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Jeffrey Grosset is well known for his sublime and iconic Riesling's, but one should not forget his other brilliant white wine, the Piccadilly Chardonnay. From the Adelaide Hills, this luscious Chardonnay shows stone fruits and citrus on the palate with minerality and long finish. Superb!

Pristine concentration and complexity of favour are the hallmarks of Simmonet-Febvre, a revered maker in Chablis. Stonefruits and ruby grapefruit with grilled nuts, owing no doubt to Simmonet-Febvre's insistence on ageing their Premier-Cru wines on lees for over a year. Has all the zippy-freshness you would expect from a high-level Chablis.

Undoubtedly one of Australia's greatest Chardonnay's, the Oakridge 864 wine is terroir-driven. Made to demonstrate the importance of time and place with every bottle. This wine is comparable to top-end Burgundies. Ageing has enabled the acidity to slightly soften and the regional minerality to come to the fore, meaning the 2012 vintage is definitely one for the collection!

Ghost Town Chardonnay is handcrafted in very limited quantities. Generous aromas of peach, naval orange and meyerlemons with acacia blossom and a touch of brioche in the background lead to a creamy, and textural palate. Integrated nougat oak, with subtle spice and hints of flint are showcased on the palate. A fine, precise acidity flows through the wine to a persistent finish.

Nanny Goat is a Central Otago winery known best for their Pinot Noir but their Chardonnay is also exceptional. Its name derives from the fact that much of the country is rough, dry, mountainous and desolate – seemingly suitable only for goats. Apparently, the brand’s owner, Aussie John Valmorbida, was climbing up to a hilltop restaurant near Queenstown when the goat idea struck him. It is rather appropriate. Hand picked and whole bunch pressed to stainless steel tanks before being mixed and transferred to 500L French oak puncheons (25% new) with high solids. The wine is then left to ferment naturally with occasional lees stirring to enhance palate weight and texture. The wine underwent 90% malolactic fermentation, softening the palate yet retaining a fine vein of acidity for balance on the palate.

Felton Road Block 2 Chardonnay comes from a special parcel in the Elms vineyard on a gentle east facing slope, schist gravel soils and Felton Road's oldest Chardonnay vines. With natural hands on winemaking, results in a wine that expresses a true sense of place.

McHenry Hohnen is the quintessential family owned business with Murry McHenry and David Hohnen being brothers-in-law and the winemaking now being handled by David's son-in-law Ryan Walsh. With decades of Western Australian winemaking and selling history behind David and Murray the wines being produced are of utmost purity and subtlety. The Burnside Chardonnay is a relative recent addition to the range and is a funky, wild little number with attractive stone fruit characters that are balanced by a beautiful natural acidity.

This has power and concentration yet retains delicacy and freshness. Mineral, grapefruit, almond meal and quality oak are seamlessly interwoven.

A fine and quite flinty modern expression of Margaret River Chardonnay. Finer and leaner it might be in some ways, but the unmistakable power and persistence of the region still triumphs. Complex mealy grapefruit and roasted nut characters on the nose, and a deep and richly intense palate power through to the finish.