1998 Penfolds Reserve Bin 98A Chardonnay

Notes sourced from Southcorp wines.

This one-off 'special bin' wine was made alongside the 1998 vintage of Penfolds' flagship white wine, Yattarna. It follows the successful release of Penfolds Reserve Bin 94A and 95A - which were both enthusiastically received upon release and have encouraged the continuation of these occasional batch wines.
Penfolds Special Bin wines are made to showcase what Penfolds winemakers can achieve when they have access to small quantities of high quality material in superior vintages. Careful selection of grapes from some of the best vineyards in Tumbarumba, the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Drumborg has resulted in a very limited quantity of this superb Chardonnay.
Individual fine-grained French oak barrels were selected for perfect integration, complexity and fruit expression. The wine is unfiltered and underwent complete malolatic fermentation.
1998 was a warm season followed a dry winter, raising fears of drought. Sporadic rainfall throughout the summer relieved the vines, allowing excellent crops, rich in flavour to be picked.
The wine was Matured in a combination of 73% new and 27% one-year-old French oak and stored on yeast lees for nine months.

Tasting Notes: Mid-full straw yellow colour with green hues. On the nose there are evocative barrel fermentation characters with complex malt and cashew nut overtones set against ripe fig and melon fruit aromatics. The combined aromas present a highly appealing and complex wine. A richly flavoured wine showing ripe melon and pineapple fruit flavours typical of the vintage. Use of cooler climate fruit ensured good natural acid balance, with a beautiful weave of savoury oak and creamy malolactic secondary characters adding depth and complexity to the sustained, rich finish.
Drink now to 2007.
Alc/Vol: 13.5%Acidity: 6.00g/LpH: 3.17