2019 Bin 169 Cabernet Sauvignon, Penfolds, Coonawarra

Such impressive freshness to the aromas of pure mulberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, redcurrants and a swathe of roasting herbs, such as bay leaf and sage. Iodine and nori, too. The French oak is nicely subsumed already and there’s fruit purity that really sings here. The palate has a wealth of rich and ripe blue and black-fruit flavors with plenty of extract and depth on offer. This is an impressively bold, smoothly honed and focused cabernet. Fine, polished tannins frame the long finish. Drink over the next decade and more.

Made only in appropriate vintages, and always from Coonwarra, the 2019 Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon is aromatically reticent at this stage, however the power of the fruit in the mouth in unassailable. It blossoms on the back palate and shows pedigree and impressive stature. This is a supremely elegant wine of poise and detail, couched in a framework of power and dense muscly tannin. We all have our preferences between Bin 707 and Bin 169, but for me, my heart has always been with the 169. I think Cabernet deserves an elegant casing, and that is made from French oak (17 months in French oak, 56% new, to be precise). This is pure, but far too young right now. We know this has decades of graceful development ahead of it.

The 2019 Bin 169 is a beautifully pristine and pure Coonawarra Cabernet that was matured for 17 months in 56% new French Oak hogsheads. It offers up a classic regional expression. Aromas with pinpoint focus display a breath-taking start with leafy cassis, blackberry and cedar aromas nicely interwoven with high quality oak, extraordinary underlying energy and vitality. A delightful seamlessness between mouthcoating tannins and impressive violet and cranberry flavours follow with impeccable balance also on display. With incredible length, this Coonawarra classic will deliver for many years to come

It’s a Film Noir – surprisingly lean in the opening scene, but then it pans out on the wide screen to reveal a full, vivid colour spectrum. As shades of raspberry, blueberry, bay leaf, nutmeg and dusty red earth become noticeable, the flavour line remains long, lean and controlled. Its tight tannic finish suggests an especially long life in the cellar.