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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 Murdoch Hill Chardonnay
- 2024 Patrick Sullivan Chardonnay
- 2023 Hughes & Hughes Chardonnay
- 2024 Garagiste Le Stagiaire Chardonnay
- 2023 Usher Tinkler Paperwasp Vineyard Chardonnay
- 2024 Nocturne SR Chardonnay
2023 Murdoch Hill Chardonnay
This is Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 101.
Murdoch Hill is a producer that should be on your radar, with winemaker Michael Downer one of the real up-and-coming talents in the country. This Chardonnay might not have the pizzaz and funk of his 'Artisan' releases, but boy oh boy is it a good drink.
It comes from a selection of different vineyards in the Adelaide Hills, providing complexity, balance and depth to the final product. Light and fresh on the one hand, creamy and mouth filling on the other. It's a mighty fine drink and nifty value.
93 points
"Citrus- and mineral-driven aromas of lemon peel, oyster shells, orange blossoms and flint. The palate is medium-bodied with a generous mouthfeel and focused acidity, giving notes of white peaches, lime curd and shortbread. Very balanced and restrained with an underlying power."
- James Suckling
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 Hughes & Hughes Chardonnay
It's near on impossible to find a class act Tassie Chardonnay that won't burn a hole in your pocket, such is the demand for fruit on the Apple Isle.
But brothers Jonny and Matt Hughes have pulled a bit of a rabbit out of the hat with this one.
This is fruit from the across the state - from Coal River to Derwent Valley to North West - fermented all in barrel with partial malo and maturing on lees.
Just about as good as you will see for Tasmanian Chardonnay at this price.
94 points
"My first and most enduring reaction to this wine was, simply: gosh I love chardonnay. This wine is an ode to the variety, its stonefruit, meal, cream and hay flavours flowing harmoniously throughout, its chalk, nougat and custard powder characters then sitting dry and pretty on the finish. This wine flows. This wine flourishes."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)
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)
2024 Nocturne SR Chardonnay
Julian Langworthy doesn’t do things by halves, and this 2024 Nocturne SR Chardonnay is another prime example of why Nocturne is one of the most exciting small-batch labels in Margaret River.
Sourced from a handful of top-tier Treeton vineyards, this is a more mid-weight expression of the region’s famed Chardonnay - vibrant, finely structured, and dangerously easy to drink. The 2024 season threw a few curveballs (dry, early, and oddly smooth sailing), but Margaret River’s natural air-conditioning - aka the Indian and Southern Oceans - kept things balanced, allowing for a long, even ripening.
The fruit was hand-picked, whole bunch-pressed, and fermented wild in a mix of new and seasoned puncheons, left untouched on lees until bottling.
It’s a Chardonnay built for pure enjoyment - generous but refined, crisp but textural, and ready to drink now. If you’ve ever felt that familiar itch for a good Margaret River Chardonnay on a weeknight, this is the bottle to have on standby.
Customer Reviews
| Price Bracket | $31 to $40 |
| Type | White |
| Variety | Chardonnay |
| Country | Australia |
| Size | 750ml |
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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.
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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.
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