Yattarna 2023 is Penfolds' topline white wine, made from a single variety of Chardonnay grapes carefully selected from Tumbarumba, Adelaide Hills, and Tasmania vineyards, rather than from a specific South Australian vineyard. With an alcohol content of 12.5%, this wine is taut by Australian standards. These figures are not merely for show. They explain why the 2023 vintage has a taut and crisp profile rather than a lush one, and why this wine has the potential for long-term aging.
2023 was a cool and rainy year across much of southern Australia. This marked the third consecutive year of La Niña influences; it was the wettest year since 2011 and the coolest since 2012, with the national grape harvest totaling 1.32 million metric tons, the lowest since 2000. Cool years are ideal for this style of Chardonnay because they slow down the ripening process, increase natural acidity, and lower sugar levels.
Penfolds launched Yattarna in 1998, and after testing 144 wines, the 1995 vintage became the first release. The name is derived from a local term meaning little by little, slowly. Given that this is a wine that reveals its true value only with time, it is a very fitting name. Sealed with a screw cap, it preserves its reductive aromas and freshness.
Robert Parker (97)
The 2023 Yattarna Chardonnay hails from Tumbarumba, Adelaide Hills and Tasmania and leads with a restrained, composed and detailed display of fruit flavors and toasted spice complexity. This is a wine for the ages, one that shows well decades after release. I love the way this sits in the mouth, both weighty and waxy, with detail and levity as well. It has penetrating intensity without the heaviness of any one component. Texturally, the phenolic grip is chalky, with white flowers and fennel littered through the finish. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
James Suckling (97)
This is an Australian classic and is atypical, being sourced from vineyards across the country. It comes from three regions: Tumbarumba, Adelaide Hills and Tasmania. Aromas of struck match, lemon confit, white nectarines and grapefruit. The palate has striking acidity, with a salty, minerally finish that leaves you salivating for minutes. An excellent release from a cool vintage. Drink or hold.
Vinous (94)
The 2023 Chardonnay Yattarna is young and energetic, offering up slightly closed yet complex aromas of acacia, florals and musk with a firm base of French oak. This Chardonnay has good density of pithy flavors in a weighty, saline package that holds beautifully over a long, strong finish. The 2023 is a more approachable offering from Yattarna.
Decanter (96)
Reminiscent of the focused, arrow-straight 2021 vintage, this is a blend of 65% Tumbarumba fruit joined by parcels from the Adelaide Hills and Tasmania. It's the 'reserved, pristine, exact' sibling to the 'funky and forward' Reserve Bin A, says Penfolds' chief winemaker Peter Gago, explaining that inoculated, not wild, yeast is used for Yattarna to retain that purity. This needs at least a year before broaching, with the toasty oak (eight months in 60% new and 40% one-year barrels) still integrating, but while shy at present, there's a concentrated, complex core of fruit stirring underneath. Bright lemon juice, grapefruit zest, fresh fig leaf, nougat and crunchy nectarine combine with cool, mossy wet stones and laser-sharp acidity in a beautifully elegant expression.
