Bin 389 is often referred to as ‘Poor Man’s Grange’ or ‘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 to forge Penfolds solid reputation with red wine drinkers. Combining the structure of Cabernet Sauvignon with the richness of Shiraz, Bin 389 also exemplifies the judicious balance of fruit and oak.

This 53/47% blend was matured for 12 months in American hogsheads (25% new). Primarily from the Limestone Coast, which had a superb vintage, plus some McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley. A full-on symphony of sultry dark fruits, spice, dark chocolate and licorice, the tannin and oak made to measure. Drink to: 2044; Price: $100.00; Date: Oct 2021; Alcohol: 14.5%; Rating: 97 Points; James Halliday; The Weekend Australian Magazine

Padthaway, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully & Barossa Valley. I'm a card-carrying member of the Bin 389 lovers club. Known affectionately as baby Grange, Bin 389 has just celebrated its 60th birthday. This youthful example is one of the better vintages I have tried but if you think it is good now, wait and see what it tastes like in another decade or two. Date Tasted: November 2021; Drink: 2021 to 2049; Price: $139.99; Alcohol: 14.5%; Rating: 97 Points; Bob Campbell MW; The Real Review

Deep crimson. Fresh blackcurrant, mulberry, black cherry, dark chocolate aromas with roasted chestnut, cedar, liquorice notes. Full bodied and evenly balanced wine with inky cassis, mulberry black cherry fruits, fine grainy slightly grippy tannins, attractive mid-palate volume and roasted chestnut cedar wood notes. Finishes vigorously firm with plentiful sweet fruit notes. Quite muscular in attack but has the density and the richness to carry the tannins. A dark horse vintage with the shape of Bin 389 and the torque of Bin 707. Rating: 96 Points; Andrew Caillard MW

Deep, dense, glass staining red/purple colour. The bouquet is very savoury mixing earthy, spicy, blackstrap licorice and toasty-barrel nuances, the palate savoury and drying, the more sapid and less fruity aspects typical of the Bin 389 style. There is a blackberry and cassis cabernet note in there too, when you hunt for it. Great intensity, concentration and focus, elegant, taut and long-lingering. A classic 389, ageworthy and very much in the style groove. Date Tasted: November 2021; Drink: 2023 to 2043; Price: $139.99; Alcohol: 14.5%; Rating: 96 Points; Huon Hooke; The Real Review

53/47% cabernet sauvignon/shiraz; from Padthaway, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully and the Barossa Valley. Matured 12 months in 25% new American oak hogsheads. There is a resolute conviction to Bin 389, a confident assuredness that transcends its seasons like no other wine around it in the Penfolds line-up, its consistency grounded in the almost even marriage of its 2 constituents. The 2019 vintage exemplifies this, a seamless harmony between the tension and fine-boned structure of cabernet and the body and depth of shiraz, yet embraced here in seamlessly interlocked harmony. A sea of glorious Penfolds tannins float a finish that is both expansive and far-reaching. Another grand 389 for the cellar! Drink to: 2049; Price: $100.00; Date Tasted: July 2021; Alcohol: 14.5%; Rating: 96 Points, Tyson Stelzer; James Halliday Wine Companion

Grapes sourced from Padthaway, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Wrattonbully and the Barossa Valleyy. 53% cabernet sauvignon, 47% shiraz. All American oak, 25% new. Seamless release. It draws everything together in the most agreeable of ways. Currants and plums, mint and various fragrant herbs, vanilla, cedar, blood orange and licorice. The sweet core of fruit is extended by the tannin rather than abrupted. It’s in the zone. It feels complete. And that blood orange note, choc-orange almost but not quite, evident on both the nose and in the mouth, is quite mesmerizingly delicious. Tasted: July 2021; Alcohol: 14.5%; Price: $100; Closure: Screwcap; Drink: 2026-2038+; Rated: 95 Points; Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front