The Barossa Valley was planted extensively to Grenache, Mourvedre and Shiraz by early settlers. In the 1950s Penfolds started experimenting with the blend, trials which culminated in the release of Bin 138s forebears. An answer to the growing call for the highly perfumed and fleshy Rhone style of red, Bin 138 is sourced from old, low yielding Barossa Valley sites, much of the fruit from independent growers. This is a very special Penfolds red wine indeed, one of the few that remains in component form whilst maturing in small, well seasoned oak barrels.

Bin 138 is a full bodied style with the emphasis on musky plum aromas and succulent sweet fruit. Vintage and the quality of fruit determine the final wine, hence varietal proportions vary accordingly. Normally half is Grenache wine with a balance of Mourvedre and Shiraz, picked from elder vineyards which yield small amounts of intensely flavoured fruit. Sumptuous, seamless and substantial yet charmingly unpretentious, the final wine makes it hard to separate the cepage into it's varietal components, a complex entrapment and entanglement of Barossa fruits, soil and sun. Bin 138 is assembled after several rackings and a year's maturation in a selection of prior use American oak hogsheads.