An accord of choice Chardonnay harvests from four estate managed vineyards within the Red Hill subregion of Mornington. Paringa has renewed its focus on Peninsula grown fruit and have earmarked an inventory of fruit from the finest sites. Delightfully fruit driven after a brisk vinification and timely bottling, its ripe stonefruit and mandarin nose is beautiful almond milk flavours and nutty barrel ferment characters. Fine, elegant and intense, all the hallmarks of Paringa Estate.

Chardonnay is a wine that Mornington does exceedingly well, the cooling maritime breezes of Port Philip Bay encourage vines to yield fruit with complex, crisp and intense varietal flavours. Lindsay McCall is gifted at constructing the most auspicious efforts across a range of styles. Estate Chardonnay is vinified entirely from fruit grown to a half hectare of the choicest plantings grown to three estate managed vineyards at Red Hill. An effusive Mornington wine with a presence of savouryness and layers of fruit, to accompany richly cooked shellfish or escalope of veal.

An assemblage of vineyards in Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. The former delivers floral notes, precision and steely flint characters to the wine whilst the latter contributes richness. The yields are restricted and demand continues to increase with each vintage, but Domain Olivier Leflaive refuses to compromise on quality.

The northerly facing slope on Mark O'Leary's Benwerrin Vineyard, at Oakbank in the picturesque Adelaide Hills, is planted to a very special block of twenty year old Chardonnay vines. The combination of cool climate and long days of sunshine infuses grapes with flavour and encourages the development alluring aromatics. The extravagance of French oak barrel ferments, malolactic and lees stirring battonage, over the course of several months, enhances the generosity of fruit, while adding layers of complexity and creamy, yeasty autolysis richness.

The Oakridge vines emerge each morning from misty rolling mists which drift across the chilly terroirs of Coldstream. The finest blocks were established with a view to achieving low yielding harvests of the most superior quality fruit, destined in the finest vintages to be bottled as pure, single vineyard wines. An outstanding parcel of Chardonnay, picked off the superlative Drive Block at Funder & Diamond Vineyard, has been treated to the full extravagance of French Grand Cru techniques, big boned, opulent and textural, in uncannily Burgundian styling.

Icon is the culmination of years of research into specific viticultural techniques, with particular attention to vineyard sites and a winemaking strategy focused on fruit structure with balance. A Chardonnay of excellent weight and length, the natural fruit flavours fuse with the complexities of toasted bread, vanillin and warm, soft malo. Aged on full fermentation yeast lees and treated to a regular battonage. The choice accompaniment to the finest cuisine, serve close to room temperature to fully appreciate the complexity of the wine.

Nest Egg are only ever made from the most exceptional years, a few hundred cases of the finest Adelaide Hills vintage, each bottle is individually numbered. Treated to the luxury of wild yeasts and full malolactic, lees stirring battonage and nine months of age in quality French oak, a structured and concentrated Chardonnay of amazing sophistication and superior length. Its bright, clear palate of nectarine and peach, pineapples, bakers cream and hazelnut spice, are supported by a wonderful crystalline textures, toothy grape tannins and savoury, buttery oak.

One of New Zealand's most consistent Chardonnay, a label that will not disappoint, Nautilus has received great recognition at international competitions. Whole bunches are treated to an indigenous fermentation in a mix of seasoned and new French oak barriques, followed by a course of lees battonage for richness. A highly demanding viticultural focus, combined with the best of old and new world winemaking techniques, translates into a wine of balance and poise, as mesmerisingly aesthetic as the spiral on a nautilus shell.

Harry Friend was raised on a dairy farm in Gippsland which is now home to the Narkoojee vineyard wineworks. He retired from his position as Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Victoria University to make good wine. Axel Friend worked the vineyard alongside his father and graduated from Sturt University where he studied Oenology. Lily Grace is vintaged from younger estate plantings, named after first grandchild, Lily Grace Friend. The kind of Chardonnay to match with rustic fare, fresh water fish, anything truffled or oven hot bread.

Mt Difficulty is one of the most venerable wineries in all Aotearoa, they retain access to some of the oldest vineyards. The propitious vines at McFelin Ridge make a bigger, savoury style of Chardonnay. Destemmed fruit is pressed to a selection of seasoned and new French oak for vinification on full solids to indigenous yeasts, partial malolactic and bottling in March of the following year. Cashews, mineral and flint, perfumed by peach, stonefruits and lime, encased in a brioche of creamy palate textures, resolving on a butternut, juicy jonagold finish.

Mt Difficulty were established 1998, initially releasing a very small range of very limited, but exceptional quality, quantities. Their harvests had long been called upon for bottling under the labels of New Zealand's most conspicuous brands. The joint venture, founded by some of Central Otago's most devoted and skillful growers, has grown into a leading vineyard winery collective, proselytizing the most discerning devotees, everywhere throughout the world of wine. A solid Chardonnay style, structured, opulent, Central Otago in astonishing balance.

