Product Information:
Reserve Bin A 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. Enhanced mouthfeel and complexity is achieved by fermenting and maturing on solids with regular yeast lees stirring. 100% malolactic fermentation.
Maker:
Penfolds has been a pioneer in the world of winemaking since its establishment in 1844 by Dr. Christopher and Mary Penfold. The company's success has been driven by a lineage of visionary winemakers who have pushed the development of the company to extraordinary, bold new heights. Mary Penfold's reign at the helm of Penfolds saw years of determination and endeavour, experimenting with new methods in wine production. In 1948, Max Schubert became the company's first Chief Winemaker and he propelled Penfolds onto the global stage with his experimentation of long-lasting wines - the creation of Penfolds Grange in the 1950s. Soon, the medals began flowing, and Grange quickly became one of the most revered wines around the world. In 2012, Penfolds released its most innovative project to date - 12 handcrafted ampoules of the rare 2004 Kalimna Block Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, Penfolds continues to hold dear the philosophies and legends that have driven the company's success since its establishment in 1844.
Vineyards:
The Adelaide Hills region enjoyed healthy winter rainfall and a relatively dry September, encouraging good canopy development and even budburst. Spring temperatures were generally cooler than average with October being the coldest in decades. This delayed flowering and fruit set by several weeks, however yields were near average. The generally mild weather prevailed over summer and autumn, resulting in a long slow growing season and leisurely harvest. These conditions were very conducive to growing quality chardonnay with strong varietal characteristics and bracing natural acidity.
Nose - Cedar, Grilled Peaches, Praline
Punchy, powerful and taut. Grilled peaches, praline, cedar, brass, more of those toffeed nut characters.
Palate - Nectarines, Poached Loquats, Custard Apple
Peaches and custard apple flavours at heart but everything is ensconced in this nutty overlay.
Finish - Almond Meal, Sliced Pear, River Stone Minerality
Wet steel and river pebble minerality. The finish is long and memorable.
Partial wild fermentation on solids with regular bâtonnage; full natural malolactic fermentation in 60% new French oak barriques. The cool, wet and low-yielding 2023 season has built a Reserve Bin A with a core of spicy complexity and a crunchy demeanour. Grapefruit and beurre bosc pear are accented with pronounced ginger and textured with the creaminess of wild fermentation on solids with regular bâtonnage, full natural malolactic fermentation and the cashew nut complexity of high-class French oak. This is a season that contrasts the expansive generosity of low-yielding chardonnay with the tension of a cool, humid season, producing a style of deep-set complexity from the outset, making this an earlier-drinking Bin A of magnificent definition and presence, holding impressive line and length. - Tyson Stelzer, 95 Points.
Reserve Bin A is a single region chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills. It spent seven months in oak, 60% new. There’s a pure chardonnay juiciness to this; it presents as the joy of chardonnay, if you like. It tastes of almond and talc, honeysuckle and rosewater, chestnuts and grilled peaches, with modest notes of steel and whispers of flint. This is a distinctive chardonnay, as characterful as it is juicy, as complex as it is pristine. The finish bursts with flavour too. There’s elegance here, and composure, but it nonetheless delivers plenty. - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, 95 Points.
The 2023 Reserve Bin A Chardonnay is aromatically tight and ungiving—far less reductive, toasty and expressive than previous releases of this great wine. Perhaps it is still suffering from its recent bottling? On the palate, this is toasty and concentrated and yet still closed. The citrus flow of flavour intersects with the tight acidity, and this reveals the Adelaide Hills origin. While there is density here, it remains structurally quite fine and firm. It matured for seven months in French barriques, 60% new and 30% one year old. It was bottled with 12.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.07 and 6.7 grams per litre of total acidity, sealed under screw cap. - Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate, 95+ Points
The Finer Details
Style - White Wine
Varietal - Chardonnay
Country - Australia
Region - Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Vintage - 2023
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 12.5%
