2024 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz

Other Reviews……
The wine that very much epitomises the concept of blending. 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Shiraz, the fruit has been sourced from Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Padthaway. The oak used for maturation is a mix of new and older, all American oak hogsheads (34% new), for a period of 13 months. This is an exceptional 389. Black/maroon in colour with an opaque blood red rim, this is dense yet focused, intense and yet impeccably balanced. The nose offers aromas of charcuterie, bay leaves, cigar boxes, cassis, black fruits, chocolate, aniseed, dried herbs and tapenade. Exhibiting good early complexity, this is taut, polished and focused. There are hints of vanillin oak, but they are just lurking in the background, and the wine is beautifully integrated. A complete wine. There is a creamy texture, great length and silky tannins with the intensity maintained throughout. Wonderful stuff. For enjoying over the next twenty-five to thirty years. Every chance it will step up even further over that period. 2026 – 2056.
97 Points
Ken Gargett – WinePilot.com

This year's release of the much-loved Bin 389 sees a blend of 53/47% cabernet sauvignon/shiraz sourced across four regions and matured for 13 months in American oak hogsheads, 34% new. It's quite a tautly framed, 'classic' 389 release – fruit-pure, assured as always, and one that will have a long cellaring life. Dark and black berry fruits are suffused with sweet baking spices, roasting meats, licorice, dark chocolate, earth, violet, kirsch, blueberry pie, dried tobacco and barrel spice. The palate is layered, fruit pure and precise, with a medium tannin heft and an impressive length of flavour on the back end. This is one for those with patience. A classic. Drink by 2050.
96 Points
Dave Brookes - James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion

This vintage comprises 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Shiraz from Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Padthaway, matured for 13 months in American oak hogsheads (34% new).
The 2024 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz is sometimes (was?) referred to as "Baby Grange," partly because some components are matured in barrels previously used for the preceding vintage of Grange. First made in 1960 by Max Schubert, the wine combines Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, bringing together Cabernet structure with Shiraz richness. The style is typically associated with a generous mid-palate—boosted or amplified by the élevage vessels of American oak—and a balance between fruit character and oak maturation. The 2024 vintage in South Australia has so far been sensationally exciting, and so I approach this iconic wine with positive anticipation. It's black and dark on the nose, with licorice and dark chocolate, crushed ant and black peppercorns. The palate is powerful, concentrated, impenetrable and long. It is gravelly and intense, as is key to the style. This is a very good rendition, though its best days are in front of it. It ages almost just as well as Grange, so 20 years seems very conservative. My vintage is 1986, and it continues to drink well today, in 2026. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink 2029-2049.
95+ Points
Erin Larkin – Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate