2000 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay

Notes sourced from Southcorp Wines.

The Koonunga Hill name has carried Penfolds to the four corners of the wine-loving world, offering an extraordinary combination of quality and value, consistency and style. The inaugural 1991 vintage Koonunga Hill Chardonnay was sold exclusively in the UK, but since the 1992 vintage the wine has gone from strength to strength in Australia as well. Penfolds Koonunga Hill is made to a full-flavoured style with excellent varietal fruit and balanced oak. Careful grape selection and precise blending of component wines has resulted in a rich and complex wine.

Koonunga Hill Chardonnay reflects Penfolds' multi-region, multi-vineyard blending policy, which enables winemakers to reduce the impact of vintage variation and produce consistent wines every vintage.

2000 was an unusually varied vintage across South Australia. Penfolds' flexible blending policy enabled winemakers to select fruit from areas minimally affected by problems such as early hot weather and unusual rainfall patterns.

The wine was matured with oak, including over 40 per cent in new (85 per cent) and used oak barrels. Pale straw colour with a vibrant green hue. The nose displays peach and rockmelon aromas coupled with excellent cashew nut oak overtones influenced by creamy malolactic fermentation character. On the palate tropical fruit flavours including pear, peach and a hint of apple enable this wine to balance well with its oak fermentation and maturation influences consisting of smoky bacon and mild vanillin oak. Clean balanced acid along with smooth lingering butterscotch flavours gives this wine a lasting and enjoyable finish. Drink now or cellar 1-2 years. 12.0% alcohol volume.