Mission Accomplished: An Assessment of the new White Stablemate to Grange

Despite its highly publicised efforts to teach itself new tricks with white wine, some of which have revealed a hitherto well-concealed aptitude for chardonnay and semillon, one might still have given similar odds to Southcorp’s ambition to create a white stablemate to Grange as to mankind establishing a five-star resort on Mars. Especially within the five-year period loosely agreed on in 1992 between former chief executive Ross Wilson and head Seppelt wine maker Ian McKenzie.

Penfolds’ whites were once fashioned much as they made their inestimable reds, with the exception that in red wine oak and fruit would move closer together with time, rather than drift further apart as most Penfolds chardonnays would once reliably demonstrate.

It’s less than three years since the so-called ‘White Grange’ project was made public knowledge and even then a release before the turn of the century was unlikely. Now that a release is more than imminent, it’s fair to conclude that much must have happened in the minds, vineyards and cellars of those responsible for the new flagship white. And now that I have tasted the wine most likely to wear the unknown tag plus its two successors, I’ve no doubt that Penfolds has more than enough flair to fully realise its white winemaking ambitions, lofty as they are.

Furthermore, the wines destined to become the first three releases of the new flagship present an entirely credible, consistent and logical white expression of the approach Penfolds’ makers have deployed for decades with all of their red wines from Koonunga Hill upwards. They represent something entirely new in Australian white wine, which you will either love or hate. I suspect if you enjoy Grange, you’ll thoroughly appreciate and understand its new stablemate.

Although they’ve never called it ‘White Grange’, Penfolds has consistently referred to its new wine as a companion to it. In doing so, it is entirely responsible for the fact that whatever the wine is ultimately christened, it will inevitably be viewed by the markets, local and overseas, as a Grange equivalent. Fully aware of this, the winemaking team, which principally consists of Neville Falkenberg, John Duval and Ian McKenzie, has clearly followed the same precepts which make Grange unique.

Not only must the new white display the cellaring potential anticipated of its assumed status, but it must exhibit those particular Penfolds stamps of consistency from vintage to vintage plus clear evidence of winemaker-derived influence. These might perhaps express themselves as a multi-layered texture and structure almost akin to a red, taking the obvious risk that the wine might be so over-worked that its fruit integrity and balance might be irretrievably compromised.

Terroir and trueness to site must disappear out the window. For Penfolds to create a wine which reflected the vintage-by-vintage variation of a Giaconda or Bannockburn would be considered by them to be a failure. Even the variation of a sub-region as cool as the Piccadilly Valley, home to the Petaluma chardonnay, would present excessive variation in seasonal style. What is therefore required is cool – but not cold – climate fruit, taken from a number of potential sites and regions, then crafted in the winery to unprecedented consistency in premium Australian chardonnay. I can think of no other Australian white wine, or indeed any white wine anywhere, which has been assembled to such a brief.

Although Penfolds’ winemakers and management, loyal as ever to the expectations of Australian wine drinkers, still say they are open to the inclusion of other varieties, the wine to meet their objectives could only ever have been a chardonnay. True, the 1994 wine released as Reserve Bin 94A does contain 10 of Tumbarumba sauvignon blanc, but this brassy, almost exaggerated wine clearly needed a shot of bracing cool-climate acidity to come into line.

Sentimentalists might tout riesling as an alternative, but this would clearly have presented an inestimable challenge to Penfolds in its bid to create a world-renowned brand ready for immediate acceptance in most markets. Similarly, despite some interesting and very plausible efforts made from Adelaide Hills fruit in 1993 and 1996, the only Australian semillons of international credibility are those made without oak and with irregular predictability from Hunter Valley fruit. Clearly this Penfolds flagship had to be more consistent than the Hunter’s climate permits and would furthermore represent an anomaly within the Penfolds philosophy and style if made without oak or other profound winemaking influence.

The actual wine most likely to be destined for the prestigious but presently unknown tag is a sumptuous, seamless 1995 chardonnay sourced from several Adelaide Hills vineyards and a single site in Willunga, McLaren Vale. Accounting for half of the wine, the Willunga component is rated by Neville Falkenberg as the best fruit he has ever seen from the region

The wine’s pure core of concentrated chardonnay fruit is cloaked in layers of texture and complexity, each moving easily to the next. Its aroma of white peach, nectarine and apple is given complexity through toasty, spicy oak and subtle buttery malolactic influences, while its palate is as deep and carefully constructed as one could expect. The wine is integrated, balanced and perfectly complete. The only aspect about which I was not entirely happy was a slight sappiness at the finish, insufficient however to prevent me from being greatly impressed. Ready to cellar for another five years and possibly beyond, it not only meets the expectations and pre-release hype, but in doing so has surely created an entirely unprecedented, worthwhile and original expression of chardonnay.

