfolds onto the global stage with his experimentation of long-lasting wines - the creation of Penfolds Grange in the 1950s.

In 1959 (while Schubert was perfecting his Grange experiment in secret), the tradition of ‘bin wines' began. The first, a Shiraz wine with the grapes of the company's own Barossa Valley vineyards was simply named after the storage area of the cellars where it is aged. And so Kalimna Bin 28 becomes the first official Penfolds Bin number wine.

In 1960, the Penfolds board instructed Max Schubert to officially re-start production on Grange. His determination and the quality of the aged wine had won them over.

Soon, the medals began flowing and Grange quickly became one of the most revered wines around the world. In 1988 Schubert was named Decanter Magazine's Man of the Year, and on the 50th anniversary of its birth, Penfolds Grange was given a heritage listing in South Australia.

Despite great success, Penfolds never rests on its laurels. In 2012 Penfolds released its most innovative project to date - 12 handcrafted ampoules of the rare 2004 Kalimna Block Cabernet Sauvignon.

Two years later, Penfolds celebrated the 170th anniversary – having just picked up a perfect score of 100 for the 2008 Grange in two of the world's most influential wine magazines. Today, Penfolds continues to hold dear the philosophies and legends – '1844 to evermore!'.

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