2016 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz Bin 389
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Tasting notes
So voluptuous on the nose! Cherry chocolate and liquorice. Black cherries. Hedonistic, sumptuous, seductively ripe fruit that gets freshness from a cool, aromatic lift of spruce buds and fennel seed. The (strong) tannins give some sense of 'clad', a barest semblance of decency to a wine that is almost indecently ripe. ('Put your clothes back on', is what I actually wrote, in the moment.) Feels as if it's just ready to start its drinking window. (TC)
Critic scores
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Inky, ruby color. Highly perfumed, smoke- and spice-accented aromas of ripe dark fruits, pipe tobacco and cedary oak are lifted by a suave floral topnote. Offers concentrated cassis, cherry liqueur and floral pastille flavors, with zesty acidity and a kick of peppery spices adding back-end lift. At once rich and lively, finishing with strong, spicy thrust, repeating minerality and youthfully firm tannins.
51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Shiraz. From Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Coonawarra. Aged 12 months in American oak hogsheads (37% new). TA 6.9 g/l, pH 3.64. Rich bramble fruit with milk chocolate, sweet spice and a lovely fennel character on the mid palate. Firmly tannic, and with great persistence that moves into a very savoury finish after all that primary ripeness. Stately length. Just stays the right side of oak influence – the sweet vanilla character is apparent but not overt. Long, fibrous finish. (RH)
51% Cabernet, 49% Shiraz. Fruit from Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Wrattonbully. Lustrous crimson. Sweet, ripe nose. Camphor and fermented blackberries. Lots of fruit on the mid palate. Leathery, dry finish. Quite demanding at the moment. Very Penfolds style with lots of acid and tannin. Needs time. (JR)
About the producer
Penfolds is Australia’s most famous wine producer, known best for their iconic top wine, Grange. First produced commercially in 1952, Grange has since gone on to become one of the world’s most famous fine wines. In 2001, the wine was listed as an Australian heritage icon.