Freddy R. Troya

9.3

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2023
South Australia 🇦🇺

Overview
A more tightly wound and concentrated expression of Bin 389, showcasing the same Cabernet-Shiraz framework (Cabernet for backbone, Shiraz for richness) but delivered with greater tension, density, and youthful drive. This vintage leans more serious and structured than 2022, highlighting the fascinating impact vintage conditions have on balance, ripeness, and extraction in agricultural wines.

Aromas & Flavors
Intense blackcurrant, crushed blackberry, dark cherry, and graphite dominate the aromatics, layered with fresh cedar, cocoa nib, and subtle minty spice. The palate is compact and powerful, showing darker fruit concentration, savory spice, and tightly coiled oak structure that promises excellent evolution with time.

Mouthfeel
Full-bodied and more compact than the 2022. Tannins are firmer and more youthful, giving a punchier, more linear profile. The wine feels energetic and focused, with impressive density and length, clearly built for further integration.

Food Pairings
Char-grilled steak or venison. Slow-braised beef cheeks. Pepper-crusted lamb. Smoked meats and firm aged cheeses.

Verdict
A bolder, more muscular Bin 389 that trades immediate plushness for intensity and aging potential. A striking reminder of how vintage variation shapes personality, same blueprint, very different expression.

Did You Know?
Penfolds sources fruit for Bin 389 from multiple South Australian regions, blending different terroirs and climates to build complexity, consistency, and layered structure across vintages.

🍷 Personal Pick
If you enjoy tracking wine evolution, this is a fantastic candidate for short-to-mid-term cellaring, revisit in a few years to watch the structure melt into harmony. Also check my previous 2022 review!
— 7 months ago

George Hesse

9.0

This is another blend. But this time it’s Cab, Syrah and Mourvèdre. — 5 years ago

Manchester Sheldon

9.1

Limestone and flint, some fresh turned earth. It opens with tannins, black peppercorns, purple plum skin, and ends with light red fruit, possibly pomegranate. — 7 years ago

Andrea Watt

9.1

Full red fruit and spice with smoke and woody honey. Smooth as silk. — 8 years ago

Paul J

9.3

Lovely yellow hue opens up a powerful nose filled with dirt, grass, rice, and honeysuckle. The palate proceeds to get smothered with a perfect amount of oak coupled with honey and lemon. A mildly tart finish makes this the perfect summer white. Great recommendation by the local rep and Happy 4th to everyone!....a mid-dinner update....massive green apple comes through with food! — 9 years ago

Tom Kobylarz

9.8

If there were ever an archetypical Syrah, Jamet's Cote-Rotie would be a strong candidate. To me this is a pure expression of a classic Northern Rhone Syrah. It is not a single site, but a blend of terroirs, encompassing over 20 sites mostly from hard rock schist bedrock with little to no topsoil. There is NO Viognier in this wine like one might expect from most Cote-Rotie that might have 1-5% co-fermented.

Importantly, there is also a lot less of the oak character that can dominate and overwhelm many Northern Rhone wines. The oak maturation, while not short at 22 months, only uses 15% new oak with no trace of it on the palate as it is perfectly integrated. Grape bunches are whole cluster fermented and macerated for up to 3 weeks.

The 2007 we have here was drinking superbly for a young wine, showing lively and racy layers of peppercorn spice, roast beef, and warm blackberry and currant fruit from the hot 2007 vintage. While from a warm vintage, not a hair is out of place. Density and purity exude from the nose and hint at what a brilliant future this wine has. Perfect acidity and fleshy ripe tannin provide the backbone structure for father time to peel back the layers of this beauty. I will be chceking back in 5 years at the earliest. — 10 years ago

Jimmy Smith

Director, West and North London Wine School

9.2

2011: all varieties. Meaty, lavender, garden herbs, smoky, but still very vibrant red fruit. Lovely vibrancy of red fruit and all Mouvedre and Grenache aromatics. Sweet fruit, juicy acidity, hot indian spice and liquorice. Plum, cherry, spiced. Quite ready now. — 11 years ago

Luis Arguero (@winefromAtoZ)