Marble Hill was a stately old manor in the Adelaide Hills, the colonial Governor’s summer residence. Planted to a unique clone of Burgundy Chardonuet in the 1860s, the ancient vines came to the attention of the legendery David Wynn, who removed cuttings back to Mountadam, the oldest cool climate Chardonnay vines on the continent. The original stocks in Burgundy were wiped out by phylloxera and Marble Hill was destroyed by fire in the 1950s. There truly is no Chardonnay in the world like Marble Hill.

From the best parcels of fruit grown to the High Eden Ridge Estate vineyard, these are the earliest plantings of Chardonnay in South Austraia and some of the oldest in the country. The east facing escarpment rises 550 metres above sea level and separates the dramatically cooler Eden Valley, providing a myriad of interesting mesoclimates and vineyards which have been refined over time, along with the winemaking. The vines are painstakingly pruned by hand and yields are methodically thinned to ensure grapes develop the requisite intensity of flavour.

Established 1972, with a view to being one of the nation's pre eminent Chardonnay specialists, Mountadam was founded by the great David Wynn, one of the most significant contributors to the Australian wine industry and an important part of the Mountadam story. Mountadam today enjoy extensive resources for the production of Chardonnay through varied clones, ages and aspects. In assembling the finished wine, a balance of the most intense fruit aromas and flavours is sought, capturing the exquisite characteristics of fine Chardonnay without the influence of oak.

Leontine O'Shea was intrumental in the establishment of Mount Pleasant wines, she sent her son Maurice to France for an education in viticulture right at the outbreak of World War I, acquiring his first Hunter Valley vineyard in 1921. Hand picked bunches of clone I10V5 Chardonnay are pressed into a selection of seasoned and new French oak puncheons for a wild, indigenous yeast ferment and nine months maturation. An intensely articulate Chardonnay of melon and peach, ripe fig and bakers brioche opulence, a lingering palate of persistence and flavour.

Bill and Sandra Pannell were super keen to plant Chardonnay as soon as cuttings became available in 1976. Moss Wood have evolved into one of the new world's leading purveyors of west coat wines, their profound vintages of Chardonnay remain true to their provenance and sense of place. For those who like their Chardonnay in the big boned Burgundy style. Lifted fruit aromas of peach, lime and quince with fragrant orange blossom notes, a rich background of roasted nuts, caramel, cheese and soft oak, cinnamon and almost toasted hot cross buns.

Moss Wood include parcels of exposed grapes with no leaves, others without leaf removal. The former is a more complex style of Chardonnay with accentuated malty and roasted nut characters while the latter tends to retain citrus, honeysuckle and peach blossom aromatics whilst looking prettier. Before assembling, there are extensive tastings to check on the choice of barrel and to compare the different levels of exposure. The results are fascinating, a grand total of just a few hundred cases are made each year, Moss Wood Chardonnay is always beaut.

Mission Estate are New Zealand's oldest winery, they continue to employ traditional winemaking techniques handed down from their French missionary founders. Mission Estate have always managed their vineyards in a biodynamically responsible way, the philosophy is to protect the land so that their wines can remain articulate of a wonderful environment. Treated to an extended term of age in the finest French oak barriques, this opulent Chardonnay exudes lifted perfumes of grapefruit, mandarin and creamy nougat, underpinned by the crystal saline freshness of a truly splendid mesoclime.

Mission Estate's Greenmeadows was planted to vine in 1910, there's relatively little difference between day and night temperatures, perfect conditions for ripening an elite parcel of Hawke's Bay's most exceptional Chardonnay. Hand picked bunches off a single block of Mendoza and Clone 15, are lightly pressed and barrel fermented in a selection of new and seasoned French oak, followed by ten months of age on sedimentery yeast lees. A fully engaging style of intense stonefruit richness, marzipan and toastyness, the essence of boulangerie and struck flint.

McWilliams have long been sourcing fruit from Tumbarumba for some of their most memorable vintages. It has taken many years of devoted viticulture and dedication to the land before arriving at 842 Chardonnay. This prolific award winner is the flagship white from Tumbarumba's highest plantings, crafted from fruit grown at an altitude of 842 metres. The driving inspiration for the team is to create a truly cool climate, elegant style of Chardonnay which offers engaging complexity while remaining true to the expression of Tumbarumba's lofty terroir.

The long cool ripening seasons of the Victorian Alpines are ideal for winegrowing. The team at Mayford settled on the Ovens Valley and established their small dry grown vineyard within a hidden vale that's blissfully frost free. Proprietor Eleana Anderson is a vigneron with a focus on investment rather than return. Viticulture to her is all about how much more effort you can put in to build a better crop. Her fruit is vinified to the same exacting standards, limited yields ensure that there's not much Mayford wine around to see the next vintage.

Massoni were at the forefront of establishing Mornington with a definable genre of Chardonnay. With their crisp natural acidity, elegance and restraint, the wines of Mornington are today renowned for elegant and refined new world styles of Chardonnay. Massoni is more robust than most, with ripe fruit forward and solid structure throughout. The perfect accompaniement to the freshest seafood or crisp skin chicken, the middle palate is viscous and deep while the finish shows the minerality and texture of a good Chablis.