If St Henri is the Penfolds red to buy this year, Bin A is the white. 2012 has produced a beautiful and characterful chardonnay of effortless energy, uniting grand complexity with crystalline finesse. Penfold’s Senior White Winemaker Kim Schroeter rates it alongside 2009 as one of the best, and I’m a believer. Bin A’s signature grand complexity of layered struck flint, charcuterie and bacon fat is here to behold in full measure, framed in epic structure and focus of fine-tuned lemon, white peach, grapefruit and fig. Acidity is pristine, high-strung, tightly honed and beautifully focused, with impeccable line, enduring persistence and finely mineral mouth feel. Hand picked, whole bunch pressed and wild fermented in 225 L barrels (53% new) on solids with 100% malolactic fermentation. Available 1 May 2014.