Hill-Smith are pioneers of new world viticulture, a first family of Australian wine, they have spent generations husbanding the original Burgundian clones of Chardonnay on choice sites on the Adelaide Hills. Their passionate efforts have made a major contribution to the emergence of new and exciting styles in Chardonnay, focusing on balance and elegance, working closely with site and vine selection. Wild oak barrel ferments and extended lees exposure achieve a richly aromatic, luxuriously creamy style to match with the finest and freshest gastronomy.

Eden Valley Chardonnay excels for its vibrant, creamy flavours and zest, a lovely range of flavours, refined texture and great elegance. A collation of parcels, selectively picked off choice sites throughout Eden Valley, are all managed by a canon of long term owner growers who specialize in Chardonnay, presenting a rich tapestry of flavours to create individuality in the finished wine. A variety of clones are treated to a wild indigenous yeast ferment and a term of age in a selection of seasoned and new French oak barriques, before the final assemblage.

A voluminous, golden oaked Chardonnay from a precious block of superior vines, treated to the luxury of a year's maturation in a rich proportion of new French barriques. A beautiful bouquet like an Adelaide Hills spring in full bloom, the peaches, melons and nectarine of early morning market garden, the fragrant saute of leeks in warm butter. Redolent of the succulence and chantilly from good French oak, its serious palate weight and volume of fruit, making a multi dimensional Chardonnay style to match robust white meats, Veau au vin blanc and crispy crackling pork.

Heggies could be called struggle country, the vines are shy bearing within an extreme environment, for grapes of intense flavour. There are seven different clones, three favoured French Bernard variants make up the majority. Younger plantings are trained to a vertical shoot position, older vines are grown on a two wire framework, ensuring a range of characters from each harvest. Hand picking and gentle whole bunch pressing minimise the extractions and preserves natural fruit aromas. A completely natural, wild yeast ferment is followed by a year's maturation in a high proportion of new French oak barriques.

Chardonnay is the Heggies Vineyard flagship, a wine that truly bears the stamp of an exceptional Eden Valley site. Closely planted Burgundian clones form the backbone of the Heggies style and create an extremely low yielding viticultural environment which requires careful management but rewards with an outstanding quality of fruit. Natural ferments through wild indigenous yeasts, oxidative handling, a judicious malolactic and the finest French oak, all add to the individuality of the wine, an excellent minerality which contributes to the luxurious length, wondrous texture and sublime finesse.

Modern wines from old vines. Hay Shed Hill Vineyard was planted to vine in 1973, right at the heart of the acclaimed Willyabrup triangle at Margaret River, during the early pioneer days of local viticulture. Hay Shed Hill can now boast of fully mature vines, yielding small amounts of noble varietal grapes which have established the reputation of Margaret River as a world class winegrowing region. Vinified to world's best practice, the Chardonnay of Hay Shed is characterful and charming, resonating with the essence of a truly wonderful site.

Established 1975 to Gin Gin Mendoza clone Chardonnay, Block 6 is a steep south facing slope of reduced sunlight in the heart of Wilyabrup Valley. The precious dry grown vines yield a meagre harvest of distinctive, refined minerality. The purest free run juices are treated to vinification in a high proportion of French oak barriques and ten months maturation. Pears and apple dominate, suppleness of struck match, the savouryness of flint, the intense palate depth of old vines fruit contributes penetrating, mouth filling flavours and texturally refined, satin richness.

Thomas Hardy crafted his first dual region wine in 1865, assembling harvests from the Adelaide Plains with those of southern districts. Hardy believed that an alchemy of fruit with different characteristics would complement and enhance the integrity of the assembled wine. So began Hardys rich heritage, as with each new blend, a unique code was created starting from A001. Chardonnay is sourced from superior vineyards which can yield the outstanding quality of fruit that's essential for the HRB moniker.

From a legendery Yarra Valley vineyard at Hoddles Creek, planted to a sorely challenging 32 degrees slope, a full hundred metres drop from top to bottom. Bastard Hill is a single block of exceptional vines, yielding a vigorous grapefruit nectarine style of Chardonnay, treated to the richness of wild indigenous yeast oak barrel ferments. An opulent, lees textural, big butternut palate, redolent of orchard fruits, honeycomb and brioche, mouthfilling and complex, layered with character and soundly structured, the Chardonnay of choice to accompany truffled squab or glazed crackling pork.

