This is the Australian benchmark for bubbles in this price range and will hold its position as the ever-reliable party favourite. The Chandon Rose is pink in colour and delivers enticing aromas of freshly baked pastry and nougat along with spice notes and hints of cherry and ripe strawberry. The palate is multi-layered with mouth-filling red berry flavours complemented by toasty characters. A beautifully structured mid-palate is supported by savoury spice and fine creamy notes.

This wine is made with Pinot Noir fruit grown on some spectacular vineyard sites in the Yarra Valley, comprising predominantly MV6 clone, with some 114 and 115. Pacha Mama use minimal additives or fining and aim to let the fruit shine through rather than clobbering all over it with heavy oak use or commercial wine-making techniques. Flavours of sour cherry and wild strawberries carry on to the palate complexed by a savoury spice and intriguing earthiness that lingers long after the last mouthful.

Coldstream Hills was established in 1985 by James and Suzanne Halliday and has always produced a benchmark cool-climate Pinot Noir. This beautifully textured wine boasts rich flavours of dark cherries, pepper and foresty notes, with a long and toasty finish.

Innocent Bystander eminates from Victoria's Yarra Valley and is the brain child of owner, Phil Sexton. With winemaker Steve Flamsteed on board, the Innocent Bystander wines are fantastically varietal and extremely approachable. The Pinot Noir is packed full of black cherry and cedary notes with a perfect balance of soft, but fine grained tannin.

There is a delicate perfume of Kirsch and dried strawberry with underlying dried bouquet garni. This is a light to medium-bodied wine with a supple yet generously flavoured palate.

Toolangi is a state forest just outside Healesville that was devastated during Black Saturday. The excellent vineyards remain, and continue to produce wines of personality and place. The Chardonnay combines varietal characters of quince and crab apple with some delicious nutty oak nuances. Its great value.

David Bicknell is a Chardonnay perfectionist with a passion for terroir and contrasts in the characters of different vineyard sites. In the glass: Bright fine straw with a green hue. On the nose: Fabulous purity and lift with ripe, complex stonefruit combining with lees and struck match magic. On the palate: A complex funky monster! It shows tremendous depth and umami being satiny soft throughout with amazing refined power and balance and extraordinary length and persistence. Classy!

Bright cherry and raspberry fruit aromas to the fore with background hints of rosemary, lavender, rose petal and dark chocolate sitting above an underlying steely note. An intense entry onto the palate with fruit-forward red cherry, plum and rhubarb flavour. Not at all a shy Pinot Noir, yet it is still well-framed, poised and structured with weighty fruit emboldened by a base of firm tannins and fine acidity. This wine is suitable for vegans.

Bright crimson in colour with a garnet hue, Lifted fruit aromatics of crushed strawberry , raspberry and pomegranate, with a floral perfume note and hints of green

Brilliant pale straw colour with tints of green to the outskirts and a watery hue. Aromas of nectarine, white peach and dried honey have a light toast overlay. Delicate citrus and cashew notes are also evident. Fleshy nectarine and white peach flavours line the elegant mid weighted palate with notions of dried honey and faint cashew lying underneath. Finishes with good freshness and a refined aftertaste. Drink over the next 3-4 years. Alc. 12.5%

From the ever impressive Yering Station, this Chardonnay offers toasty barrel ferment characters, good supporting oak and ripe peach aromas leading to a textured and well rounded palate. One of the better value examples out there.