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!
— 5 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Dense crimson in colour - impenetrable. Strong aromas of mint. The excessive oak influence in Penfolds reds early in life has settled down after 15 years. All the individual components early on are now integrated settling in for a long life. Penfolds say to 2040. Ripe blackcurrant with plum, dark chocolate and liquorice notes. Bin 407 came about because of an embarrassment of Cabernet riches even after their flagship Bin 707. An excellent Cab - I now have 5 left for the coming decade or so. — 6 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

Deep crimson in colour. Notes of blackberry and other black fruits, quite bold for a Coonawarra (cool climate) Shiraz. In this warmer year of 2008 in South Australia this wine tastes more like a Barossa or McLaren Vale Shiraz than a Coonawarra Shiraz. Dry herbal notes and verging on full bodied. Being a Penfolds Bin No. red it will easily pass 20 years in the cellar. Hasn’t got the usual spice and pepper of a Bin 128 in this warmer year. — a year ago

Sandra

9.4

Crisp a bit fruity, light and good aftertaste — 2 years ago

"Odedi"

9.4

#AgedWineTuesday

Dark purple in color with a purplish rim.

Gorgeous nose of black currants, cooked plums, figs, dried fruits, cedar, light vanilla, turmeric, fennel, chocolates, tobacco, licorice, peppercorn, coffee, herbs and Mediterranean spices.

Medium plus in body with medium acidity, elegant and smooth.

Dry on the palate with blackberries, black currants, plums, cooked cherries, cedar, vanilla, spices, espresso, tobacco leaf, earth and dark coffee.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy pomegranates.

This 18 year old Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Australia is drinking so nicely now. Fruit forward and concentrated.

Showing great complexity, especially on the nose. Spicy and interesting. Rich, yet elegant.

I did not decant it, but left it in the bottle to open up. Delicious right out of the bottle, and better after 30 minutes of airtime.

Loved the nose here, and kept smelling on it for a while.

Wine enthusiast 96 points. Robert Parker 99 points.

Thank you John for sharing this with me.

Nicely balanced and good by itself as a sipping wine.

A blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon and 44% shiraz. Aged for 13 months in new American Oak barrels. Bottled in April 2008.

13.5% alcohol by volume.

94 points.

$650. — 4 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Oldest in the Penfolds portfolio, Wine includes fruit from Barossa, McLaren Vale, Padthaway, Clare and Wrattonbully vineyards, aged 12 months in American oak, 7% new. Deep Ruby color with aromas of dark berry fruits and sweet spice. On the palate flavors of blackberry, plum and cherry with cacao, espresso and vanilla oak. Vivid acidity, ripe fine tannins, long finish ending with fruit and spice, very nice! Good value with aging potential. — 5 months ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.4

Sourced from several regions, pale lemon color with aromas of stone and tropical fruits, spice, floral and citrus notes. On the palate flavors of apple, peach & apricot with notes of honeysuckle and citrus zest wrapped in savory toasty biscuit notes. Smooth long finish, well balanced, nice acidity, ending with fruit, yeasty and mineral character. Nice! — 6 months ago

Ben Scholtz

9.1

Had this with great friends in Thailand for Thanksgiving in 2025!
Nune, Nan, Fran, wife & kids!
Best night! — 7 months ago

Bobbi Jo Broxson

9.2

Really nice, even on the second day — 8 months ago

with Patrick

"Odedi"

9.4

#AgedWineTuesday

Dark ruby in color with a wide reddish rim. Not showing much age.

Beautiful nose of blueberries, blackberries, plums, cooked cherries, spices, licorice, cedar, earth, chocolates, vanilla, rhubarb and black pepper.

Medium plus in body and soft, with medium acidity and long legs.

Dry on the palate with black currants, black plums, cherries, toast, cedar, light vanilla, mediterranean spices, licorice, chocolates, tobacco, herbs, earth and peppercorn.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.

This is a gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia. Rich and elegant. Fruit forward and complex. Nicely balanced with a nice mouthfeel. Spicy and entertaining.

Good right out of the bottle, and better after 60 minutes of airtime.

Robert Parker 91 points. Wine Spectator 91 points.

