Description
Chardonnay is probably our favourite white grape. Here are six of our favourite anytime, anywhere Chardonnays that we have highly recommend to anyone looking for a great value Chardy fix.
- 2023 The Other Right Fawn Chardonnay
- 2024 Patrick Sullivan Chardonnay
- 2023 First Foot Forward Chardonnay
- 2024 Garagiste Le Stagiaire Chardonnay
- 2023 Usher Tinkler Paperwasp Vineyard Chardonnay
- 2023 Domaine Naturaliste Discovery Chardonnay
2023 The Other Right Fawn Chardonnay
‘Fawn’ is The Other Right’s beautifully bold yet refined take on full-bodied Chardonnay. Crafted by Alex Schulkin and Galit Shachaf, this Adelaide Hills standout blends natural winemaking with a nod to the lush Chardonnays of the past—minus the weighty excess. The result? A wine that balances richness with vibrancy, offering a contemporary twist on an old-school classic.
The fruit comes from Brendan Cameron’s organic (in-conversion) Lansdowne Vineyard in Forreston, where Chardonnay thrives in cool-climate conditions. Fermented in stainless steel for three weeks before spending eight months in seasoned French oak, the wine undergoes gentle oxidative aging to develop layers of texture and complexity. No additions, no interventions—just pure craftsmanship.
Expect stone fruits, hints of nuttiness, and a saline edge that underscores the wine’s flinty mineral backbone. It’s luscious yet precise, with a supple mouthfeel that’s equally at home with food or as a standalone sipper.
With only 80 dozen made, ‘Fawn’ is a rare opportunity to experience Adelaide Hills Chardonnay reimagined.
2024 Patrick Sullivan Chardonnay
Patrick Sullivan is a name synonymous with exceptional Australian Chardonnay.
Here's a top-value way to sample his sensational stylings with this variety, with this very reasonably-priced entry-level Pat Sullivan wine!
This, only the third-ever release, continues to honour the volcanic soils of Southern Australia with a wine that strikes a lovely balance between richness, well-defined fruit, and distinctive soil-derived minerality.
The vineyards are nestled along Australia's unique limestone coast. This region is the world's third-largest volcanic plain, harbouring approximately 400 dormant volcanoes. Who knew?!
Pat's deep-rooted connection to this area, where he spent much of his childhood, fills him with tremendous enthusiasm as he offers this great modern representation of Australian Chardonnay.
94 points & Top 100 Wines of 2024
"Patrick Sullivan is one of the country’s most thoughtful winemakers; beneath his mop of unruly hair ticks a brain obsessed with how volcanic-derived soils can shape a wine. He works mostly across Gippsland, Victoria, but for this wine he heads across the South Australian border to Mt Gambier. The result is a fine, sculpted chardonnay, its gentle curves laced with a sparkling minerality."
- Nick Ryan (The Australian)
92 points
"It feels familiar, a wine from the past, the affordable cellar dweller for the flavourtown chardonnay drinkers, and it’s great for that."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
2023 First Foot Forward Chardonnay
Martin Siebert has an impressive resume having worked at Benjamin Leroux in Burgundy, Pegasus Bay in NZ and Yarra Yering in the Yarra Valley. His own project here now with First Foot Forward. The wines show every ounce of his experience.
This is Chardonnay from cool sites in the Yarra. If you like Yarra Chardonnay, you're going to like this - it's as simple as that.
This is great drinking here for the Yarra fan that's not going to bust the bank.
96 points
"Fruit from Lone Star Creek in the Woori Yallock and Rising Vineyard in St Andrews. Whole bunch pressed to puncheons and a couple of new hogsheads. A very bright green gold. Aromas of ripe white peaches and hazelnuts, with the oak sitting very discreetly in the background. There's terrific intensity on the very well-balanced, structured and long palate. Lovely wines from this producer for the 2023 vintage."
- Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)
2024 Garagiste Le Stagiaire Chardonnay
Another fantastic release here of one of Victoria's best-value Chardonnays.
This year’s blend brings together fruit from some of Garagiste’s top vineyards—65% from Balnarring, with smaller portions from Merricks North and Tuerong—where vines averaging 25 years old bring depth and concentration to the fruit.
Pressed as whole bunches and wild fermented in 500-litre puncheons, this Chardonnay is all about texture and finesse. It spent seven months on lees, building a round, supple mouthfeel balanced by a bracing saline streak that keeps everything lifted and refreshing. You’ll find layers of citrus, white flowers, and stone fruits, with just a hint of oak adding subtle structure.
There is never a lot of this wine around and given the value on offer, it's no wonder. Great buying.
94 points
"Complex and quite umami in character. Grapefruit, apple, saline, nutty, Japanese ginger, and a little struck match. It has bright acidity, a certain juiciness in with all that nutty almost sake-like character, creamy almond, fine chalky texture, and a finish of excellent length. Really good Chardonnay, and all things considered, jolly good value. Charismatic, is my last word on this wine. Say no more."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
2023 Usher Tinkler Paperwasp Vineyard Chardonnay
This new release from Usher Tinkler came about over a shared bottle of wine, as so often great ideas do with the desire to offer a barrel fermented Hunter Chardonnay immediately accessible both in style and price point. Usher Tinker own over 60 hectares of established vineyard in Pokolbin including some superb older Chardonnay vines. This wine comes from a 1.6 hectare vineyard planted in 1985, vines now over 35 years old, sandy loam composition.
Handpicked, 100% barrel fermented in a mix of 1 to 3 year old French oak with a small portion going through malolactic fermentation. The 2022 has been aged for 18 months on fine lees with battonage during the elevage.
This wine takes it’s name from the vineyard “Paperwasp Vineyard” due to the high number of Paperwasps that nest in the vines around harvest time.
96 points
"This single-vineyard wine has fresh, high-toned aromas of lemon and grapefruit elevated by enticing, fragrant oak. The palate has exceptional vitality with a modern expression. Fresh, textural, and expansive, the wine is deliciously long, framed by compelling phenolics and tensioned by a core of mouth-watering acidity."
- Toni Paterson (Halliday Wine Companion)
2023 Domaine Naturaliste Discovery Chardonnay
After 20 years observing the area, Bruce Dukes decided all the Chardonnays from Domaine Naturaliste would be crafted entirely from the Gin Gin clone.
This is his best value, early drinking Chardonnay. A wine that seriously over-delivers in the bang-for-your-buck stakes, it's built in a more fruit-forward style - ripe, but not too ripe, and balanced perfectly with a subtle hint of oak.
This is one of the best buys in all of Australian Chardonnay at the moment. You'd be mad not to.
90 points
"The Discovery range is always good value and ticks the varietal box well. This has a nice layer of white stone fruit and citrus, followed by some beeswax and sawdusty oak with refreshing acidity to close. Not complex, as it’s an unashamedly a fruit-driven style to be enjoyed in its youth."
- Jane Faulkner (Halliday Wine Companion)
Customer Reviews
| Price Bracket | $31 to $40 |
| Type | White |
| Variety | Chardonnay |
| Country | Australia |
| Size | 750ml |
Others also liked
Recently viewed
Shipping
Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!
For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.
We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.
Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.
Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you.
Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.
Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.
Ordering
We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
- The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
- We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
- We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
- It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.
- It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.
We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.
At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!
No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.
We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.
To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you.
If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.
If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.
Just want to talk to someone?
Please don't ever hesitate - we would love to help! Whether it's a problem we can fix, a wine you're not 100% sure on or if you simply want to talk about wine, food and the meaning of life, we are here for you.