July 1, 2023 - 2023 Birthday lunch (Aquitaine Brasserie): Not a bad wine but tasted next to Bin A and Yattarna and this looked a bit clumsy in comparison. Nice stonefruit, oak seemed a bit rough.
March 26, 2022 - V. v. good. Strong improvement on first bottle (July 2020). Not a hint of oak anymore. Piercing acidity, fresh fruit, minerality, it is all there. Blind could have mistaken this for a really good Chablis 1er Cru.
July 11, 2020 - Unmistakably Chardonnay. Not too far away from Bourgogne, nice minerals and acidity, but there is some vanilla on the finish might suggest new world. Still, all very nicely balanced and interesting, nothing flabby at all about this, too the contrary, very enjoyable.
February 12, 2020 - Pale to medium gold in color. Stone fruit with some tropical notes, slight stone, and brioche on the nose. Mouth watering high acid with red apple, lemon, and slight rind on the palate.
September 5, 2019 - Good nose showing citrus and fragrance as it warmed and opened. There are pronounced lemon citrus flavours and hints of spice on the palate. It is comparatively restrained - more Burgundian than traditional New World Chardonnay. It is an elegant wine with excellent acidity, balance and length but is expensive in UK compared with good white Burgundy at a similar price.
Good, maybe better, after 24h in the fridge. 90+
Another bottle 2 days later was full of lemon citrus fruit and almond flavours developed later.
April 27, 2019 - Clear light yellow. Reductive nose, hints of sulfur with lemon curd and mineral. Very dry lemon curd flavours and a nice dry finish.
A serious White Burgundy imposter. Not too rich or ripe.
March 4, 2019 - Golden yellow in color. Notes of citrus, floral and apple. Nice example of a Chardonnay.
January 24, 2019 - Clear light yellow. Intense Chardonnay nose, butter, lemon curd, lemon and smoke. Delicious rich lemon curd and lemon juice flavours and a long dry finish. Tons of acid, almost electric.
July 27, 2018 - Adelaide trip; 7/26/2018-7/29/2018 (Adelaide and the surrounding environs): Slight lemon, a smidge of butter, vanilla, sweet spice. Muted lemon fruit, plenty of oak, butter and a little toast.
July 6, 2018 - Pale gold, bouquet of butter, honey with hint of citrus. Palate similar, heavy weight, alcohol high with bitterness on the finish, more obvious as the wine warmed in the glass. Also cloying sweetness. This was the kind of wine I can remember drinking 20 or 30 yrs ago. I thought we’d moved on a bit since then. Penfolds tends to live on its name a bit. Very expensive at £32. To be fair I would have thought that this was a great wine years ago but nowadays there is much better out there for the same price.