[question] Question submitted by: Laurie Macri, Australia A Sydney retailer is selling 1981 Bin 389 @ $60 direct from Penfolds cellars. I’m a huge Bin 389 fan, is this worth a “punt”? My oldest Bin 389 are the 1986s which are drinking well! [/question] [answer] I’ve searched high and dry but can’ t find a tasting note of mine for this wine that is younger than 20 years, so I will have to rely on my impressions of the vintage, which are: 1981 was hot, dry and forgettable for most of Australia, developing thick, hard and tannic wines. Crops were already reduced after a poor fruit set, before the summer further shrank yields, causing the burning of bunches in warmer regions like the Barossa and McLaren Vale. From a year of few highlights came robust reds from the Barossa and Eden Valleys in South Australia, the Goulburn Valley and the Pyrenees in central Victoria. Coonawarra’s reds were unusually robust and ungenerous, while Langhorne Creek fared better than most South Australian areas. It was generally too hot for any real quality from the Margaret River or the Hunter Valley. On that basis, I’d say that provided the wines have been cellared correctly, and that the levels in the bottles are acceptable, it might just be worth the punt. There’s no chance, however, of them being anywhere near as good as the 1986 vintage. [/answer]
