Today’s Wine Wednesday post is dedicated to this 2012 Chardonnay from Penfolds. I visited Australia 20 years ago starting in Adelaide and on Kangaroo Island. It was such a beautiful area and I wanted to move to Australia at the time. At the time, I visited wineries in the Barossa Valley but I don’t remember drinking Chardonnay. I actually don’t drink nearly as much Australian wine as I probably should. I bought this wine for a comparative tasting I was doing but then didn’t use it and decided to open it to see how it had evolved.

The wine was lovely, rich and evolved, with burned apple and petrol on the nose. It is dedicated to Thomas Hyland. He was the son-in-law of Dr. Christopher Rawson Penfold who ran the company from the 1800s to 1914.

The wine still had a lot of life to it despite it being an expensive wine from 2012. The yeasty, lees note was lovely and showed that it had matured in French oak barriques with batonnage. It was very creamy as well with a zesty finish. I had it with summer salad of tomato and basil. It was a nice addition but could also have stood up to more substantial fare.

The Penfolds story is so unique in Australia, starting in 1844 with Dr. Christopher and Mary Penfold. Mary Penfold ran the winery for 40 years before ceding control to her daughter. Imagine that in the 1800s. This long history is a fascinating read on their website and one not to be missed.

I loved visiting Australia and do hope to focus more on these wines in coming months. Not to mention a return to the country at some point. Cheers to new adventures.