Penfolds, chardonnay, and excellence

Celebrate Contemporary Australian Chardonnay

Although still in its infancy, the Australian chardonnay story is one filled with experimentation, growth and much success. Modern wine enthusiasts could hardly imagine a world where this much-loved varietal didn’t feature so prominently, however, it was only commercially planted in Australia during the 1970s. Despite its viticultural youth, Australians quickly developed a love for chardonnay and this led to extensive and rapid plantings.

It was during this epoque of Australian chardonnay that Penfolds decided to embark on its own white wine quest. The objective was to craft a flagship white wine that could confidently stand beside Grange in renown, quality and esteem.

Penfolds White Winemaker, Kym Schroeter, was involved in the early years of this pursuit and can remember the time well. Several regions were considered and a number of varietals too, before ultimately a multi-region, cool-climate chardonnay was decided upon. Yattarna, a First Nations Australian word meaning “little by little; gradually”, was the name appointed alluding to the trials and time undertaken to carefully craft a flagship worthy white wine.

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You can really see the true personality of wine and winemaker in chardonnay

-KYM SCHROETER

PENFOLDS WHITE WINEMAKER

Yattarna was crafted over 144 trials providing its secondary reference, Bin 144. Through these attempts, numerous other Penfolds wines were born; many outstanding in their own right. Penfolds Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, which had its first vintage in 1994, is one such example – and is now one of the most awarded wines in the Penfolds stable. While early vintages of Reserve Bin A Chardonnay included some fruit from Tumbarumba, this revered wine is now a distinctive, single-region style, with a contemporary and expressive Adelaide Hills persona.

Further pursuits of excellence resulted in several other expressive chardonnays. The first vintage of Bin 311 was produced in 2005 where it was initially framed around Tumbarumba fruit. The wine has more recently pursued a consistent style from high altitude/low latitude vineyard sites. Bin 311 truly reflects the winemakers’ mantra ‘we always go where the fruit grows best and where it best suits style’.

More recently, Penfolds have utilised their Cellar Reserve program to run limited release trials that explore the innovative boundaries of viticulture, vinification, and style. In 2019 Penfolds released the first vintage of the Penfolds Cellar Reserve Chardonnay (vintage 2018), sourced exclusively from Tasmanian vines. The powerful fruit, fine acidity, and maturation in old and new French oak barriques delivers a wine of great balance and complexity.

Close up of Penfolds g5 back label. Calligraphy script shows g5, 2014 Grange and 2012 Grange

Today, Kym Schroeter is regarded as one of the best in the world, consistently winning awards for his work – with his tenure at Penfolds spanning 36 vintages. During his tenure, an impressive list of awards Kym and his team have garnered include:

The 2018 Yattarna was awarded both ‘Chardonnay of the Year’ and the inaugural ‘White Wine of the Year’ at the 2022 Halliday Wine Companion Awards. The 2018 Yattarna was also recognised as FINE Wine Magazine's ‘2021 Best White Wine of the Year’.
The 2009 Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay won ‘World’s Best Chardonnay’ at the London IWC awards in 2011.
The 2015 Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay was the top Australian white wine at the London IWC awards in 2018.
The 2018 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay has been awarded Gold Medals at the 2019 National Wine Show of Australia and the 2020 Royal Adelaide Wine Show.
The 2017 Bin 311 Chardonnay was awarded 95 points by James Halliday in the Halliday Wine Companion.
In 2016, Kym was awarded ‘White Winemaker of the Year’ at the IWC award ceremony and was again nominated for the award in 2021.

These awards are a testament to the hard work that the entire Penfolds team has undertaken, however the pursuit is never ending. We’ll leave the final word on the future of chardonnay to Kym.

“Chardonnay is interesting because it’s so complex – there are many facets and layers you can add into the wine. From deciding on the vineyard and region and choosing specific parcels, to maturation, and balancing the amount of yeast to incorporate (and many other factors) – it’s up to the winemaker to decide just how complex each wine will be. You can really see the true personality of wine and winemaker in chardonnay”, he says.

“I’m looking forward to working with chardonnay in the future – as new clones planted years ago start to show their true colours, it’s going to be a great period for Australian chardonnay!”.

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