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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2020 and 2025 (based on 19 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.9 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 40 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by LopedeAguirre on 5/23/2024 & rated 92 points: As good as the previous bottle, consistenly delivering. (50 views) | | | Tasted by LopedeAguirre on 4/20/2024 & rated 92 points: Qatar Airways IAD - DOH business class. Excellently made Chardonnay, with hints of fragrant fruit and great balance. Very fine peach and nuts. (164 views) | | | Tasted by colinscellar on 10/4/2023 & rated 90 points: Significantly better than previous bottle. Nice balance of lemon citrus and oak spice. (644 views) | | | Tasted by colinscellar on 9/16/2023 & rated 87 points: Drank at bbq so a caveat that tasting conditions weren't ideal, this was disappointing though as it seemed surprisingly forward-matured with the acidity seeming rather flat. Flavourwise - default Chardonnay with some stonefruit and citrus and a bit of oak spice. Not bad but this is definitely sub-par if paying full RRP.
Aging is something every Penfolds wine normally does well but I think this may already be in decline, will need to retaste in better conditions though. (622 views) | | | Tasted by MatVino2014 on 7/9/2023 & rated 89 points: Très bon Chardonnay, produit de Tasmanie, 9 mois en fût de chêne, nez sur les fruits verts et pain cuit.
Notes de conversion malolactique de pain, notes de beurre du chêne, belle acidité et trame minérale, fruits verts et jaunes, granny smith et poire jaune. Très agréable. Dégusté sur place chez Penfolds La Grande. $50/bouteille (678 views) | | | Tasted by foyfrcs on 7/18/2022 & rated 87 points: Medium lemon.
Lime, Nuts on the nose.
Citrus, vanilla palate.
Tasted quite Sauvignon blancish for a Chardonnay!!
Quite pleasant wine, I will be interested to see how it evolves. (1857 views) | | | Tasted by Moloko on 6/17/2022 & rated 91 points: Lots of struck match on nose. Grapefruit and cashew with a lemon acidity and a long finish. Quality (1780 views) | | | Tasted by Daffyd75 on 5/28/2022 & rated 91 points: The wine looks straw colored. The legs are fast. There is no sediment in the bottle. A nose of lemon, peach, almond and flint. It tastes like lemon, apricot, mineral, stoniness and phenolic. The body I feel is medium. The wine a zing and is fantastic on the palate. The wine finishes long. The wine has medium to high acidity. (1544 views) | | | Tasted by rmarkey on 8/25/2021 & rated 95 points: Excellent. Drank by mistake thinking I'd pulled out an older one but this drinks like a mature wine. 12.5% alc.
Colour: pale straw
Bouquet: delicate citrus notes with minerals and lanolin
Palate: as bouquet, great minerality and mouth feels, vanilla, creamy, fullish flavoured but quite subtle nuances. Long clean finish with gentle acid.
August 2021 (2548 views) | | | Tasted by Old Wine Maven on 7/10/2021: Underwhelming. Industrial. Trying to be a textbook version of a mid range new world Chardonnay. Which I guess it is, but was hoping for more personality. Began to crack up after a couple days even with vacu-vin in fridge. Would not buy again. (2348 views) | | | Tasted by stayhappy21 on 7/2/2021 & rated 88 points: Opened this wine at Tunglok Signatures (Orchard Rendezvous) with a very close ex-colleague to celebrate her birthday. We had foie gras with Peking duck skin, boiled lobster, deep-fried codfish, Iberico pork and beef.
Gold in colour, with an aromatic nose of vanilla, cream, lemon, wet rock, minerals with good intensity and acidity.
What I liked particularly about this wine is the balance between flavours and character; enough fruits to enjoy but not too much to be repulsive. A well-rounded wine that can be paired with a wide range of food items or on its own. (1670 views) | | | Tasted by beatles on 5/13/2021 & rated 91 points: Elegant Burgundian style. Lemon zest, ceamy with butter in the foreground, hints of smoke. Better on day2&3.