This 23 year old is drinking beautifully now and will continue to drink nicely in the next few years.

I've had a few vintages of this wine and it is very consistent.

Good by itself as a sipping wine or with food like lamb dishes.

100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were aged in all new American oak barrels for 14 months.

14.5% alcohol by volume.

94 points.

$225. — 9 months ago

Alessandro Dalle Carbonare

9.4

Barossa Valley Shiraz - 100% French oak — 2 years ago

LM Segal

9.5

A global blend that had me completely stumped. The only thing I got right is that it’s delicious! Thanks, Joe. Can’t wait to try another in 5-10 yrs — 4 years ago

with Joe

Jeffrey Ritterson

9.2

Deep purple, 78% cab, 22% Shiraz. Vanilla, oak, licorice, dark chocolate, blackberry. Punchy yet smooth. — 4 years ago

Angelo Casagrande

9.0

Big and muscular, but I wouldn’t call it jammy or a fruit bomb. Maybe the mataro mellowed it a bit? I like Aussie Shiraz, and Penfolds is usually very good ( as was this). Big plum/ cherry action. Thanks bro. — 4 years ago

Paul T, Missing My Beautiful Wife 24/7

9.8

Another bottle off my bucket list.
First time tasting a Grange so nothing to compare it to, no idea how it compares to another vintage but it was definitely unique. I can’t think of anything I could compare it to. I didn’t want to lose the flavors by having food with it, just enjoyed through out the day and seeing how it developed. My rating might be high since I’m a rookie Granger. Latest review from Decanter

99
Decanter
Review Date: 02/2025
Read All Reviews
Mint, cream and distant woodsmoke on a cold day combine on this supremely fragrant, intense and pure nose. Ripe, dark fruit has flushed completely with that cool sense of mint and the creaminess of American oak, just as the tannins have fused completely, presenting a serene, elegant flow that creates a gorgeous aromatic unity. This comes with magnetic, gravitational pull that draws you in; close your eyes and you are in Australia. A wine of immense finesse and elegance, of immense youthfulness and expression at 35 years of age. Wow! (AK)

@Bob McDonald @Somm David T @Ron R — 6 months ago

Jan de Weerd

9.8

The times I helt a bottle like this in my hands, I can probably count on only one hand. Even for Delectable this is a rare occasion because it didn’t know how to correctly recognize it. When a wine connects like this, lifts you off the ground and takes you to a beautiful place, you know it is good. Intense, but perfectly balanced, so many instruments playing that still echo for minutes in a lingering finish. 26 years old yet so vibrant and wild with dark punchy fruits encapsulated by aged mahogany wood that released different flavors every time I took a sip… yeah… life is good. Offered by a friend who loves wine and even more loves to share! — 7 months ago

with Skip and Tammy

Neil Valenzuela

9.3

Incredible wine! Deep purple color- almost inky. Aroma of blackberries, cassis, vanilla and violets. Black fruit on the palate, plum, baking spices with a lovely finish.

🏅96 Points - Wine Spectator
🏅95 Points - Wine Advocate — 9 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.7

Nutty Aromas of cashews and almonds. Leesy / some sulphides - struck match. On the palate a note of pineapple along with all of the other complexity of flavours. See previous Delectable notes for this wine. This won the James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge in 2016 from over 600 entries proving that Penfolds white program is catching up to its esteemed red wine program. My last of the 2015 Chardonnay. — a year ago

Mark Osmers

9.3

Beautiful Napa grown structure with elegant oak aged flavor. Black cherry and a bit of plum.
A treat — 2 years ago

Tom Garland

9.5

Legendary cabernet tasting with Jay Fletcher, MS.

2017 Heitz Cellar
2016 Yalumba, the Caley, Australia
2016 Beaulieu Vineyard clone 6, Rutherford
2009 Catena Zapata, Argentina
2018 Gaja. Darmagi. Piedmont
2013 Penfolds bin 707, Australia
2014 Chateau Pape Clement, Bordeaux
2015 Rampola, vigna D'alceo. Tuscany
2013 Duckhorn, the discussion, Napa
2017 Chateau pichon lalande, Bordeaux

The Penfolds and the Beaulieu clone 6 were the BOM! — 4 years ago

with Brenda