Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2018
Penfolds
Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2018
Overview
Overview
Reserve Bin A Chardonnay has evolved into a wine that is now a distinctive, single-region style in its own right, with a contemporary and expressive Adelaide Hills chardonnay persona. Fruit is hand-picked into small bins and then whole-bunch pressed. A portion of the juice is incrementally filled to barrel directly from the press and allowed to undergo a natural fermentation, sans inoculation. Every new and seasoned French oak barrique is its own unique 225-litre ferment. Enhanced mouthfeel and complexity is achieved by fermenting and maturing on solids with sensitive, intermittent yeast lees stirring. 100% malolactic fermentation (all natural).
| Varietal | Chardonnay |
|---|---|
| Vintage | 2018 |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Adelaide Hills |
| Volume | 750 mL |
| Closure | Screw Cap |
| Alc/Vol | 13% |
| Peak Drinking | 2021 - 2035 |
| Winemaker | The Penfolds Team |
Awards and Accolades
Awards and Accolades
| 96 points | James Halliday |
| 95 points | Andrew Caillard MW |
| 95 points | Campbell Mattinson |
James Halliday
"Matured for 8 months in French barriques (40% new). Bright straw-green; as ever, Penfolds has this label nailed. It is a magical combination of power and finesse, thanks in part to low pH and high acidity. It is just starting to stretch its legs."
Andrew Caillard MW
"Pale colour. Intense grapefruit, nectarine aromas with flinty grilled nut complexity. Well concentrated and classical with grapefruit, nectarine, lemon curd flavours, fine loose knit chalky textures, fine marzipan flinty, herb notes, savoury oak complexity and fresh linear striking acidity. Generously concentrated and creamy with lovely mineral length."
Campbell Mattinson
"This is a fine-fingered wine. A flavoursome one. It feels complete. It pumps texture and fruit through satin and silk. It throws smoke, white peach, cedar-infused cream, mineral. It’s so fine, so seamless, so in command. A superb white wine. No doubting it."
Food Pairing
Food Pairing
Beef
Chicken
Fish
Pork
Cheese
Pasta
Veg
Taste Description
Taste Description
Nose
Not the archetypical stone-fruited Bin A this vintage – to the fore: lemon curd, mandarin and nashi pear with a skerrick of shortbread and creamy custard/vanilla slice sans icing.
Also noteworthy – a touch of spice (cardamom and caraway) and a subtle suggestion of ground almond.
This tasting’s final impression signing off on a quartz-like minerality, and wet river-stone flintiness. Very much looking forward to evolution in the bottle...
Flavours and Palate
Initially, an intriguing subtle (fluffy/pillowy) gentleness! Flavours of mandarin and yoghurt with a rich mid-palate.
A glycerolic viscosity interlocks with the natural acidity inducing a mouth-watering juiciness and just a rasp of flint at the very end, adding length and zest.
So youthful. All evident on the palate would indicate that this wine needs time!
Short-term – catalyse/accelerate via a decant. Or wait.
Adelaide Hills attired alternatively.
Viticulture Vintage & Winemaking
Viticulture Vintage & Winemaking
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
The Adelaide Hills is one of Australia’s younger wine regions, but it’s as savvy as its famous Sauv Blanc. With a cool climate and high altitude, its dynamic winemakers are also responsible for top notch Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Vintage Conditions
The Adelaide Hills enjoyed above average rainfall from winter until early summer. From January, the rainfall steadily decreased with only half the average falling between New Year and vintage. There was only one significant frost event on November 7th, but this was largely controlled by sprinkler mitigation systems across the region. A hail storm on October 29th caused some damage to canopies, however this weather event did not have a significant impact on the crop. Summer was warm, especially through January and February with 12 summer days above 35 degrees. The altitude of the region protected the grapes from extremes that were experienced elsewhere. A dry and orderly vintage provided excellent parcels of chardonnay harvested across the region.
The Penfolds Team
Key to the success of Penfolds has been a lineage of visionary winemakers. There have only ever been four Chief Winemakers at the helm of Penfolds – Max Schubert, Don Ditter, John Duval and Peter Gago, each a custodian of a rich winemaking tradition that goes back for more than 170 years.
Our current Penfolds winemaking team has more than 100 years between them as Penfolds winemakers. They are constantly refining and improving their work, whilst honouring the winemaking techniques of their predecessors.