Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay 2019
- 97
- $175
- Drink by: 2023 - 2036
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Penfold’s superstar white and one of this country’s finest Chardonnays. 2019 is a blend of fruit from Tasmania, Tumbarumba and the Adelaide Hills. Eight months in French oak barriques, 55% new, 45% one year old. This is a Yattarna for the ages. Stunning. A lovely light green/gold in colour. The nose is tight but fresh and balanced. There is oak here, but so well integrated. Spices, lemon zest, cashews, the bark of a lemon tree and wet stones. Key to this wine at all stages is the immaculate balance and focus. The wine has drive, tautness, precision and great length, all carried by underlying acidity. Such precision and balance; elegance yet power. With time in the glass, a hint more of the cinnamon-y oak emerged, as did some notes of lime. This year’s clear winner in the Penfold’s Chardonnay stakes. Outstanding. The balance remained, no matter how long the wine stayed in the glass. A long, slow gentle fade, but the intensity continues right through this length. Surely a good ten to fifteen years lie ahead for this wine.
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.
