As Australian Chardonnay continues its re-emergence, Vasse Felix Heytesbury is firmly leading the charge with its complex, modern style that has seen the winemaking team take home a cabinet full of trophies and gold medals in recent years. 100% wild yeast fermented and matured in French oak for only nine months, there is a power and persistence that is unmistakable. A flavour cavalcade of matchstick, citrus, white peach and grapefruit alongside a subtle toasty, nutty aspect from the sublime oak regime. The finish of this remarkable example will leave you in no doubt to this wines pedigree and ageability. Sheer classic.

The home of truly elegant, yet powerful Chardonnay is without question, Chassagne-Montrachet. When you marry the unique terroir of this ancient site and the winemaking expertise of Louis Latour domaine, the result is the rich and engaging white wine. Complex flavours of peach and nectarine flow across the palate which finishes with a minerality the envy of most Chardonnay producers. Wonderfully attractive when young - buoyant and lively - yet will age for more than a decade to reveal toasty, textured buttered notes.

Kevin Cullen was a passionate believer in the quality of Margaret River as a wine region and particularly of its potential to become one of the great areas for both Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Here's his proof! [Biodynamic]

This wonderfully elegant Shiraz shows intense, pristine, blackberry fruit and ripe, silky tannins. It almost has a Pinot Noir elegance to it and, luckily, the quality of future vintages will only be getting better too as Voyager's new clones come on line.

This Katherines Paddock Chardonnay combines the richness, drive and classicism of one clone with the fine-boned flinty structure and chalky notes of the other. It is stylish with the modern expression of Australian style Chardonnay: tense, taut and sulphidic. It reclaims the middle ground where body, flavour and palate weight co-exist with structure, texture and restrained acidity. This single-vineyard Chardonnay has well integrated natural acidity with rich varietal expression.

One of the early pioneers of the Margaret River region, Woodlands' vineyards date back to 1973. As curator of these historic vineyards, Stuart & Andrew Watson have firmly re-established Woodlands into the top echolon of Margaret River producers. Sourced from an the outstanding 2008 vintage, the Shelley Anne Cabernet Sauvignon shows cassis, mulberry and blackcurrant with that typical bay leaf and cedar undertones. A wine that will live for well over a decade.

The flagship white wine from Hardy's, the Eileen Hardy has become one of Australia's benchmark Chardonnays. Complex, elegant and very much cool climate in style it drinks superbly now and will only improve.

Premier Cru Montmain's unique terroir of very stony terrain produces a wine with very pronounced mineral aromas, extraordinary power and excellent ageing potential. This Chardonnay by William Fevre shows great structure with good length. Both accessible and very fresh, it shows fantastic concentration.

100% Chardonnay grapes. Les Beaux Cailloux (meaning the beautiful pebbles) is only made in the best years and represents the very best of the vintage. A complex, refined and serious wine that is capable of cellaring for lengthy periods developing even further in the bottle.