A maturing, but elegant chardonnay whose floral perfume of peachy, nutty fruit and creamy, buttery oak reveals some toasty development. Full to medium in weight, it’s round and juicy, delivering almost a cloying intensity of citrus and stonefruit flavours before a more restrained and elegant finish of refreshing but soft acidity. Enhanced by well-handled nutty, vanilla oak.

A step on the wild side, this overtly funky chardonnay is perhaps the most wild and woolly yet released from this stable. Its ripe flavours of grapefruit, melon and quince are handsomely backed by a complex presence of meaty reductive aspects with toasty, buttery and nougat-like undertones, with a distinctive note of ginger. ItÕs rich and mouthfilling, with an unctuous presence, but comes together with a smoky, savoury and slightly salty finish of some poise and focus.

The pick of PenfoldsÕ white crop is a wild, complex, funky and delightfully composed chardonnay with excellent length, slatey texture and exemplary balance. Smoky and complex, with aromas of melon and fig, ginger and cloves, itÕs wild, spicy and custard-like, but remains underpinned by penetrative fruit and floral scents. ItÕs long, elegant and brightly lit, with a focused and funky mouthfeel of intense fruit backed by spicy, chalky notes, finishing briny and mineral, with a persistent core of flavour.

A lean, taut and focused chardonnay whose sweetly oaked bouquet of peach, melon and green apple overlies creamy, faintly mineral and custard-like notes as well as a hint of vanilla oak. ItÕs slightly candied and forward, becoming long and austere down the palate, slowly opening with more richness and roundness of fruit before finishing with assertive, lemony and faintly metallic acids. Perhaps lacking its customary core of fruit, but should flesh out further in the bottle.