Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2008

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. Bin 389 also exemplifies the judicious balance of fruit and oak.

South Australia - with parcels from Barossa
Valley, Coonawarra, Langhorne Creek and
McLaren Vale. Cabernet Sauvignon (52%), Shiraz (48%). This wine was matured for 13 months in 34% new American oak hogsheads, with the balance in seasoned American oak.

A welcome wet winter and a moderate, dry spring
encouraged steady early season growth, setting up for a text-book harvest. Cool and dry conditions during the start of summer were described as perfect, conducive to excellent flavour, colour and phenolic development. A record 15 day heatwave, starting on the 3rd March created a major interruption, inducing a vintage of two distinct halves - a statement pertaining to the profound differences in quality of fruit picked before and after the heat spell. Weighted-average vintage charts may not do justice to the South Australian harvest in 2008. Penfolds reds will.