#Kandestederne (2201 views) | | | Tasted by lewisrise on 5/1/2021 & rated 90 points: The wine is pale lemon with a medium plus intensity youthful aromas of lemon, lime, pineapple, honeysuckle, wet stone, grapefruit. This is a dry wine with medium body and high alcohol and acidity. The wine has medium plus intensity primary flavors of lemon, lime, grapefruit, pineapple, and almond. The wine has a medium finish and is good quality. Drink now with potential for aging. (1514 views) | | | Tasted by Leto South on 3/5/2021 & rated 90 points: Pale yellow. Medium+ bq w green apples,oak (burnt match!), roasted salted peanuts, minerals, white peaches. Firm attack w oak tannins, high acidity, but this is balanced with afruit. Medium aftertaste w lime zest bitterness. Not great, but very good. Ready to drink, will last longer. (1133 views) | | | Tasted by Collector1855 on 3/2/2021 & rated 92 points: Penfolds dinner. Apero wine, sourced from 4 regions apparently, SA, NSW, Vic, Taz. I liked this Chardonnay as it is made in a Burgundian style with lemon zest, creamy but not too buttery as there is a nice lemon zest and mineralic touch to it as well. Solid (1879 views) | | | Tasted by JonathanNJ on 1/28/2021 & rated 88 points: Subtle, new world but not overpowering; good but not spectacular. Decent but not memorable (1103 views) | | | Tasted by Jason Wu on 1/22/2021 & rated 88 points: Medium flavour intensity, medium finish. Some stone fruit notes of white peach with peach skin bitterness, creamy and flint. Good wine with decent quality but nothing exciting as well. No point to further cellar it. Nice to pair with cheese in a hot summer. (1072 views) | | | Tasted by David J Cooper on 1/3/2021 & rated 92 points: Clear medium light yellow. Medium plus intensity. Lemon, brown butter, pear and wet stone. Dry intense lemon and brown butter flavours. The finish is textured and dry.
Very nice intense Chardonnay that never seems too ripe or overdone. (1186 views) | | | Tasted by Nyrican on 4/29/2020 & rated 91 points: Very nice wine on the mineral side of the range but still has the fruit and is pretty well balanced (1712 views) | | | Tasted by "Rhône Rider" on 2/13/2020 & rated 88 points: Pære, røyk, popcorn, vanilje på nese. Smør, popcorn, røyk, urter, pærer, gule plommer og grønne epler i munn. Litt kremete, med tydelig fat, men bra syre. Grei lengde. Bra sak til prisen. 88 (1354 views) | | | Tasted by "Rhône Rider" on 1/21/2020 & rated 89 points: Frisk med grønne epler, sitrus, nøtter, røyk. Detaljert frisk medium lengde. Litt spinkel frukt. Treverke i avslutningen. 88-89 bra kjøp (1111 views) | | | Tasted by Head4Heights on 1/13/2020 & rated 91 points: Lemon, white stone fruit, orange, melon, sweetspice, tropical fruit on a pronounced nose. Pale lemon colour. Medium body, high pH and a trace of tannin too. Long length and fruit driven too. Nice balance, buttery soft ripe stone fruit on a pronounced palate. Really rather good, better on day two actually. (1619 views) | | | Tasted by Brentw1 on 12/17/2019 & rated 91 points: Enjoyed this over the course of an evening. I was tempted to decant it but ended up just letting it breathe in the glass for 10 to 15 mins for each glass. Typically you get a bit of sulphur (as a previous reviewer commented) on a first sniff in my experience with Penfolds Chardonnay but that soon clears and the fruit kicks in. Peaches, pineapple and a whiff of lemon for me. Served at cellar temp (12 at the moment). A good long finish as well. This is my cup of tea but you have to be a little patient and allow it some air. (1730 views) | | | Tasted by stayhappy21 on 11/8/2019 & rated 85 points: Opened this wine during the organisation's annual Dinner and Dance.
Pale gold in colour with notes of white stone fruits, unripe pineapples, granny smith apples and chinese snow pear.
Fresh acidity and a strong finish. (1381 views) | | | Tasted by "Rhône Rider" on 1/14/2019 & rated 90 points: Nøtter, smør, eplefrukt, frisk, balansert, lang. Fokusert lang. Litt fet. 89-90 (1824 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, The Barossa: An Ascent to Higher Quality (Dec 2021) (12/1/2021)
(Penfolds Wines Chardonnay Bin 311 White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Sarah Ahmed
Decanter, Australian multi-regional blends (5/7/2019)
(Penfolds, Bin 311 Chardonnay, South Australia, Australia, White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, Penfolds 2018 Collection (12/13/2018)
(Penfolds Chardonnay Bin 311 White) Login and sign up and see review text. | By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (11/26/2018)
(Penfolds Chardonnay Tumbarumba Bin 311, White, Australia) Subscribe to see review text. | By Campbell Mattinson
The WINEFRONT (10/4/2018)
(Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay) Subscribe to see review text. | By Anthony Rose
Decanter, Penfolds 2018 (9/27/2018)
(Penfolds, Bin 311 Chardonnay, South Australia, Australia, White) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (9/27/2018)
(Penfolds, Bin 311 Chardonnay Australia White) Subscribe to see review text. | By James Halliday
Halliday Wine Companion (8/28/2018)
(Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and Decanter and JebDunnuck.com and JamesSuckling.com and The WINEFRONT and JancisRobinson.com and Halliday Wine Companion. (manage subscription channels) |
| Penfolds Producer website
Producer Cellar Door - Barossa (Google Maps)
About Us
Australia's winemaking history of less than two hundred years is brief by European measures though, like Europe, punctuated by periods of extreme success and difficult times. From the earliest winemaking days Penfolds has figured prominently and few would argue the importance of Penfolds’ influence on Australia’s winemaking psyche.
