Penfolds : Reserve Bin A Chardonnay 2025

Characteristics and Tasting Tips for Penfolds Reserve Bin A Chardonnay 2025

Tasting

Appearance

The pale lemon-yellow colour is lit with luminous green highlights. Clear and brilliant, this hue evokes the freshness of a cool-climate Chardonnay.

Nose

The nose is refined and complex, dominated by toasted cashew and white peach, enhanced by savoury notes of fried shallot and subtle touches of gunflint. With aeration, a nutty cream emerges, accompanied by nuances of grapefruit, stone fruit and marzipan, offering a bouquet that is both rich and precise.

Palate

The attack reveals a dense, textured palate, driven by notes of vanilla panna cotta and white stone fruit. A light phenolic grip structures the whole, while vibrant acidity brings freshness and energy. The long, saline finish extends the tasting pleasantly with hints of walnut and sweet spices.

Food and Wine Pairing

This richly textured Chardonnay pairs particularly well with premium shellfish such as scallops or butter-grilled lobster. It also matches beautifully with white fish in creamy sauces, such as turbot or sea bass, as well as with white meats served with cream and mushrooms. Among cheeses, it finds a fine echo in young pressed cooked cheeses such as Comté or Beaufort.

The Structure and Richness of an Adelaide Hills Chardonnay

The Estate

Founded in 1844 at Magill Estate, near Adelaide, in South Australia, by Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold and his wife Mary, Penfolds has established itself as one of the most emblematic houses of Australian wine. Now owned by Treasury Wine Estates, a publicly listed group based in Melbourne, Penfolds retains a strong degree of winemaking autonomy under the direction of Peter Gago, Chief Winemaker since 2002. The house is renowned for its multi-regional blending philosophy and its ability to produce age-worthy wines, both red and white.

The Vineyard

The grapes for this Chardonnay come from Adelaide Hills, a region renowned for its cool climate and high altitudes, which favour slow ripening and the preservation of pronounced natural acidity. The harvest is carried out by hand, in small crates, to preserve the integrity of the bunches.

Winemaking and Maturation

To craft this Reserve Bin A Chardonnay 2025, the grapes are whole-bunch pressed. Part of the juice ferments naturally, without yeast inoculation. Fermentation takes place in 225-litre French oak barrels, both new and used. This Australian wine undergoes a fully natural malolactic fermentation, then rests for several months in French oak barrels.

Grape Variety

100% Chardonnay