Wine of the Week: Penfolds Bin 8 Cabernet-Shiraz

Wine: Penfolds Bin 8 Cabernet-Shiraz

Grapes: Cabernet sauvignon (62 percent), shiraz (38 percent)

Region: South Australia

Vintage: 2011

Price: $12.99

Availability: Lee’s Discount Liquor

In the glass: Penfolds Bin 8 wine is a deep purplish-red color with a dense opaque core going out into a fine violet-red rim definition with streaks of crimson and showing high viscosity in the “legs” running down the sides of the bowl.

On the nose: There are opulent crushed black fruits, pungent blackberry jam, blueberry pie, raspberry sorbet, soft oak and vanilla references, spice box, wet tobacco, minerals and alcohol elements with a hint of underlying anise and licorice root.

On the palate: It is a huge mouthful of bold spice-laden, slightly chewy wine with loads of crushed black currants, mint leaf, chewing tobacco, blackberry jam, boysenberry juice, vanilla and mineral elements, along with soft oak references. The midpalate is well-balanced with a great backbone, showing beautifully restrained tannins, soft black fruit intermixed with oak and then even amounts of acidity and alcohol. The finish is tremendous: supple and lengthy on the palate with a touch of licorice at the end.

Odds and ends: A few years ago, Penfolds began to really “hit” in mainland China. The bottles became the source of much collecting and drinking, because the name is easy to say in Chinese and the Bin numbered wines were easy to identify. More and more Bin numbered wines came out of Penfolds, culminating in the inevitable No. 8, which is the luckiest number in Chinese numerology, pronounced “bah,” and meaning wealth or prosperity, depending on whether you say it in Mandarin or Cantonese. This quickly became the most hunted wine in China and there have been many copies of the label made and affixed to insipid pretender wines. As they say Down Under, “Give it a go, mate.”

Luckily for us, we can find it for half the normal price at Lee’s. Penfolds Bin 8 needs something off the grill, so good organic grass-fed beef served medium-rare is a great companion to this tasty and highly recommended wine. Twist the top off about one hour before consumption. Drink it now through 2019 trouble-free.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.