Penfolds Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2020
- 93
- $125
- Drink by: 2023 - 2030
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Lately, it seems that Penfold’s have taken their foot off the pedal for Bin A, bringing it more in line with a style we might call Yattarna-lite. A single region Chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills. And in all fairness, the Adelaide Hills had a miserable time in 2020 – think bushfires for a start. It is a credit to Penfold’s that they managed to construct such a good wine. Whole bunch pressed. Some juice pressed direct to barrel to ferment with wild yeasts. 100% malo. Eight months in French oak barriques, 86% new, the rest a year old.
A very pale green/yellow. There is enough to suggest that there is some serious power here, coiled and ready to be unleashed. Top-notch oak still integrating. Peaches, a hint of bacon fat. Fragrant, but it packs power. Good focus and a clean, long finish. With time in the glass, some cashew oak emerged. Should have a good four to six years ahead of it. Undoubtedly a very fine Chardonnay, but not quite what I think of when I think Bin A.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
