Description
Chardonnay is probably our favourite white grape. Here are six of our favourite anytime, anywhere Chardonnays that we have highly recommend to anyone looking for a great value Chardy fix.
- 2025 Patrick Sullivan Chardonnay
- 2024 Mordrelle Lenswood Single Vineyard Chardonnay
- 2025 Mercer Wines Chardonnay
- 2024 Lambert Chardonnay
- 2025 Kumeu River Village Chardonnay
- 2025 Nocturne SR Chardonnay
2025 Patrick Sullivan Chardonnay
Patrick Sullivan is a name synonymous with exceptional Australian Chardonnay.
Here's a top-value way to sample his sensational stylings with this variety, with this very reasonably-priced entry-level Pat Sullivan wine!
This celebrates the volcanic soils of Southern Australia with a wine that strikes a lovely balance between richness, well-defined fruit, and distinctive soil-derived minerality.
The vineyards are nestled along Australia's unique limestone coast. This region is the world's third-largest volcanic plain, harbouring approximately 400 dormant volcanoes. Who knew?!
Pat's deep-rooted connection to this area, where he spent much of his childhood, fills him with tremendous enthusiasm as he offers this great modern representation of Australian Chardonnay.
Read More"My best Limestone Coast Chardonnay yet - perfectly poised with Goldilocks balance and mineral detail."
- Patrick Sullivan (Owner/Winemaker)
2024 Mordrelle Lenswood Single Vineyard Chardonnay
When reds failed across the Adelaide Hills in the tough, mildew-plagued vintage of 2011, Martin Moran went looking for grapes elsewhere in the region and found something worth chasing - Chardonnay from Lenswood, a cool, elevated pocket of the Hills built for the variety.
He's been coming back to it ever since, and this single vineyard bottling shows why: fermented in used French oak, made in an old-school, good-school kind of way.
The 2024 is plush and lush, with saline minerality - weighty but fresh, that will satisfy buttery Chardonnay lovers as well as those who like something more tense and fresh. Cool, bright and fine - Halliday's Mike Bennie called it "a very elegant, textural expression, with no hair out of place," scoring it 95 points.
For anyone after Adelaide Hills Chardonnay with texture and detail, this, from a bloke best known for his reds, is a bit of a surprise packet.
Read More95 points
"A plush and lush style of chardonnay with requisite cut of saline minerality, crisp, lemony acidity and a swish of salted nut, nougat savouriness overlaid... Delicious."
- Mike Bennie (Halliday Wine Companion)
2025 Mercer Wines Chardonnay
Aaron Mercer has spent over two decades making wine across the world, but his heart - and his winery - are firmly in the Hunter Valley. His 2023 Chardonnay is a fresh, modern take on the region’s style, balancing bright fruit with just the right amount of oak and texture.
Sourced from the Glenesk vineyard in the Upper Hunter, this Chardonnay is all about purity and finesse. Fresh peach, citrus, and vanilla panna cotta lead the way, with a subtle nutty edge adding depth. A gentle touch of barrel fermentation gives texture without overpowering the fruit, keeping everything crisp, clean, and refreshing.
A polished but approachable Hunter Chardonnay from one of NSW’s most experienced small-batch winemakers.
Read More2024 Lambert Chardonnay
Luke Lambert doesn’t make flashy Chardonnay; he makes it to speak of where it’s from. This one comes from a high, east-facing pocket of the Denton Vineyard, where granitic soils are so thin you can see the rock grinning through.
Clone 95 vines here produce small, early-ripening bunches, and Luke treats them with his trademark light touch - whole-bunch press, wild ferment, zero additions apart from a whisper of sulphur, then time in a seasoned 2,000-litre foudre.
In 2024, that site delivered Chardonnay with a little more flesh on the bones - sunny fruit layered over its usual mineral spine. White blossom, hay, citrus oil and a cool stony core are all in play, joined by a savoury umami edge that lingers on the finish. There’s density, but it’s the kind of density an athlete has - all sinew, no fat.
It’s another wine of precision and deliciousness and yet another reason Luke Lambert remains one of the most admired voices in the new era of Australian Chardonnay.
2025 Kumeu River Village Chardonnay
Kumeu River are producing some of the most exquisite Chardonnays this side of Burgundy, in the words of Tim Atkin MW “If Michael Brajkovich MW were a Burgundian rather than a New Zealander, he would be among the most celebrated white winemakers in the Côte de Beaune.”
Pretty high praise, and quite apt when you’re looking at this wine from them. The value for money is through the roof. Creamy, with a slight flinty-mineral note, on the palate there is a subtle fruit character up front moving to a delicate tight and crisp mid-back palate. Fully of bright acidity and a lengthy clean finish.
As an entry point into the Chardonnay range of Kumeu River, this wine is insane; pure, precise and oh so delicious!
Read More2025 Nocturne SR Chardonnay
For our money, Julian Langworthy’s SR (Sub-Regional) Chardonnay is consistently one of the best value buys in all of Margaret River. It delivers a level of detail and pedigree that you usually have to pay twice as much for.
The 2025 release is a masterclass in overdelivering. Sourced from four top-tier vineyards - Grace & White, Wilson, Victory Point, and Tassell Road - it captures exactly what makes the region so famous for this variety.
Despite a warm and early season, Margaret River's coastal breezes kept the fruit perfectly balanced. Julian treats this with the same serious winemaking as his top-tier releases: it’s hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, wild-fermented in puncheons, and left untouched on its lees to build crucial mid-palate weight.
It's a delicious, mid-weight Chardonnay that is incredibly easy to drink. It balances generous fruit and texture with a fine, chalky structure and sherbet-like acidity. If you want a serious Margaret River Chardonnay that you don't have to feel guilty about cracking open on a Tuesday night, you need this on standby.
Read MoreCustomer Reviews
| Price Bracket | $31 to $40 |
| Type | White |
| Variety | Chardonnay |
| Country | Australia |
| Size | 750ml |
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