2004 Penfolds Bin 128

Region: Coonawarra

Country: Australia
Alcohol: 14%
Price: €13,00
Closure: Cork

Penfolds has been around since 1844 and over the subsequent 160-odd years has done much to put Australian wines on the world map. Their most famous wine is undoubtedly their flagship bin 95 (otherwise known as Grange), creation of the brilliant (and stubborn) Max Schubert. The naming of wines after bin numbers stems from the days when the wines were still stored in numbered underground storage bins at Penfolds Magill winery.

Penfolds has continued the tradition of labelling wines with bin numbers, among them the Bin 128. Formerly known as Bin 128 Claret, Bin 128 could be described as an oddity among the Penfolds range as it is one of the few wines where the grapes do not come from multiple regions; all grapes are sourced from the Coonawarra region. The wine is a cool climate Shiraz that is matured exclusively in Franch Oak.

I purchased this to assess whether I like it enough to purchase a case to stash in my cellar for a few years. This wine is, in my own humble opinion, a little too young to drink now.

Here's what I thought of it:

The first thing that hit me about this wine is the whimp of a cork used by Penfolds - what a joke. Anyway on to the wine. Really deep, dense red in colour with purple hues. almost black. The nose shows dark plummy, almost cassis-like fruit with some oak there in the background too. Medium in weight on the palate this wine shows nicely ripe dark berry, curranty, plummy fruit along with some hints of white pepper. This is all nicely framed with toasty oak. A lengthy, drying finish completes a really nice wine (though you need to appreciate some oak). Given the quality this is really quite decent value for money.