What does the "BIN" stand for

[sgutte]

Sorry for the newbie question, but I'm new to Australian wines.

[Bucko]

The answer from Wine Facts:

Bin numbers are another form of branding wine, and have nothing to do with quality. They're most common on Australian wines, but I've seen them from New Zealand and from an East European producer (whose name I've forgotten).

The origins are very straightforward. Australian wineries used to store their wines in numbered compartments called 'bins' and they just started to name the wines after them. Later they simply devised numbers for their wines. Some wineries code them to refer to grape varietals, but others make them up. One wine maker told me that when they were looking for a bin number for his latest wine, they couldn't remember how the code worked. After a while, someone asked him, "When's your birthday?" "13th of August," he replied. "OK, we'll call it Bin 138." And it was.

Lindeman brands many of its wines with Bin numbers. Bin 65 is its best-selling Chardonnay and Bins 444 and 555 are very popular. But don't expect to see a Bin 666—the diabolical connection might put too many people off!

[sgutte]

Thanks Bucko!