Without the influence of Penfolds the modern Australian wine industry would look very different indeed. Sitting comfortably outside of fad and fashion, Penfolds has taken Australian wine to the world on a grand stage and forged a reputation for quality that is without peer.
Penfolds’ reputation for making wines of provenance and cellaring potential might suggest a mantle of tradition and formality is the preferred attire of a company with so much history to defend. But to label Penfolds as simply an established and conventional winemaker, would be to confuse tradition with consideration and to overlook the innovative spirit that has driven Penfolds since its foundation, and continues to find expression in modern times.
If there is anything traditional about Penfolds, it is the practice of constantly reviewing the wines it already does well, and continuously evolving and refining styles as vineyards mature and access to ever older and more varied vineyard sites improves.
Making The Best Possible Wine
At Penfolds, the role of the winemaker is to make the best possible wine within the constraints of each vintage. Penfolds’ house style emerged from a fortified-wine producing culture and evolved as a winemaking philosophy – a way of making wine – which has had a profound effect on the entire Australian wine industry.
The concept of multi-regional and vineyard blending, a feature of the Penfolds house style, is an amplification of the ‘all-round wine’. Without the constraints of a single vineyard, winemakers could choose the best possible fruit with the outstanding characteristics of each vineyard.
While American oak has played a central role in the development of Penfolds red wines, French oak has been increasingly used in the evolution of new wines – particularly RWT and Yattarna. Maturation in oak, which follows fermentation, is also key to the Penfolds house style.
The Penfolds approach to winemaking has percolated through the entire Australian wine industry over the last 50 years. The techniques employed in research and development of Penfolds wines are remarkable and many of the discoveries and innovations have had a lasting impact on winemaking thinking.
Winemakers
In Max Schubert, Don Ditter, John Duval and Peter Gago, Penfolds has nurtured four of Australia's great winemakers. They have passed the Chief Winemaker’s baton of responsibility for crafting some of Australia's most iconic wines, down through the past six decades.
Joining Peter Gago in the Penfolds winemaking team are Senior Red Winemaker Steve Lienert, Senior White Winemaker Kym Schroeter, and Red Winemakers Andrew Baldwin, Adam Clay, Stephanie Dutton and Matt Woo - also the Penfolds Fortified Winemaker. All members of the Penfolds winemaking team ensure that Penfolds’ reputation for outstanding quality is upheld.
Vineyards
Barossa Valley
Penfolds draws fruit from a combined vineyard area of 618 hectares in the Barossa region of South Australia. The Barossa is about 70 kilometres north of Adelaide and in 1911 Penfolds established a winery at Nuriootpa, completed in time for the 1913 vintage. The Barossa region is known for its relatively low rainfall with many vineyards dry grown on single wire trellising.
Magill Estate
The historic and heritage-protected Magill Estate Vineyard was established in 1844 by Dr Christopher Rawson and Mary Penfold—just eight years after the foundation of Adelaide. It was originally known as the Grange Vineyard, named after their new homestead ‘The Grange’, a cottage which still stands intact amongst the vines.
Eden Valley
Joseph Gilbert planted the first vines in the Eden Valley in 1842 and since that time the region has become synonymous with producing elegant riesling and complex shiraz. While its name suggests a concave nature, Eden Valley is actually a wide ridge, situated east of the Barossa Valley with an altitude ranging from 440 – 550 metres.
McLaren Vale
McLaren Vale is located approximately 40km to the south of Adelaide, with the vineyards in the region located between 6 and 15 kilometres from the Gulf of St Vincent. The elevation ranges from 50 to 350 metres above sea level. Penfolds has company owned vineyards throughout the region, using the fruit as blending components for premium red wines such as Grange and Bin 389.
Coonawarra
Penfolds has had a long history with the Coonawarra region, dating back to their first vineyard purchase in 1960. It is one of the most famous red wine regions in Australia with weathered limestone terra rossa soils, relatively cool climate and overall water availability. Coonawarra has played a significant role in many of Penfolds' multi-regional wines as well as the single region wines such as Bin 128.
