Penfolds Quantum Bin 98 Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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The Somm
Journal -
James
Suckling -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker - Decanter
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Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Rich malt, bone marrow, and a complex spectrum of dark berries make up the aromatic core. These slowly fuse with notes of blackberry, blueberry, and boysenberry complemented by sugared pastry, cinnamon apple, and piquant punches of mild horseradish cream and Dijon mustard.
A blue-berried wash and glistening film cover the palate with a viscous, supple texture and succulent acidity. Flavors of graphite and hazelnut provide an exotic intrigue, with a whisper of sweetness that grows over time with air.
AVA Blend: 87% Oakville Diamond Mountain District, 13% South Australia
Variety Blend: 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Shiraz
Professional Ratings
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The Somm Journal
Muscle and grace delineate a wine that is making history in the footsteps of its forebear, Grange. Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (87%) and South Australian Shiraz (13%) are the building blocks of this multidimensional creation ten years in the making. Balanced and expressive, with recognizable accents of both the Southern and Northern hemispheres, it offers aromas of fresh dark berries, apple tart, and a touch of piquant spice, which lead to headier notes on the palate. Licorice, slate, and molasses pave a path with staying power. Plum preserves and a twist of basil, cigar leaf, and hazelnut determine the lengthy, exhilarating finish
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James Suckling
What sticks with you about this global blend of Napa and Southern Australian wine is the intense and transparent purple and blue fruit. Lots of blackberry and blueberry aromas with some stones and flowers, such as violets. It’s a very layered and intense wine with very refined, creamy and chewy tannins. Full and very impressive. Very Penfolds. Mouth-filling texture. It’s made mostly from Napa grapes and predominantly from Oakville and Diamond Mountain. About one-fifth is from South Australia. Aged in 80% new American oak and 20% new French. Try after 2026.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Penfolds Bin 98 Quantum Cabernet Sauvignon is truly a "wine of the world." This wine epitomizes what a wine of the future can be—a production of a Cabernet Sauvignon that belongs to wine lovers. Made from 87% Oakville and Diamond Mountain District AVAs and 13% South Australia, this wine is light years ahead of where we are today. TASTING NOTES: This wine gushes forward with aromas and flavors of black fruit, chalk, and oak. The parts are all there for long-term cellaring. (Tasted: September 24, 2021, Rutherford, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The first release of this new iconoclastic label, the 2018 Quantum Bin 98 is labeled as a "Wine of the World," although the AVA is the United States and technically 87% is American wine (Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley), while 13% is Australian ("Grade A1" Shiraz from South Australia). The wine spent 16 months in oak, 100% new, 80% American oak and 20% French. In fact, the wine is made very much like Grange, in that it completes fermentation in new, mainly American oak barrels.
Rating: 97+ -
Decanter
A Wine of the World is a big statement, and this blend of 87% Napa Valley Cabernet with South Australian Shiraz creates a purposeful bridge between two national styles. The Cabernet is typically Napa (from the Oakville and Diamond Mountain District AVAs): stern and solid, flexing powerful muscle as earth and iodine notes speak much louder than fruit sweetness. The addition of Shiraz (an elite component, considered for Grange inclusion) isn’t obvious, yet its influence is profound, with a hint of ripe plum adding a vivid burst of color to the dark flavor spectrum. The two varieties strike a happy equilibrium on the mid-palate, wrapping generous layers of rich fruit and supple texture into a seamless weave.
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Wine Enthusiast
The inaugural release of this red combines 87% Cabernet Sauvignon with 13% Shiraz, using grapes from both Napa Valley and South Australia. Dark and brooding, it delivers a smooth, textured palate of bright red fruit and supple, integrated tannins, with meaty undertones along a continuum of black pepper, graphite and leather.
Penfolds has been producing remarkable wines since 1844 and indisputably led the development of Australian fine wine in the modern era. The introduction of Penfolds Grange in 1951 forever changed the landscape of Australian fine wine. Since then a series of stand-out wines both white and red have been released under the Penfolds masthead.
Peter Gago, Penfolds Chief Winemaker and only the 4th custodian of Grange, relishes the opportunity to bring Penfolds to the world stage and is an enthusiastic ambassador and natural educator. Penfolds came to the attention of the US market when 1990 Grange was Wine Spectator’s ‘Wine of the Year’. Since then, Penfolds Grange has become one of the most collectable wines of the world and was honored to grace the front cover, once again, of Wine Spectator, with declarations of Grange as Australia’s Icon.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
The wine world is vast and constantly expanding. With shifts in climate, fashion, trands and technology, new regions are constantly developing. Through research and experimentation enologists and winemakers continue to develop an understanding of which varieties work best on which vineyard sites. Often, since these regions have yet to gain worldwide popularity, they are great sources for the savvy consumer looking to try something new and interesting at a budget-friendly price.