I worked for Penfolds when the first vintage of Yattarna (1995) was released. It caused quite a stir, with the trade fighting for a miniscule allocation. It became so silly that one of my customers auctioned off their allocation, each bottle fetching over $1200. The release also brought into focus what style of white represents the pinnacle of Australian wine making. There were a few winemakers who felt that Yattarna could have been a Hunter Semillon or Clare Riesling.
It is fair to say sfter the early hype the early wines did not garner a great deal of attention. I bought a few bottles of he late 90s wines, but they didn’t really inspire me. Fast forward to a tasting I attended in 2015 where the 2012 was presented alongside a number of premier cru and grand cru Burgundies and it was the Yattarna that shone. It had incredible detail and minerality, minerality that I had never seen in an Oz chardy. Such was the volumes of Yattarna this wine was only released locally via cellar door. I still haven’t managed to procure another bottle of that wine.
A few weeks ago Penfolds released their luxury range of wines, amongst them the Bin17A Adelaide hills Chardonnay and teh 2016 Yattarna. I bought a few of each.
The 17A is gloriously, like the 12 Yattarna all minerality, fine, flinty with a Ramonetesque spearmint thread.
The 2016 Yattarna is a multi regional blend combining Australia’s best cool climate sites, Tasmania, Henty (South Western Vic), Adelaide Hills and Tumbarumba (High altitude). It does not have the cut of the 17A, it is however beautifully proportioned and fragrant, showing white fleshed stone fruits, a hint of honeycomb, some more exotic spice notes. The palate is very even, with latent power, coating the mouth with dense, yet airy fruit. It is good, very good, classy and complete, but my Burg-centric palate is drawn to the 17A for its extra degree of minerality at this stage.
Interesting history lesson Kent. Had several vintages about 15 years ago when I attended a wine summit at which Peter Gago was presenting these along with a deep Grange vertical. From memory the Yattarna’s were '97-'01. All quite impressive at a time when, other than Leeuwin, most other AUS chardonnays that landed on our shores were rather dialed up regardless of price point.
Penfolds must be top to bottom, one of the 5 best/ most impressive wine brands in the world - however similar to Grange, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the cost ($100-ish at the time, when you could get near-top tier burg for the same or less).
Haven’t seen a bottle in over a decade.
This is Penfolds ethos and always has been. Grange is a multi regional blend. The vast majority of Oz icon wines are single site.
Nathan, you need to come and visit. Our industry is very terroir driven at the fine wine end. Sure we don’t have the history of Burgundy, but we are continuing to isolate the distinguished sites. Many have not been discovered I am sure.
Thanks for the tasting note Kent. Appreciate it.
Haven’t tasted a Yattarna for a few years. The last one was good and a significant improvement on the wines from the 90’s.
I had the 2012 and 2014 Bins and they were superb. Really tight, focussed and exciting. I think I will probably spend my money on the Bin 2017A than the 2016 Yattarna.
I’m surprised that there is Henty fruit in there. Did they steal some from the Seppelt vineyards?
I have some recollection that a good portion of the Penfolds white winemaking team were retrenched in the early 2000s, so that might be why it wasn’t as visible for a while. I think that would have been 2001 or 2002.
Paul,
My hunch is that the fruit is from the Drumborg vineyard. I served a 10yr old Drumborg Riesling at my wedding that was humming many moons ago. Seppelt winemakers were always very positive about that vineyard, but it was too cool for Cab Sauv in the majority of years.
I bought some late 90s Yattarna at auction and served them at a LBTG blind dinner about 4 years ago. It was outstanding. No one had a clue and there were a bunch of GC Burg guesses. I have tried to get more but it seems hard to find.
Finally managed to procure a few bottles of the 2012 Yattarna at auction. Cracked one last night and what a treat. Still young and coiled, with the spearmint character of the 2016, softening yet perky acid and just incredible evenness across the palate. It displays a rare combo of detail and plushness, with cut. Right in the zone now.
Attended a Penfolds dinner outside Boston two months ago and the lineup included the 2016 Yattarna and 2018 Bin 51 Eden Valley riesling. Both wines were outstanding. The Yattarna had impeccable balance, was very light on new oak, and struck me as a wine that will make it to age 30 without difficulty.
I say this as someone who is normally hunting down white wines like Carillon, Keller, Alzinger, Bernaudeau, and Tribut. And who doesn’t own any Aussie chardonnay. Sometimes you just have to acknowledge and respect what’s in the glass.
Thanks Paul for your thoughts. Judging by the 2012 and seems to have hardly budged, I do agree that it is a wine that could conceivably go 30 yrs, not that I will be waiting that long.
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