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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2011 and 2014 (based on 4 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 88.9 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 12 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by LindsayM on 10/19/2015 & rated 94 points: Found this review on the net and it's so accurate
Popped and poured this wine and it exploded out of the glass, the palate is complete and seemless from start to the very long finish - fabulous
I found this review on the net And it was written in 2009 and still relevant today
Penfolds Bin 311 Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2008
$42.90; 13% alcohol; screw cap; 92+++
Obviously made to fill the chablis section of Penfolds’ shelves, this wine is from Tumbarumba grapes, grown on the cool western slopes of the Australian Alps near Mount Kosciuszko. “Bin 311 can be from any district”, Peter Gago says, “depending on which vineyard best gives us the style we want ... but it must be a single region – there’s no blending between districts, ensuring the wine is always a pure reflection of its source. It’s barrel-fermented, but in two, three and four year old French barriques, where it stays for just eight months, so we don’t get overt oak.” While the wine had undergone full malo-lactic fermentation, at only 13% - perfect! - it’s still the colour of young riesling and shows no buttery fats. It reeks of carbide and fresh-blasted quarries at the front edge, and follows that with pithy white peach skin and comice pear aromas, and just the faintest hint of grilled cashew. The palate’s crisp and austere. It’s a cheeky brat of wine, and must surely put the fear of death into the Chablisiennes. 20 FEB 09; 1 MAY 10 Review by Drankster (2205 views) | | | Tasted by gilesm on 7/9/2015: Showed well, but it's time to drink up the 2008. Marvellous. (2540 views) | | | Tasted by Timbalimba on 7/25/2014 & rated 90 points: Pretty, green-tinted pale gold. Demanding nose with peach, greengage, suco de caju, white flowers, and salty minerality. Medium bodied palate, peach, green pear fruit and citrus. Finishes very well with long, piercing, lipsmacking acidity. Not showing off in any way, this is a quietly spoken Chard that keeps things close to its chest. But the finish and the acidic lift, on their own, merit an outstanding score. (2497 views) | | | Tasted by belfast taxman on 3/31/2014 & rated 90 points: What a pleasure to see that this wine which was a bit sharp in its youth has now matured into a real mouth filler with rounded balance and depth (2557 views) | | | Tasted by belfast taxman on 1/19/2013 & rated 89 points: Very enjoyable - if you are expecting a big oaky mouthful of butterscotch look elsewhere this is a racy little number of pineapple and melon with just a hint of vanilla (2805 views) | | | Tasted by rednick@internode.on.net on 12/30/2012: Nice, Oak is probably a bit overplayed but I don't mind that - acidity is there to keep things tight - melon and white stone fruit - all up very drinkable and no immediate rush although probably near it's peak (1131 views) | | | Tasted by wsellis on 12/25/2012 & rated 89 points: Wonderful buttery oak nose with apple and peach. Mild acidic mouthwatering taste with apple and peach with a mild short finish. Very easy drinking Chardonnay that pairs well with cheese and just by itself. A great value and very good Australian Chardonnay. Will buy this again. (988 views) | | | Tasted by belfast taxman on 6/23/2012 & rated 88 points: Not exactly a world beater but still a very pleasing mouthful of Aussie-style Chardonnay - actually only very lightly oaked, this was quite racey and light with melon to the fore. Elegance rather than power - should still keep on drinking for a while yet (1152 views) | | | Tasted by gilesm on 6/24/2011: Not quite as perfect as the 2006. Hopefully age will improve this... (1467 views) | | | Tasted by chatters on 3/4/2010 & rated 82 points: Wine-Ark Cellar Club Tasting 2 - March 2010, Aurora, Audrey Wilkinson and Penfolds (Roof Terrace Australian Museum): Nose: Not much to it, touch of malo, mild pineapple if anything
Mouth: unripe pineapple, white pepper, pear, some acidity, bit acrid on the finish. Bit bland.
At AUD34 this is preposterously overpriced. Not good at all. (2169 views) |
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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 20132008 Penfolds Chardonnay Bin 311 Penfold's Tasting NoteChardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeAustralia Wine Australia (Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation) | Australian Wines (Wikipedia)South EasternRiverina
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