Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay 2016
Style: White Wine
Variety: Chardonnay
Closure: Screwcap
Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay 2016
Camberwell
Burke Road
Camberwell VIC 3124
Australia
Producer: Penfolds
Country: Australia
Region: Adelaide Hills
Vintage: 2016
Critic Score: 97
Alcohol: 13.5%
Size: 750 ml
Drink by: 2028
Penfolds Rewards of Patience tasting panel 2021 - 5/5 rating
Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay was first released in 1994, with fruit sourced from the Adelaide Hills and Tumbarumba. It has since evolved into a wine that is now a distinctive, single-region wine from the Adelaide Hills. Fruit is sourced from 10 key vineyards, all owned by independent growers. "The Reserve Bin A Chardonnay has all the great characters of Grand Cru chardonnay, but it's very much from South Australia." Kym Schroeter, Penfolds White Winemaker.
"The 2016 Reserve Bin A Chardonnay towers over Bin 311. It has a gloriously complex and expressive bouquet with fruit and high quality French oak both on song. Grapefruit/nectarine flavours are tightly wound together, and ride high, wide and handsome on the back of perfectly pitched acidity." James Halliday
The Reserve Bin A Chardonnay is sourced from a number of vineyards in Adelaide Hills, particularly those located in Birdwood, Balhannah, Piccadilly, Woodside, Morialta and Gumeracha. Most of the vineyards lie along a long stretch of varied, cool micro-climates along higher elevations in the hills. The wine centres specifically on 10 key vineyards, all owned by independent growers. Yields are kept low, at around three to four tonnes per hectare, to maximise flavour development and balance.
"More citrusy than normal with lemon meringue and preserved lemon notes. And yet still harbouring typical Adelaide Hills white nectarine aromas alongside yeast lees/oak-derived complexing characters, almond nougat. A trace of powdered/finely ground white pepper adds an interesting and intriguing element. Background minerals / struck rock / ferric flintiness (not quite wetted iron filings!) spiral upwards, building complexity. Lemon and citrus conceded, however, a more pronounced grapefruit pith character assumes control of palate - obliging a round, mouthcoating, softened phenolic texture. Structurally, a mineral acidity coupled with papery tannins/phenolics, induce an impressive length of flavour. An expressive Bin A displaying more purity and more drive, albeit with greater focus, tightness."
Fruit is hand-picked into small bins and then whole-bunch pressed. Typically, the wine is naturally fermented in new and one-year-old tightly-grained French oak barriques and then allowed to go through 100 percent malolactic fermentation to achieve further integration of fruit and oak. Some parcels are purposely sulphite-influenced/fermented on solids with wild yeasts. At the end of fermentation, the wines are regularly stirred on their lees to bring more richness and depth of flavour. Once regarded as extreme winemaking practices, these techniques are now considered quite standard in achieving heightened complexity, flavours and texture. The wine was matured for nine months in French oak barriques (40% new). Penfolds
Peter Gago discusses the Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay 2016
Expert reviews
"Pale gold. Fresh nectarine, lemon curd and grapefruit aromas with expressive flinty notes. Generous and creamy with superb tension of fruit and structure. Grapefruit, lime, bitter lemon and flinty flavours, fine loose-knit lacy textures, integrated vanilla/grilled nut oak and crisp yet lively acidity. Wonderful wine with superb density, richness and attack. Drink now to 2040." Penfolds Rewards of Patience tasting panel 2021 - 5/5 rating
"Very compelling and polished with pithy grapefruit, lime, citron and struck match, some stony minerals and a handy serve of toasty oak - a lot on offer. The palate is twitching with boldly flavoured fruit and a powerful composed mid-palate. Plenty of grip, plenty of punch and plenty of depth, polished finish. Drink now to 2030." Nick Stock, JamesSuckling.com – 97 points
"Matured for 9 months in French barriques (40% new). Towers over Bin 311; a gloriously complex and expressive bouquet with fruit and high quality French oak both on song. Grapefruit/nectarine flavours are tightly wound together, and ride high, wide and handsome on the back of perfectly pitched acidity. Drink by 2026." James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 97 points and Special Value Wine ★
"Light to medium, bright yellow hue. The bouquet is very smoky and toasted-nutty, with reduction and smoky oak all combining with lovely fine, citrusy fruit. Lemons and grapefuits; dried flowers as well. Intense and tightly-focused, firm and long with a trace of tannin which is nicely balanced. (40% new oak; full malolactic fermentation). Drink: 2017–2029." Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 95 points
"It's all Adelaide Hills Chardonnay. It saw 40% new French oak. The empire bites back. The strike of flavour here is as convincing as it is impressive. Cedar oil, a power of grapefruit, meal, toast and stonefruit. Oak is a key component but it's like a compression suit to the flesh of the fruit. Ultra sophisticated Chardonnay. Dressed. The body and the tone. Elegance implied. Drink: 2018 - 2025." Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 95 points
Awards
Penfolds Rewards of Patience tasting panel 2021 - 5/5 rating
Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion ★
Peter Gago
The following text is taken from an article by Ken Gargett in Quill & Pad, https://quillandpad.com
Peter Gago has what many people in the wine world think is the best job on the planet. He is chief winemaker for Penfolds, based in South Australia and one of Australia’s oldest wine producers.
