1996 Penfold's Bin 389 Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon

[newsguy]

1996 Penfold’s Bin 389: Opened bottle, decanted (for sediment) and starting pouring immediately. Slightly brickish red, with orange at rim. Very good aromas of cedar, plums, licorice, red fruit and a touch of prunes. Very good flavors of same, and again, a pruney note. Yep, this wine was slightly oxidized, and that became more apparent with time. Was a bit of a mysetery as to why, because I would have bet it would have been several more years before this wine started on the downslope. It was still a big wine with big fruit and good structure. Cork looked great and storage has been fine. Had a bottle of this a year ago and it was singing (92 points). If you have some of this laying down, I would open a bottle within a week to see for yourself how it’s progressing. 87 points.

[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 04-30-2007).]