Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, Penfolds 2013

Composed of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Shiraz, the Cabernet / Shiraz Bin 389 has a deep garnet-purple color and a nose of cherry and blackberry with a cassis undercurrent plus touches of pencil lead, cedar and Mediterranean herbs. The palate delivers a structured style with a firm, taut backbone, great freshness and a long, iron ore-laced finish.

Mix Cabernet with Shiraz, take away most of the new oak, and suddenly you have what is for me a much more interesting wine, the 2013 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz: infinitely subtler aromatic complexity, and deep, Australian flavours of true profundity: forest edge leaf litter, saline red fruits, plant sap density and some serious tannin.