Max Schubert created Grange with the experimental first wine, the 1951, after he returned from Bordeaux and wanted to establish an Aussie First Growth. The story of Grange has been told many times, and as fascinating as it is I won’t rehash it again. Schubert ruled at Penfolds right through to the 1976 vintage, when he handed the reins to Don Ditter. Ditter made the wines right through to the 1986 vintage when John Duval stepped up. Duval was chief winemaker until the 2002 vintage, when he left to do his own thing, very successfully.
Since that time, Peter Gago has been the chief winemaker. It should be noted that although the role of chief winemaker at Penfolds will always be inextricably linked with Grange, there are a great many other wines in the portfolio for which this position assumes ultimate responsibility.
Alongside the winemaking, in which he is still heavily involved, a usual week in non-Covid times sees Gago flying around the world to tastings, dinners, events, festivals, and promotions. I suspect that only David Attenborough (outside of pilots and crew) has racked up more flying miles. I remember seeing him one day when he seemed even more pleased with the world than usual. Turns out he’d just run into his wife, Gail, now retired but a long-term and highly regarded member of the South Australian parliament, at the airport. Gago had not been aware that they would both be in the same country that week, let alone cross paths, such is his usual peripatetic lifestyle.
Gago has friends and admirers all around the globe, from the rich and famous to young, aspiring wine lovers, and will spend time talking to them all. I suspect that if he wanted to start dropping names, the din would reverberate for days, but you could not find a humbler man. Gago is a serious music buff and you’d be amazed at the number of rock stars who revere him, much in the way their fans might do for them (for instance, after crawling over broken glass to get a ticket to a Bruce Springsteen concert I saw Gago sitting in prime seats with Springsteen’s family, after which they went for dinner and knocked off a few bottles of Grange).
Gago is probably as close to a rock star himself in the world of wine, although perhaps more modest rather than flamboyant. And I have no idea if he can sing.
The thing that most amazes me with Gago is that every time you talk to him, he is bubbling with genuine enthusiasm, not just for Grange but for all his wines. He just loves what he is doing. One gets the feeling that every morning he wakes up and pinches himself to make sure it is real.
Among his many attributes, Gago has the gift of the gab like few others. Only once have I ever seen him lost for words and caught off guard. Many years ago, at the annual release – held in a very fancy location near the shores of Sydney Harbor; it is always a fancy location somewhere and also always includes great champagne to kick off the day as Gago is fanatical about the world’s best bubbles – the then current chairman or CEO of whichever corporate entity was then the owner of Penfolds attended the day. Forgive me for my failure to remember just where the corporate snakes and ladders left Penfolds that day and for failing to remember the relevant gentleman’s name. He had only been appointed as a temporary executive while the search for a more permanent one was ongoing, but unlike any of the CEOs before and after, this man had a genuine interest and came to a couple of tastings to learn.
Anyway, as we sipped our champagne on the lawns overlooking Sydney Harbor and chatted, our friend suddenly posed a question to Gago. He had been meaning to ask, he said, just how much Grange the company made. There were five or six writers in this little group and suddenly, every single one of us had pad and pen poised. The production of Grange is a national secret that is not to be disclosed under pain of death (general consensus puts it at, depending on the vintage, between 5,000 and 15,000 cases, with most releases in the mid range, but this is pure speculation).
Gago was at a loss. The boss of bosses had just asked him a direct question and Gago is far too polite not to answer but knew he couldn’t give that information out in public. He managed a fair bit of mumbling and generalizations and I think he suggested they meet later. Pads and pens all went back into bags, and we could not help grinning while Gago looked like he’d just swallowed a bad oyster.
Gago was born in England in 1957, but his family moved to Melbourne when he was only six years of age. Originally a math teacher (teaching is still a passion), he undertook a science degree at the University of Melbourne and then attended Roseworthy College, a famous Australian winemaking college, graduating as Dux (the highest ranking academic performance -ed), which will surprise no one.
In 1989 he joined Penfolds as a sparkling winemaker, working with Ed Carr, who has established a career in sparkling wine (now with Arras) as successful as Gago’s is with table wines. He moved to reds and quickly rose through the ranks until succeeding Duval in 2002. In the 73 years since Schubert was first appointed, Gago is only the fourth chief winemaker.