9.1

Amazing taste! Perfect color, perfect structure, great spice, love the fruit! Enjoy with my mochi ice cream dessert — 11 years ago

J Ham

10

Great. Rich. Complex. Perfect balance of spice, fruit, and mineral. — 13 years ago

Vino Joe

8.9

Was hoping to like this but it was a solid if unmemorable CA Cab. Nothing much to say which is all I have to say…. — 4 years ago

Barb

9.3

2012 tasting great. Solid dark fruits, nice balance. — 5 years ago

Pat A

9.1

Nice easy drinking red. $9 a glass as victorias — 5 years ago

Becca

8.9

Mild lemon, what yah think of when you think table white wine — 7 years ago

Randy

9.5

Light, small spice, almost an effervescence. Delicious and versatile — 8 years ago

Alex Bäcker

10

Delicious! — 9 years ago

Philip May

9.0

Beautiful black currant aroma and velvety mouthfeel. Love it! — 10 years ago

J Ferrugia

9.4

This is a superb Silver Oak vintage & this magnum was the finest of the producer I have sampled. The '94 has a Deep rich fruit forward nose with currants, spice & ripe fruit. Open 40 minutes.. Bursting on the .palate with dark cherry and spice.. Hints of old leather & currants. This a huge wine at its peak. The magnum preserved it beautifully. A classic Cali cabernet & a delight with tenderloin of beef. If ya gottem', drinkem'.. You wont be disappointed if you have kept a magnum. — 10 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.1

2000 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon:
From Jay. Dark ruby red in color. A preponderance of black forest fruits on the nose mixed with cedar and some menthol and a touch of spice. Rich blackcurrant, black cherries and traces of vanilla on the palette. This is a solid effort from Ridge and although it does not have the makings of an epic wine it will certainly improve with time. Drink 2017 to 2030. 91/100


— 11 years ago

M. Ventre

9.2

This is has definitely come together more since November. — 11 years ago

Alex in NYC

8.9

Barnyard, mulch on nose, pretty funky, sour cherry, blackberry, raisin, some spice, good, long, grippy finish — 12 years ago

Austin Blackwell

9.3

Strawberry, black cherry jolly rancher, nutmeg, and earth aromas. Strawberry and cherry palate with great acidity and juicy palate. — 4 years ago

Henry Boshoff

9.3

Nice and spicy... — 5 years ago

TheSkip

9.2

So young and primary. But so delightful!!!! — 6 years ago

Shay A

9.5

Night 1 of the Fall WNH event in San Antonio. What a killer start to the extended weekend, all courtesy to Shawn and Jennifer for hosting! Tonight was Italian wines.

Another in the running for WOTN. Maple and rich! Cherry and vanilla tobacco on the nose with herbal spice and a strawberry tart finish. Young and acidic! There is a very underripe red fruit dominant profile here. Crazy how young it tastes for 23yrs old. Bravo @Shawn R ! — 8 years ago

with Mike, David and 5 others

Nick Apone

9.5

Freak. Beauty. — 9 years ago

John Howard

Harvest production at Hirsch and Cobb Wineries

9.6

Mari and I are proud to have worked on this one. Cherry trees, fresh raspberries, clean soil, red flowers, rose with stems, light toast, cotton candy, iron. Insanely great! — 9 years ago

with Mari

Julia Weinberg

9.3

This is an inarguably great wine. And all the more impressive to me that it is stylistically not my typical leanings. Serious power, depth, balance - still so young - and I'll be damned if this wine isn't mindblowing in 10 years. Bravo @Fritz Hatton — 11 years ago

R. Addison Wehrfritz

8.9

When compared side by side with Liparita's less expensive Rutherford Cab release, V Block can be likened to a parent's favorite offspring. Although both wines may share similar genetic material and upbringing, V Block has gained more dimension and self confidence through increased care and attention from infancy. #ridiculous :p — 11 years ago

Robert McCall

9.4

Violets, smoked game, blue/black fruits for days. Deeyyyamn Mike! Snacktakular. — 12 years ago

Patrick Quinlan

10

FOGO w/ the beagles — 13 years ago