Both sourced entirely from the Adelaide Hills, the two likely successors to this wine pursue a consistent course. Now in bottle, the 1996 wine is a more restrained, brooding expression of similar intent to the 1995, with chardonnay fruit in the apple/pear spectrum carefully married to delicate spicy and herbal nuances. Its long, creamy palate reflects tight-knit but assertive oak, while its well integrated acidity suggests a long cellaring future. I rate it marginally ahead of the imminent 1995 release.

Taken directly from oak, the sample tasted of the 1997 wine has yet to flesh out in the manner of its predecessors, although it promises just as much. Exotically scented with honeysuckle, clove and lemon sherbet, its apple/pear fruit bursts open at the front of the palate before creamy, savoury oak cuts in. Its herbal, spicy complexity and obvious evidence of a low sulphur regime in the winery might well make this the most interesting of all three contenders for the top label.

So, has Penfolds met its own objectives? To take the affirmative, the new wine is certainly true to company style. Its deep, concentrated fruit qualities are well matched with secondary and winemaker-influenced complexity. It should cellar at least as well as most premium Australian chardonnay and without entirely removing vintage variation from the equation, seasonal effects have been moderated as much as could be expected. Without ever moving towards an entirely Burgundian regime of winemaking, the clearly evident results of solids-influenced fermentation, extended on-lees maturation occasionally with sulphur addition and generally minimal application of sulphur throughout the process and at bottling have helped fashion a far more adventurous wine than I ever imagined. From 1995 onwards the wines have even been bottled without filtration. The net result is a truly distinctive, individual expression of chardonnay that has been as carefully and thoroughly constructed as any Penfolds red.

Sceptics of the new wine will surely point to its comparative lack of wine heritage, given the tremendous expectations of longevity and distinction surrounding the project. The 1994 Reserve Bin 94A, which came close to being released as the first flagship, is comparatively awkward and unbalanced by comparison. Personally, I’m glad that Penfolds resisted the temptation this wine apparently presented. Of the other special bin chardonnays and peculiarly named ‘Trial Bin’ wines released as part of this project, only the 1996 Trial Bin Chardonnay suggests the degree of balance and integration between fruit and oak revealed in the new prestige wine.

It’s self-evident that these new wines have no proven track record in the cellar. Leeuwin Estate waited for several years to achieve its stellar reputation and standing as perhaps Australia’s most outstanding long-living chardonnay. Although my best guess is that the 1995, 1996 and 1997 samples identified as the likely flagship white wines should cellar well, that recommendation is nothing against the sixteen-year heritage which Leeuwin has so fastidiously accumulated.

Others might suggest that at a time when around the globe people are seeking out pure, unadulterated individual vineyard sites as the ultimate expression of chardonnay, the new Penfolds wine is an unashamed multi-vineyard blend which will ultimately include the fruit of several regions. As such, it may be suggested, special individual components that might offer more quality and character could be diluted by blending away. Penfolds would surely argue that such has been the case forever with its premium reds, which have always sought to place label style above vineyards, vintages and terroir. A different tack, based on individual vineyard chardonnay, would hardly be consistent. Furthermore, although the first three releases are likely to be 100 chardonnay, the company has not ruled out other varieties from inclusion in future blends.

At the end of the day Penfolds, it must be said, is confidently playing the game by its own rules. Who could deny it the right to do so?

Making the Penfolds Flagship White

For the technically minded, the new Penfolds flagship white is created in this fashion. Vineyards, largely in the Adelaide Hills to date, are cropped around a mean of 3.5 tonnes per acre although batches cropped at 4.5 have been included and harvested around 13?Baume. ’70 of the wine is in the fruit sourcing’, says Neville Falkenberg.

Grapes are hand picked and quickly pressed as whole bunches with minimal sulphuring. Some are chilled prior to fermentation, all of which is in barrel using cultured yeasts, with a ‘reasonable’ degree of solid content. Fermentation proceeds at around 14-15?C for 2-3 weeks, after which the wine remains on lees in oak for 9-10 months, again with minimal sulphur. Barrels are regularly inspected and any suggestion of aldehyde is treated by stirring the lees in the cask. Any barrels which fail to undergo a natural malolactic fermentation are inoculated to do so.

100 French and largely imported as made casks, the oak is selected from three or four coopers on the basis of the fineness of its grain. Barrels are chosen and blended in late January/early February. Although Penfolds are at present playing their cards close to their chests on this matter, the initial release appears to be around 500 dozen. Future blends may go to 1000-2000 dozen, depending on vintage outcomes. Please login to post comment