James Halliday: 97
Deep, dense crimson-purple; the profound bouquet offers every kind of black fruits imaginable, large and small, yet somehow leaves a space and air in the mix for more complex secondary characters to emerge given time - lots of it. The palate takes all this, and adds to it with barrel ferment characters introducing licorice and touches of wild herb. This wine fully lives up to the great expectations held of it (and the vintage). Arguably the bargain of the

Huon Hooke: 95
Ranked 2 of 24 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon tasted from South Australia
Deep red with a good purple tint; the aroma is well integrated with nothing standing out: nicely balanced spice and berry, smoke and toasty-barrel touches, earth and dark-plum and traces of black pepper. The palate is intense and full-bodied, with a good degree of elegance but also plenty of trad Penfolds bite and grip. A superbly rich, balanced and rounded wine; a complete item, and an outstanding Bin 389. The finish rolls on and on.

Past Accoaldes and Awards:

Tyson Stelzer: 97 (2010)
Depth and definition of fruit elevate 2010 among the great 389s of all time, displaying immaculate tension between concentration, vibrant lift and structural assuredness that make it both enticing right away and charge it with the stamina to live very long. Built around a core of Coonawarra cabernet and Barossa shiraz, with support from Wrattonbully, Robe, McLaren Vale, Padthaway and the Adelaide Hills, this is a 389 of such depth of colour that it barely shows a rim at all, and what there is of it is a luminescent purple. There is a core of immaculately ripe, sumptuous, even succulent fruit to the palate, yet eminently structured and impeccably poised, with beautifully fine and structurally honed tannins that promise to propel it very long into the future. A magnificent core of impeccably polished black cherries, glossy blackberries and liquorice straps retains a bright liveliness and monumental line and length. To quote Gago, This is the Bin 389 weve been waiting for!