Yattarna Chardonnay 2018
 Yatt Chard 750 AUS BB SC (7.7) (1).png)
| Varietal
Chardonnay
|
Chardonnay |
|---|---|
| Vintage
2018
|
2018 |
| Country
Australia
|
Australia |
| Region
Multi Region
|
Multi Region |
| Volume
750 mL
|
750 mL |
| Closure
Screw Cap
|
Screw Cap |
| Alc/Vol
13%
|
13% |
| Peak Drinking
Now - 2033
|
Now - 2033 |
| Winemaker
The Penfolds Team
|
The Penfolds Team |
| 99 Points - James Halliday |
| 98 points - Tony Love |
| 98 points - Tyson Stelzer |
| 97 points - Ken Gargett |
| White Wine of the Year - 2022 Halliday Wine Companion Awards |
Tony Love
"Senior Penfolds white wine maker Kym Schroeter has overseen a very engaging set in three distinctive chardonnay styles. The top shelf 2018 Yattarna is a stunner, a superior wine in every way with extraordinary oak integration given 60% new barrique maturation for eight months. It seems more to be about a textural expression than flavour bombing and is one of the most sophisticated Penfolds chardonnays I’ve tasted on release – 98 points."
Andrew Caillard MW
"Pale gold. Elegant style wine with high pitched nectarine, melon aromas with flinty complexity. Intense pure lime grapefruit nectarine flavours, fine looseknit al-dente/ chalky textures, lovely mid-palate richness, underlying savoury oak complexity and fresh persistent crunchy acidity. Expressive and pure fruited with superb vinosity and mineral length. Needs time to uncoil and further develop. An austere yet voluminous Chardonnay where less is more. A highly individual and expressive wine that needs a few years to develop more complexity and richness. Judging by the recent Penfolds Rewards of Patience tastings, the wine promises a lot more with further bottle age - 96 points."
Arguably ... on par with the exceptional 2012 and 2017 vintages of Yattarna.
–Peter Gago, Penfolds Chief Winemaker
Very pale straw with lime green hues
A pedigreed stylistic first alert – subtle flint, more rock-flint than struck-match.
A mist of limey citrus, curry leaf and hints of white peach. Quite an exotic ascent... no need to coax from glass via
a vigorous swirl.
Understated spoils of cool-climate, barrel-fermented chardonnay – a lovely waxiness, whiff of cashew, and subtle creaminess.
A Southern-Hemisphere reflection extolling Burgundian restraint, temperament.
At once, substantial flavour coupled with a textural dynamic; mouth-filling, engulfing – opens up aka mid-symphony, no instrument idle.
White stone fruits – just ripe nectarine and freshly-sliced peach, and the most subtle adornment of oak and zesty acidity.
A wonderful line struts across the mid-palate, not brazenly, yet with real purpose/destination and persistence.
Amplified innate potential; beautifully poised and defined.
More? Enough will not be enough.
Vintage Conditions
All three regions enjoyed a relatively wet winter and spring, setting the vines up with healthy soil moisture profiles for the ensuing growing season. Tasmania experienced clear and generally warm conditions from January onwards, with no extreme heat spells leading into harvest. The temperature only breached 35°C once in January, resulting in optimal conditions for ripening. Tumbarumba had plentiful rainfall right up to December, when a dry spell set in. In February, temperatures were generally cool allowing for slow, consistent ripening. The Adelaide Hills fruit-set was slightly above average. The region experienced a warm finish to the growing season, however well-developed canopies shielded the fruit from adversity and ensured the berries ripened evenly. Harvest was an orderly affair across the three regions, with chardonnay exhibiting outstanding varietal characteristics with bracing natural acidity.
| GRAPE VARIETY
Chardonnay
|
Chardonnay |
|---|---|
| VINEYARD REGION
Tasmania, Tumbarumba, Adelaide Hills
|
Tasmania, Tumbarumba, Adelaide Hills |
| wine analysis
Alc/Vol: 13%, pH: 3.12, Acidity: 7.3g/L
|
Alc/Vol: 13%, pH: 3.12, Acidity: 7.3g/L |
| MATURATION
Eight months in French oak barriques (60% new)
|
Eight months in French oak barriques (60% new) |
The Yattarna Story
The release of Yattarna Chardonnay, after 144 winemaking trials, marked a new chapter in the Penfolds story. The inaugural 1995 vintage was arguably the most talked about and early anticipated white wine in Australian history - dubbed by the media as “White Grange”, it reached the front pages of Australia’s national newspapers. The elegant style epitomises the finesse, restraint and character of modern Australian chardonnay. It is best enjoyed within a three- to 12-year time frame – the wines benefit from some bottle age.
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