James Halliday Australian Wine Companion Winery Of The Year 2014: Penfolds
Penfolds is Australia’s foremost winemaker, with an unbroken line dating back to its establishment in 1844 when medical practitioner Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold and wife Mary purchased ‘the delightfully situated and truly valuable of Mackgill … Comprising 500 acres (202 hectares) of the choicest land’. Here they built the house that still stands today, and within a few years had begun the winery and cellar on the site of today’s buildings at Magill Estate.
Mary took charge of winemaking, initially producing grenache prescribed by her husband as a tonic for anaemic patients. By 1870 she, son-in-law Thomas Hyland and cellar manager/winemaker Joseph Gillard had formed Penfolds & Co. With markets in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, their wine production was over one-third of South Australia’s total.
Growth continued unabated, and in 1945 Penfolds acquired the jewel of the Magill Vineyard, at that time the largest vineyard in South Australia. It now has 2100 hectares of vineyards, the largest share of Australia’s total. Two men came together in the 1950s to lay the foundation of Penfolds today: winemaker Max Schubert, and research chemist Ray Beckwith (who died shortly after his 100th birthday in 2012); indeed, their contribution transcended Penfolds to the entire Australian wine industry.
The architecture for the Penfolds wine portfolio of the twenty-first century was established in the 1960s, half a century ago. There has been growth, both in the range of labels and their price points, but it has been cleverly – indeed sensitively – managed; demand-driven growth has been achieved without any quality compromise whatsoever.
There is no possibility that the pre-eminence of Penfolds will ever be challenged by any other Australian wine business. Equally certain is that the Penfolds brand value will continue to gain ground on the world stage of all consumable products. If proof be needed, the overall quality of the wines in this Wine Companion is the best Penfolds has ever presented to the markets of the globe.
Author: James Halliday Jul 20132017 Penfolds Chardonnay Bin 311BIN 311 Chardonnay 2017
Bin 311 Chardonnay truly reflects the winemakers’ mantra ‘we always go where the fruit grows best and where it best suits style’. In 2017, the fruit sourcing has moved to cool-climate multi-regional; Adelaide Hills, Tasmania, Tumbarumba. In true Bin 311 style, it exhibits lemon/lime aromas and a mineral acid backbone, complemented by barrel fermentation and maturation in French oak.
Grape Chardonnay
Region Adelaide Hills, Tasmania, Tumbarumba
Alc/Vol: 12.5%, Acidity: 6.4 g/L, pH: 3.17
Eight months in French oak (25% new)
Vintage Conditions
The source regions for Bin 311 Chardonnay all enjoyed plentiful winter rainfall, with several records broken. In Tasmania, good winter rainfall continued well into spring. Tumbarumba in New South Wales was above the long-term average while the Adelaide Hills recorded the highest annual rainfall since 1992. Across all regions, the 2017 season was a return to more average conditions, following the warm, dry and early 2016 vintage. Maximum spring temperatures were low but minimum temperatures were higher than average and there was no frost. In contrast to the high rainfall in winter and spring, the season ended dry and clear. February conditions were unusually cool and dry, and as a result the grapes showed fine acidity and elegance. Harvest was pushed back by the generally cooler conditions, which allowed grapes to slowly develop flavour intensity. A warm and dry March provided a perfect end to the season with strong quality markers across all regions.
Tasting Note
Colour Light straw
Nose Fresh and inviting – complexed by yeast lees-derived nougat and ground pistachio/almond/roasted chestnut. Scents of deconstructed crème brûlée ‘(flamed top and custardy middle), enhanced by ripe white nectarine and peach fruits.
A liberal sprinkle of crushed rock/pebble dust (quartz, limestone?) certainly adds interest.
Palate A very lively palate of freshly sliced cucumber and lime citrus flavours hovering over a soft and succulent acid underpinning.
A tight phenolic grip induces wonderful length and drive to the finish.
A cool climate regional trio – three different chardonnay expressions of texture/acidity/tightness/purity coalesce, propelling combined fruits/flavours.
A ‘new Bin 311’ is revealed. Nice.
Peak drinking Now – 2025
Last tasted July 2018
SCORES
95 Points - Campbell Mattinson
95 Points - James Halliday
93 Points - Joe Czerwinski, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
92 Points - Andrew Caillard MW
91 Points - Tyson Stelzer
91 Points - Anthony Rose, Decanter
90 Points - Huon Hooke
18 - Matthew JukesChardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeAustralia Wine Australia (Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation) | Australian Wines (Wikipedia)South EasternRiverina
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