Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay 2011 Review: Fourteen Years On
The first Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay was the 1995 release.
Yattarna is known as ‘The White Grange’.
The 2011 Yattarna Chardonnay sourced grapes from Tasmania and the Adelaide Hills.
All French oak, 64% new.
Yattarna translates to “little by little, gradually”, which is what the quality of Yattarna has done, consistently, in an upward direction over the years.
Fifteen years ago I sat down one evening to a meal with Peter Gago – chief winemaker at Penfolds – at the restaurant at Magill Estate on the outskirts of Adelaide. We were drinking the 2002 Cellar Release Grenache from Penfolds, I recall, among other wines. I don’t recall a lot about this dinner but I do recall that Gago, at one point, became defensive – in his unerringly affable way – about Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay, and specifically around how long Yattarna could or should be expected to perform in the cellar. His argument was that people expect too much of chardonnay. His argument was that chardonnay doesn’t demand to be cellared and that even the very best examples often aren’t genuinely long term propositions. I pushed back a little against this argument but obviously his reasoning was sound and valid. The reason that Gago’s tone was gently defensive though was because of this: the early vintage releases of Yattarna Chardonnay (1995 was the first release) hadn’t necessary aged well.
Times indeed have changed dramatically since that night – for chardonnay generally and for Yattarna Chardonnay specifically. The best Australian chardonnays can and do now age, and well. On Tuesday I was lucky enough to drink a glass of Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay 2011, and a more perfect example of the age-worthiness of this wine you never will find.
What a wine. Fourteen year old Australian chardonnay. Straw yellow. Rich, fresh, lengthy. Lanolin, grilled peach, meal, flint, creme brulee and mint. Velvety mouthfeel. Both rich and exquisite. Outstandingly fresh and outstandingly beautiful. It tastes like a six or seven year old wine, not a fourteen year old wine, and yet it’s complex and generous and persistent and boasting all the things and all the feels.
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There are 21 vintages of Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay independently reviewed on The Winefront site, including a review of the rare Penfolds V Chardonnay NV.
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Also consumed on the day was a glass of Penfolds Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon 1996.
