March 28, 2024 - I agree with CREMEUL's tasting note from Jan 24th last although I rate it higher than them.
This is my last bottle, which was well cellared. With a good ullage level, way above the shoulder. I have tipped previous vintages of this wine down the drain as well BUT when there this age the old adage of great bottles holds true for this classic 1998 Penfold Bin 389 vintage.
At first it seemed past it with woody, harsh mouth feel. But with a great dark color and faint brick color at the edges.
After decanting and waiting a couple of hours it has transformed.
I concur with CREMEUL tasting notes with a lovely blackberry/blackcurrant layered palate. I decanted this 750 bottle into two separate 200ml and 345ml bottles for drinking over the next few days this Easter. I look fwd to checking if they hold up.
January 28, 2024 - Refer note for 1996 389
January 24, 2024 - Bob’s cellar. A different proposition to the previous bottle which went down the sink. Deep dark red. Little bricking. Damsons and sweet black fruit, veering to tar and liquorice etc. with air red fruit acidity steps up to make this rather nice, still covered by the heavy darkness of an aged Penfolds red. Pretty good and decent life left on this bottle. Background tannins are there which give it a peppery pep. Nice.
January 24, 2024 - Bob’s cellar. Murky brown liquid. Gone….down the sink
December 23, 2023 - Still dark, dark red, more purple than brown. Heaps of fruit still, solid blackberry from the Cabernet. Much more youthful than 25 years would suggest, though still plenty of secondary and tertiary characters in layers. Super fine, powdery tannins. Full finish, maybe a little abrupt.
November 25, 2023 - Getting to be past its best. Some oxidation and acidity. Still loads of flavour.
September 9, 2023 - Bob’s cellar. Still deep dark inky black. No bricking at all. Blackcurrant, tar and liquorice nose, powerful and warming. Salty and spicy, blackcurrant, tannins have dropped out a lot, stil retaining a good structure. Opened and double decanted about 4 hours ago and has developed well. A good bottle, and carrying its age dynamically.
August 3, 2023 - Dark cherry, blackberry, blueberry. Some nice mature wood and earthy notes. Touch of fig and tobacco. Still showing a lot of structure and freshness. Impressive to see how well Penfolds 389 can age.
August 3, 2023 - Bob’s cellar. Dark red and inky black, bricking shows. Strong stewed black fruits hit your nose, along with a tar/liquorice layer and cassis swims out from underneath it all. Smells full and still full of life, with age toning down the freshness. Only been open an hour. Flavours hit you with still firm and present tannins, there is acidity supporting the black dense fruit, bitter chocolate. Nice and firm.
May 29, 2023 - A pleasant enough drink but I think this is declining a bit and past its peak at this point. Classic notes of eucalyptus and red/blue fruits on the nose with a touch of rhubarb, but it faded out pretty quickly on the palate. There’s noticeably less presence now and things seem to dry out pretty quickly. There is a big drop off versus bottles drunk 7-10 years ago which were much more complete.