Cellar Favorite:
2011 Penfolds Chardonnay Yattarna

BY NEAL
MARTIN | JULY 28, 2025

Peter Gago, Penfolds’ chief
winemaker and raconteur/ambassador par excellence, recently visited London (and
doubtless every capital city in the world) to showcase Penfolds’ new releases.
I’ll leave it to my colleague Angus Hughson to cover those, but one mature
bottle made an impression. The 2011 Chardonnay Yattarna was poured from magnum.
The fruit for this came from Tasmania and Adelaide Hills and was matured in
French oak barriques, 64% new. Pale in colour, it delivers youthful, vibrant
aromatics, with scents of lemon, almond and apricot and an underlying
flintiness that might dupe you into thinking Europe rather than Australia. The
palate does not disappoint, boasting impressive concentration matched by a
crisp line of acidity. Eschewing the creamier style that was once synonymous
with Australian Chardonnay, this Yattarna is linear and sapid, flecks of almond
once again mixed with wild peach on the finish. At 14 years old, this will last
far longer than the “2011 to 2020” drinking window advised by Penfolds
themselves! 93/Drink 2025-2045.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1753712579102-CF_July282025.JPG">© 2025, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or re-distributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright, but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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