Since it's inaugural release in 1993, Grosset has made a powerful statement about the potential of Piccadilly Valley, an Adelaide Hills subregion that's so cool, it is often considered marginal for wine. It's an area that takes time to understand but the wines can be exquisite. Piccadilly is deliberately restrained. Succulent white peach, melon and grapefruit characters create a mineral, focused wine that's fresh and refined.

Grant Burge is a fifth generation vigneron and one of Australia's most industry respected winemakers. He retains an intimate knowledge of Barossa vineyards and is well positioned to select the pick of Chardonnay from the choicest cool climate sites. A large portion is sourced from Burge's own Summers property in Eden Valley, a further component is picked off vines planted to higher altitudes in Adelaide Hills. Subtle oak treatments play a role, imparting depth and framing the fruit while supporting the fine palate structure.

The history of the Burge family and their long association with winemaking in Barossa Valley can be traced back to March 1855, when bespoke tailor John Burge immigrated with his wife and two sons. A fifth generation of the Burge dynasty now brings together the exquisite elegance of Eden Valley with the soft velvetine textures of Barossa, into a remarkable Chardonnay wine. Fashioned to be enjoyed youthful and vibrant alongside seared tuna, salade nicoise or your favourite chicken recipe.

Goldwater were established 1978, they had the vision to sow one of New Zealand's very first vineyards on Waiheke Island in Hauraki Gulf. They now make their home amongst the coddled blocks of vine in Marlborough's Wairau Valley. To create a Chardonnay of superior palate weight, a number of Burgundian techniques are employed, a rich course of barrel ferments and eight months lees battonage in French oak. Its vibrant peach bouquet precedes a textural palate of toasty creamyness, the temperate tropicality of apricots and lime, impeccably balanced, silky and refined.

The first parcels of Golden Ball were planted to two choice clones of Burgundian Chardonnay in 1996, husbanded from inception with a view to yielding measured harvests of the most outstanding fruit. Grapes are all hand picked and sorted for excellence, filled to an opulent proportion of new French coopered oak and treated to a wild vineyard yeasts ferment, full malolactic, lees stirring battonage and the luxury of seventeen months maturation. Grapefruits and durian, brûlée and flan, awesome weight of fruit and palate roundness, pursing apple tang and barrel ferment richness.

Assembled from a tally of the most illustrious Yarra Valley sites, Sexton Vineyard, Tarraford and Gruyere Farm, Applejack and Wombat Creek. Gingerly hand picked for whole bunch pressing and wild yeast ferments in 500 litres French oak puncheons, achieving a fully animate Chardonnay style, redolent of citrus and melon, creamy yet crystalline, offering a palate and breadth of exceptional balance and poise. Giant Steps are meticulous in all things Chardonnay, retaining the vitality of fruit from within the vineyard and encouraging the eloquence of each site as it speaks from the glass.

From the highest plantings in all Yarra Valley, Wombat Creek was established in the 1990s, with a view to assembling choice blocks Chardonnay and Pinot Noir into a premier Victorian sparkler. The quality of fruit however, now merits bottling as a superior growth in the Burgundian style. A rich, gorgeously proportioned Chardonnay, fully fleshed and exquisitely balanced, opulent with the boldness of grapefruit and butternut, complexed by the oyster shell and flint characters of a magnificently loqacious terroir, made to match alongside a sizzling sauté of frogs leg, chanterelles and snail.

The Giant Steps team pointedly sourced several conspicuous clones of Chardonnay from California, Burgundy and Champagne, to be established on the coolest, lowest slopes of the superlative Sexton property. Vine vigor and yields are naturally low, encouraging a low intervention approach to hand managed viticulture. The crisp, cool ripening conditions and flinty, almost mean soils of Yarra Valley's temperate slopes yield a vibrant style of Chardonnay in the nectarine, citrus, melon and white peach range of flavours.

