The Auswine Forum

I've found some 1998 Penfolds Bin 28 & 128 for $40 a bottle. Do you think it is worth it? Given the age I am happy to pay a premium. I have nothing in my relatively new cellar that is nearly as old as this, so I'm keen to try some older shiraz for a change. I read some mostly positive tasting notes for both of these so I can't see why I wouldn't jump in. Should I expect any problems with the corks?

Any thoughts?

AndrewCowley wrote:I've found some Penfolds Bin 28 & 128 for $40 a bottle. Do you think it is worth it? Given the age I am happy to pay a premium. I have nothing in my relatively new cellar that is nearly as old as this, so I'm keen to try some older shiraz for a change. I read some mostly positive tasting notes for both of these so I can't see why I wouldn't jump in. Should I expect any problems with the corks?

Any thoughts?

Both are nice wines and unfortunately yes you can expect a higher than normal risk of cork taint in late 90's reds. Australia really got rubbish corks during this period. Definitely worth a try however. $40 isn't THAT unreasonable if you didn't buy them on release.

cheers

Carl

griff wrote:

AndrewCowley wrote:I've found some 1998 Penfolds Bin 28 & 128 for $40 a bottle. Do you think it is worth it? Given the age I am happy to pay a premium. I have nothing in my relatively new cellar that is nearly as old as this, so I'm keen to try some older shiraz for a change. I read some mostly positive tasting notes for both of these so I can't see why I wouldn't jump in. Should I expect any problems with the corks?

Any thoughts?

Both are nice wines and unfortunately yes you can expect a higher than normal risk of cork taint in late 90's reds. Australia really got rubbish corks during this period. Definitely worth a try however. $40 isn't THAT unreasonable if you didn't buy them on release.

cheers

Carl

Excellent, thanks. Would it be stupid to only buy 3 of each? With the corks, any idea what the worst case would be? Hopefully not 3 out of 3 bad!

Failure rate shouldn't be more the 10% so don't worry too much over that. More the storage. If kept cool then they should be good. As for how many to buy I really can't say. Depends on how much you like the wine. Catch 22 I'm afraid

cheers

Carl

98 Bin 28 is a very good wine. 98 Bin 128 for me is more a 'take-it-or-leave-it' proposition- solid but not the x-factor of the Kalimna

I have some of the 98 Bin 28 and it is jut beginning to get into its drinking window. The tannins have softened up and the wine is starting to show a nice depth of complexity.

Wayno wrote:98 Bin 28 is a very good wine. 98 Bin 128 for me is more a 'take-it-or-leave-it' proposition- solid but not the x-factor of the Kalimna

I have to agree with Wayno - probably more of a 'leave it'.

Awesome, thanks guys. I'll get some of the Bin 28 and leave the Bin 128. I've never really been able to wrap my head around Coonawarra Shiraz anyway.

Andrew

If you are experimenting with some of the wines from 98, for a few bit more $$s the wine that is really rocking my socks at present is the Seppelts St Peters 1998. I have recently been labouriously trying to value my cellar line by line and the big suprise has been that whilst many wines have increased in value over time, the St Peters 98 is trading at the same price as the current release. It has become one of my absolute favourite Aussie shiraz and is a big jump up in quality. At the auctions however it seems to still be going for around the $50 mark. Personally I would grab 2 of these over 3 of the Bin 28.

Cheers
Mark

I had a Bin 28 1998 last year and it was superb (but not in the league of a 1998 Bin 389 that I had a couple of weeks ago - you can still sometimes get these for 50 - 60 bucks on the secondary market and they are generally a class above the 128/28's).

cheers

Luke

Luke

It sounds as though the 389 is starting to open up and enter its drinking window, yes?

Mark

Mark

The 98 389's I've had seem to get better all the time although I've had some mixed success with the 96's. The one I had a week or 2 ago was certainly the best 98 I've ever had and I couldn't see it getting much better. However the wine wasn't cellared by me and was held in a downstairs laundry type room that would have accelerated its development. Interestingly enough it was the same cellar from which the Wynns 1991 Cabernet (my WOTY last year) came from.

If you've got a few, it may be worth trying one

cheers

Luke

1998 Bin 28 is still excellent
1998 Bin 128 forget it
1998 Bin 389, superb if you have a win with the cork. They were a real lottery as far as TCA was concerned.

Davo wrote:1998 Bin 28 is still excellent
1998 Bin 128 forget it
1998 Bin 389, superb if you have a win with the cork. They were a real lottery as far as TCA was concerned.

I bought a stack of 98 bin 389s - a midlife crisis thing that age has fairly well cured. Already had one cork debacle that Fosters dealt with courtesly and efficiently. Very happy with the current release replacement bottle. Loved the bin 28s when they were released and am still enjoying them now.