Winemaker Notes
The generosity promised on the nose is certainly delivered on the palate. A beguiling creamy texture energised by fresh, chalky acidity. Flavours of honeydew and tangelo fruits merge with those of slithered pistachio, cashew. Refreshing. Inviting.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
All the fruit in this Bin 311 comes from the cool climate and high-altitude Tumburumba region, which saw one of the warmest growing seasons on record in 2016. On the nose there is a hint of struck-match and flinty mineral notes. In the mouth it shows crisp acidity and tension as well as bruised apple, melon and citrus fruit with a savoury, leesy complexity (from batonnage in seasoned French oak barriques). This is lean and fresh but not in any way mean or skinny.
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James Suckling
Some assertive toasty oak, almost candied nuts and toffee-like notes layered across bright spiced pear and peach fruits. The palate has a smooth sleeve of rich lemon, grapefruit, pear and green melon fruit, slippery glossy textural appeal and good depth.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Penfolds’ cool climate Chardonnay offering, the 2016 Chardonnay Bin 311, has fresh white peach, lemon curd and Golden Delicious apple with hints of honeysuckle and lightly browned toast. Light to medium-bodied, it has a lively line of acid lifting the pure stone fruit and apple flavors, finishing on a mineral note.
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Wine Enthusiast
Tumbarumba is the coolest wine growing region in New South Wales, thanks to altitudes ranging from nearly 1,000 feet to over 2,500 feet. Bin 311 has captured this cool-climate goodness in its Chardonnay, which is a bright-toned combo of salt, lemon rind and toasted nuts. The palate is a fine balance of fruit weight and prickly acidity with a chalky texture and a long lemony finish.
Since 1844, Penfolds has been grounded in experimentation, curiosity and uncompromising quality. Their success has been driven by a lineage of visionary winemakers. It began with Dr. Christopher and Mary Penfold, the pioneers who dreamed big, inventing tonics, brandies, and fortified wines made from grapes and Australian sunshine. It continued with celebrated winemaking legends including Max Schubert, who pushed the development to extraordinary, bold new heights. It is this pioneering spirit and curiosity that still rings true after nearly two centuries, it is what has helped Penfolds become one of the most celebrated winemakers in the world today.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
The birthplace of Australian wine but also fast to embrace innovation, New South Wales is full of historic wine regions as well as some of the nation’s most contemporary producers. Along the entire western side of the Great Dividing Range, New South Wales includes the famous wine regions of Hunter Valley, Mudgee, Orange, Hilltops, Canberra and Riverina.