2003 Penfolds, Yattarna, Bin 144 Chardonnay, Australia

2003 Penfolds, Yattarna, Bin 144 Chardonnay, Australia

Product: 20038010609
Prices start from £123.00 per bottle (75cl). Buying options
2003 Penfolds, Yattarna, Bin 144 Chardonnay, Australia

Buying options

Available for delivery or collection. Pricing includes duty and VAT.
Bottle (75cl)
 x 1
£123.00
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Description

Pale straw with incandescent avocado hues. The wine is still in its infancy (even after three years in bottle), however upon sitting in the glass, aromas of freshly cut limes and granny smith apples are complimented by freshly ground aromatic spices. A controlled expression of flavour. Preserved lemon rind and refreshing acidity is balanced with barely apparent barrel ferment characters: creamy nougat; blue cheese. In true Penfolds premium style, this wine will benefit from, but not necessarily demand decanting.

Berry Bros. & Rudd

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Critics reviews

Josh Raynolds, Vinous92/100

Pale, bright yellow. Powerful, leesy aromas of orange, tangerine, white peach, cinnamon toast and iodine. Very fresh and initially a bit wound up, but opens quickly to show firm, focused flavors of blood orange, lemon zest and sexy, toasty oak. A chewy, concentrated chardonnay that became richer and deeper with air, taking on more exotic fruit tones, notably peach, apricot and mango. A finishing note of toasty oak does not come at the expense of the wine's concentrated fruit.

Josh Raynolds, Vinous.com (July 2006)

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Wine Advocate91/100

Penfolds’ flagship dry white is the 2003 Chardonnay Yattarna. While early vintages of this cuvee could be too oaky (the wine sees about 55% new French oak), that component is now nicely blended with aromas of apple jam, a smoky nuttiness, and hints of honeyed grapefruit as well as marmalade. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and impressively endowed.

Robert M. Parker, Jr., Wine Advocate (October 2006)

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Wine Enthusiast90/100

Penfolds high-end Chardonnay seems to be settling into stride, less marked by oak than in its earliest incarnations and showing more restrained fruit as well. Melon and citrus flavors are accented by hints of pencilly oak on the long finish. Good now, but should also be capable of aging a few years.

Joe Czerwinski, Wine Enthusiast (January 2007)

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About this WINE

Penfolds

Penfolds

Penfolds enjoys an iconic status that few New World producers have achieved. Established in 1844 at the Magill Estate near Adelaide, it laid the foundation for fine wine production in Australia.

The winemaking team is led by the masterful Peter Gago; it has the herculean task of blending the best wines from a multitude of different plots, vineyards and regions to create a consistent and outstanding range of wines. Its flagship wine, Grange, is firmly established as one of the finest red wines in the world.

Under Gago’s stewardship, the Penfolds range has evolved over time. Winemaking has moved away from New World heat and the sort of larger-than-life style that can mask individuality; the contemporary wines instead favour fine balance and typicity for the region or grape.

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Barossa Valley

Barossa Valley

Barossa Valley is the South Australia's wine industry's birthplace. Currently into its fifth generation, it dates back to 1839 when George Fife Angas’ South Australian Company purchased 28,000 acres at a £1 per acre and sold them onto landed gentry, mostly German Lutherans. The first vines were planted in 1843 in Bethany, and by the 1870s – with Europe ravaged by war and Phylloxera - Gladstone’s British government complemented its colonies with preferential duties.

Fortified wines, strong enough to survive the 20,000km journey, flooded the British market. Churchill followed, between the Wars, re-affirming Australia’s position as a leading supplier of ‘Empire wines’. After the Second World War, mass European immigration saw a move to lighter wines, as confirmed by Grange Hermitage’s creation during the 1950s. Stainless-steel vats and refrigeration improved the quality of the dry table wines on offer, with table wine consumption exceeding fortified for the first time in 1970.

Averaging 200 to 400 metres’ altitude, the region covers 6,500 hectares of mainly terra rossa loam over limestone, as well as some warmer, sandier sites – the Cambrian limestone being far more visible along the eastern boundary (the Barossa Ranges) with Eden Valley. Following a diagonal shape, Lyndoch at the southern end nearest Gulf St Vincent is the region’s coolest spot, benefiting from sea fogs, while Nuriootpa (further north) is warmer; hot northerlies can be offset by sea breezes. The region is also home to the country’s largest concentration of 100-year-old-vine ShirazGrenache and Mourvedre.

Barossa Valley Shiraz is one of the country’s most identifiable and famous red wine styles, produced to a high quality by the likes of Rockford, Elderton, Torbreck and Dean Hewitson. Grenache and Mourvèdre are two of the region’s hidden gems, often blended with Shiraz, yet occasionally released as single vineyard styles such as Hewitson’s ‘Old Garden’, whose vines date back to 1853. Cabernet Sauvignon is a less highly-regarded cultivar.

Wines are traditionally vinified in open concrete fermenters before being cleaned up and finished in American and French oak barrels or ‘puncheons’ of approximately 600 litres. Barossa Shiraz should be rich, spicy and suave, with hints of leather and pepper.

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Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.

Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.

It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.

Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.

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