Coming from my second favourite South Australian red wine
vintage of the decade, the 2006 Bin 389 was a well-regarded wine on release. I
have read some recent reviews stating it is looking a bit big and bold, so I was
interested to see how the wine had developed in the bottle:
Sweet cedar and vanilla oak on the nose with
considerable sweet, dark spices /all spice: seductive, perfumed, and heady.
On the palate, a nice mix of powerful sweet, dark
fruits: considerable blackberry, blackcurrents, cassis and aniseed. Initially,
the tannins are robust, though softened somewhat with more
air. The wine finishes with nice length, sweet with traces of oaky milk chocolate
and spiced mocha. At this stage of its development, a powerful, sweet and seductive wine. It may not please the purists, cool climate cognoscenti or the sultans of subtle, but it will seduce or at least satisfy a majority of Australian red wine drinkers. Interested to see how it ages, given the oodles of nice fruit and oak on display.
Rating: 95pts
RRP: $55-65
ABV: 14.5%Website: http://www.penfolds.com/
