Penfolds Bin 90A

 Penfolds Bin 60A is supposedly the greatest Australian wine ever made. I never had the opportunity to taste it. In 1990, a great vintage for Penfolds, the company decided to have another go at this with a 50% Cabernet Sauvignon 50% Barossa Shiraz blend, as it did not want to use more of its excellent grapes to increase the Grange production. Maybe they regretted this later, as the 1990 Grange won Wine Spectator wine of the year in 1995.

Anyway I have two bottles of the Bin 90A in my cellar, the oldest bottles at present. One went through the Penfolds recorking clinic, the other I planned to take later this year. At a special occasion, I wanted to open the recorked bottle a few days ago. I was not paying attention initially, and as the cork started to crumble, I noticed I was opening the other bottle. I was half done, so I kept going as the ullage was good. I needed a sieve to capture the small cork particles, as I was decanting the bottle, but otherwise everything seemed fine.

The wine was surprisingly fresh after 35 years with a layered palate of redcurrant, blueberry, green olive and licorice. The fruit weight was not as big as in Grange, and the Cabernet influence was significant. Clearly, time and maturing also contributed to some fruit weight loss, but this made the wine very drinkable, as the structure was still standing and balanced. The wine was remarkably lively after this time. The tannins were quite transparent and the finish long.

Score: 96/+++