Penfolds Reserve Bin 17A Chardonnay 2017
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 regular yeast lees stirring. 100% malolactic fermentation (all natural).
$134.00 each
Additional details
Catalog:
Region:
Cellaring:
Drinking well now, but will improve with time. Peak drinking now - 2028.
Nose:
Archetypical Adelaide Hills – ostensibly white stone fruits peach and nectarine. Sensitive batonnage of yeast lees has coaxed out a complexing nuttiness – assorted cashew, almond and Brazil nut with an ever so slight trace of nutmeg. Latent wafts of sulphide/struck match (almost) bring closure … until a beguiling mortar and pestle, (brine) ground oyster shell scent tip toes across the finish line.
Palate:
Unravels in the glass to reveal an enthralling and multi-dimensional package – line, depth, weight …! A ‘big’ wine, certainly not shy in character! Big? Voluminous, yet controlled – restraint/precision wrestling with energy/tension. No losers. Hints of citrus and nashi pear with the reported 40% of new oak totally absorbed, barely noticeable. Checked? Yes, 40% new! Impressively well-integrated and complex!
Varietal Composition:
Chardonnay