Penfolds 2018 Bin 600 Cab / Shiraz

Bin 600 is intrinsically linked to Penfolds beginnings in California, a narrative that now spans more than twenty years. In 1998, Penfolds imported a heritage selection of vine cuttings from South Australia’s esteemed Kalimna and Magill Estate vineyards, and planted them in Californian soil. The original name of the Camatta Hills vineyard was Creston “600” Ranch, a special place in the Penfolds California timeline for it serves as a reference point to the start of our American journey. Creston Ranch is now honored in the wine’s name, Bin 600. In recognition of Penfolds history within our Californian wine story, grapes from the original 1998 vine cuttings feature in this cabernet shiraz blend. A blend that has been revered and championed by Penfolds in our modern winemaking era.

Alcohol: 14.5%

93 POINTS - "A very fine and polished red with cherry, berry, chocolate and cedar aromas and flavors. Some spice and meat with hints of tea leaf. Some ash, too. Medium body and extremely refined texture, showing real balance and elegance. The tannins spread across the palate in a beautiful way. 78% cabernet sauvignon and 22% shiraz. Drink or hold." - James Suckling

93 POINTS - "This is a blend of 78% Napa Valley and Sonoma-grown Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Shiraz from Paso Robles. IT is a smooth and earthy wine that offers flavors of leather, earth, iron and crushed rock cut against herbal accents." - Wine Enthusiast

92 POINTS - "It’s a brassy move to indoctrinate Californian fruit with a strapping Aussie identity, in a Cab-Shiraz clearly fashioned to fit the Penfolds' mould. The addition of 22% Shiraz brings warmth and plum pudding generosity to the mid-palate, a warm embrace of firm red fruits that is both bold and cohesive. An arresting nose presents lifted spice notes – clove, allspice and nutmeg – along with a shaving of cedar wood, while the assertive oak influence and biting tannins speak with a boisterous Australian accent rather than a Californian drawl." - Decanter

90 POINTS - "This 2018 Bin 600 is the first release of this new Penfolds California label. It is a blend of two different regions and two different varieties: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley and 22% Shiraz from their vineyards in the Camatta Hills area of California Central Coast (about 15 miles east of Paso Robles). The interesting twist to the story behind this wine is that Block 10 in the Camatta Hills vineyard was planted in the late 1990s with Shiraz cuttings from two of Penfolds's most iconic South Australia vineyards: Magill Estate and Kalimna vineyard. This is the Shiraz component. "So," Peter Gago told me, "this has been a project in the making for a long time. We see this project as a continuation—making wine through a Penfolds lens, but made in California." - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Medium-bodied with a glycerous texture and a backbone of sweet licorice brimming with potent aniseed. Radiating from this backbone is pepper-rubbed pastrami, rare roast beef, cocoa dusting, semi-dried dates, and freshly harvested persimmons with an open textural weave.