During his tenure, he has stacked up an extraordinary array of bling, as has Penfolds under his stewardship (Gago heads a team of eight winemakers for table wines and a couple more for fortifieds). He has several “Winemaker of the Year” awards from different entities and publications, both from Australia and abroad, but the accolades go well beyond that.
In 2017, in what is termed “the Queen’s Birthday Honors List,” he was awarded the highly prestigious Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for service to the wine industry. For non-Aussies, that is a big one! A year later, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia and named the Great Wine Capitals Ambassador for South Australia.
Very recently, Gago was awarded perhaps the most prestigious honor of all in the wine world: admission to the Decanter Hall of Fame (previously they honored the Decanter Man – or Woman – of the Year, but that changed). Decanter is a highly respected English wine magazine that established its hall of fame in 1984 with Serge Hochar from Château Musar in Lebanon the first recipient. There is only a single addition per year. Gago is the fourth Australian following Max Schubert in 1988, Len Evans in 1997, and Brian Croser in 2004. That two of the four chief winemakers from a single producer have made this list (Schubert and Gago) is unprecedented but shows just where Penfolds sits in the pantheon of wine producers around the globe.
And should you still remain unconvinced then take a moment to look at some of the names Gago has joined: Parker, Spurrier, Tchelistcheff, Robinson, Moueix, de Villaine, Antinori, Lichine, Gaja, Symington, Loosen, Guigal, Torres, Draper, Peynaud, Mondavi, and so many more. There is no question that the name Peter Gago sits very comfortably alongside them all.
What is most important is that across the board the Penfolds wines have never been better, and while it is a team effort, in the end we can thank Gago.
About the winery
After the success of early sherries and fortified wines, founders Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold planted the vine cuttings they had carried on their voyage over to Australia. In 1844 the fledging vineyard was officially established as the Penfolds wine company at Magill Estate.
As the company grew, so too did Dr Penfold's medical reputation, leaving much of the running of the winery to Mary Penfold. Early forays into Clarets and Rieslings proved increasingly popular, and on Christopher's death in 1870, Mary assumed total responsibility for the winery. Mary's reign at the helm of Penfolds saw years of determination and endeavour.
By the time Mary Penfold retired in 1884 (ceding management to her daughter, Georgina) Penfolds was producing 1/3 of all South Australia's wine. She'd set an agenda that continues today, experimenting with new methods in wine production. By Mary's death in 1896, the Penfolds legacy was well on its way to fruition. By 1907, Penfolds had become South Australia's largest winery.
In 1948, history was made again as Max Schubert became the company's first Chief Winemaker. A loyal company man and true innovator, Schubert would propel Penfolds onto the global stage with his experimentation of long-lasting wines - the creation of Penfolds Grange in the 1950s.
In 1959 (while Schubert was perfecting his Grange experiment in secret), the tradition of ‘bin wines' began. The first, a Shiraz wine with the grapes of the company's own Barossa Valley vineyards was simply named after the storage area of the cellars where it is aged. And so Kalimna Bin 28 becomes the first official Penfolds Bin number wine.
In 1960, the Penfolds board instructed Max Schubert to officially re-start production on Grange. His determination and the quality of the aged wine had won them over.
Soon, the medals began flowing and Grange quickly became one of the most revered wines around the world. In 1988 Schubert was named Decanter Magazine's Man of the Year, and on the 50th anniversary of its birth, Penfolds Grange was given a heritage listing in South Australia.
Despite great success, Penfolds never rests on its laurels. In 2012 Penfolds released its most innovative project to date - 12 handcrafted ampoules of the rare 2004 Kalimna Block Cabernet Sauvignon.
Two years later, Penfolds celebrated the 170th anniversary – having just picked up a perfect score of 100 for the 2008 Grange in two of the world's most influential wine magazines. Today, Penfolds continues to hold dear the philosophies and legends – '1844 to evermore!'.
South Australia
South Australian is responsible for more than half the production of all Australian wine. It is home to more than 900 wineries across 18 wine regions. The regions are Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Coonawarra, Currency Creek, Eden Valley, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Mount Benson, Mount Gambier, Padthaway, Riverland, Robe, Southern Fleurieu, Southern Flinders Ranges and Wrattonbully.
Many of the well-known names in the South Australian wine industry established their first vineyards in the late 1830s and early 1840s. The first vines in McLaren Vale were planted at Reynella in 1839 and Penfold's established Magill Estate on the outskirts of Adelaide in 1844.
South Australia has a vast diversity in geography and climate which allows the State to be able to produce a range of grape varieties - from cool climate Riesling in the Clare and Eden Vallies to the big, full bodied Shiraz wines of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Two of Australia's best-known wines, Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace, are produced here. There is much to discover in South Australia for the wine lover.