Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2016

Ah, now you've done it. Stop it, just stop it. You look at the Bin 407 release from this vintage and think: that's how it's done. And then you add Shiraz and call it Bin 389, and the palate is boosted, the length is still there, the tobacco notes still light up, and with vanilla and cherry-plum notes tickling the cassis into a riot it suddenly feels irrepressible, like the premiership's a cakewalk. It's not a John Holmes wine; it's not overdone. It' a wine to slip through your defences, is what it is. It's a cracker. This is why you blend cabernet with Shiraz. Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front