Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay 2019
- 95
- $175
- Drink by: 2021 - 2033
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A picture of intense concentration. Sea spray, oyster shell, white peach, nectarine and the slow curl of grapefruit and lemon zest rise from the glass. Yattarna is surely home to one of the most recognisable chardonnay scents in the country. It’s at once delicate but rich and all-pervasive. Utterly delicious. Builds deceptively, furtively, through the mouth gathering pace and texture. Warm honeysuckle notes, summer fruits, stone fruit kernel nuttiness and nougat run long and deep on the palate. Wrapped in a firm, citrussy acidity, the 2019 Yattarna is mighty good-drinking right now.
A wine forever in progress, Yattarna – otherwise known as Bin 144 – has seen many incarnations in its 25 years. To think that McLaren Vale was once a grape source. Times changed pretty fast as the focus tended towards high altitudes and/or cool, southerly aspects. The 2019 is a blend of Tasmania, Tumbarumba and the Adelaide Hills. The mix is set to change from year to year. In 2019, it stands up to the original project concept, to develop an “ultra-fine” Australian chardonnay.
Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.
