The Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay 2016 is sourced from grapes grown in South Eastern Australia. The South East Australian wine region covers 1/3 of Australia, though the majority of the land is desert or mountains and most of the grapes are grown in the cooler coastal areas. Lindeman’s was founded in 1843 and Bin 65 Chardonnay was started in 1985 (there are now 16 other Bin series wines) and has been one of the best-selling Chardonnay in the world. This is a Chardonnay that I found on sale for $3.99 and should always sell for under eight dollars. The Bin 65 is made in a fruit-forward easy to drink style, with a little French oak influence, but I doubt that it this price point that French oak wine barrels were used. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
The color is a wheat yellow with a slight green tint. The nose is apple, peach, melon, with a little spice drop candy, and a floral edge. This is a medium-bodied, full flavored Chardonnay with enough acidity to make this a food wine. It tastes of lemon and pear, a shot of lime, melon, and tart apple. The mid-palate shows vanilla crème, salty cashew, and peach. Not a bad display of flavors for a Chardonnay that sells for well under $10. The acidity is solid, that and the flavor profile allow the Bin 65 to punch well above its weight when it comes to food pairings. It may not be “cool” to take a bottle of Bin 65 to the local trendy BYOB, but you can pay a more for another bottle of wine and not make any real improvement. The finish is full and long.
I think the Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay 2016 is the perfect picnic wine (it used to have a screw cap and now has a cork, I prefer screw tops in this price range, being able to easily remove the top and then securely screw the top back on is a luxury, but studies show consumers equate screw caps with bad wine, that perception is misguided ). It tastes great, is well-made, nicely priced, and if you forgot to bring wine glasses and have to pour it into red plastic cups, well that’s ok. The Lindeman’s Bin 65 Chardonnay 2016 sets the standard for value-priced Chardonnay and delivers vintage after vintage.