Applejack was established 1997 along a breathtaking vista at Gladysdale on the Upper Yarra, a place of higher altitudes and cooler climes, ideal for mouth filling vintages of structured Chardonnay wines. Grapes are all hand picked and gingerly pressed into 500 litres French oak puncheons for a wild, indigenous yeast ferment. A course of hand stirred lees battonage releases the complexities within the sediments and infuses the palate with layers of character. Defined by its fruit flan delish and seasoned with sprinklings of baking spice, a mere 600 cases are made each vintage.

The pick of the Geoff Merrill harvest, a collation of Coonawarra and McLaren Vale estate vineyard parcels, treated to a luxurious course of French oak barrel ferments and ten months age. Fashioned into a finely fleshed, generously proportioned styling, its innate melon and nectarine fruit characters are wrapped in a textural linen of mineral leesyness, summer straw and toasty cashew oak. Mate Mr Merrill to the ripest cheese and finest gourmandise, ideally a gently grilled dover sole or crisp fry of the freshest whiting tempura.

The Freycinet vineyards overlook a spectacular national park, halfway between Launceston and Hobart. Chardonnay loves the lower latitudes of the region, the cooler climes and clear, sunny skies encourage fruit to develop amazing, slow ripened complexities. Parcels which are picked on the basis of natural varietal eloquence, are treated to a long cool ferment, followed by repose on sediment lees to build palate texture and richness. Finished without any exposure to oak, its pure Chardonnay character of grapefruits, melon are peach are exquisitely balanced by refreshing mineral crispness.

The philosophy at Freycinet is to keep things simple, traditional Burgundian techniques are employed, the aim is to make a multi dimensioned, complex and creamy textured Chardonnay with generous palate. Fully ripened grapes provide the foundation to which the techniques of barrel fermentation under tightly grained French oak, lees stirring and malolactic are applied, enhancing the natural complexity, texture and layers of character in the completed wine.

McLaren Vale yields a generously proportioned yet gentler style of Chardonnay, Fox Creek is made more complex by treatments of battonage, a course of lees resting and luxurious barrel ferments. Grapes are harvested throughout the cool of early morning, retaining all the crisp, clean charm of McLaren Vale Chardonnay. The peachy varietal stonefruit characters becomes prominent, together with a noticeable mineral quality and the beginnings of honey toast as it evolves. Wonderful upon release, expect Fox Creek to be at its very best alongside fine food.

Forest Hill is a Great Southern of class and distinction, a Chardonnay of elegance and controlled intensity. Aromas of ripe peach and apricot are complemented by light citrus, hints of vanilla, dry fig and perfumed lifted Burgundian oak introduce a style with rich intense full palate backed by pleasant hints of roasted almonds and butterscotch. The product of choice fruit from a great vineyard, the recommended match to salt & pepper squid, a combination that will amalgamate its savoury notes with the fine acid structure and complexity of such a vibrant wine.

At the core of Forest Hill's elite range of single block editions, are the original estate plantings of the 1960s and 1970s. These gnarly old vines are deep rooted and dry grown, defined by their low vigor and scant harvest of tiny berries, conspicuous for an intenity of flavour and wonderful crystalline textures. These are the earliest and most precious parcels of Chardonnay in all Great Southern, yielding a graceful yellow wine, brimming with golden peach and grapefruit characters, florals, almonds and flint, its powerful mineral finish driven by juicy, ripe stonefruit acidity.

A salient expression of Chardonnay by a rising star amongst Margaret River's most conspicuous new winemakers. The secrets to Flametree's success are access to the best possible fruit and innate skill of the team to create beautifully crafted wines which capture the flavour of the region whence they originate. Choice grapes from exceptional sites have been vinified into a profound wine of oak barrel ferment richness and fragrant custard spice, grapefruits and fig over a framework of delicately integrated quality French oak.

Central Otago is the most southerly wine region in the world, at the edge of sustainable viticulture. Hot days, cool nights and long dry autumns are perfect. Clones on a variety of low vigor rootstocks were planted to free draining, low fertility soils during the 1990s. Felton Road's unique gravity flow techniques permit juices to peacefully ferment and tranquilly age in oak, sparing the wine any trauma as it gently evolves. The ultimate integrity of texture encourages the palate to open softly, blooming with dainty florals and ripe fresh stonefruit over a pleasing seam of juicy minerality.