Wandering around a freezing-cold Burgundian tonnellerie tasting the cream of Meursault is probably not the first place you’d expect to be thinking about Australian Chardonnay.

But plenty of times, in that tasting of ultra-fancy, high-water-mark wines earlier in the year, I found myself mentally checking in with my internal benchmark system and thinking about how our local Chardonnay could well compete on pure quality.

Obviously, the rarefied air of the finest white Burgundy feels like a whole other tier of wine detail (and history), without even touching on the endless terroir wet dream of how wines can taste so different from vineyards just a hundred metres apart. Yet all that Burgundian prestige and grandiosity doesn’t equate to a monopoly on fine Chardonnay, and even from arm’s length it’s easy to acknowledge that the Chard from local shores is wildly impressive.

So it is, with that thought firmly in mind, this week’s sample pile adventure is the long-promised dive into Australian Chardonnay, where I go deep looking for deliciousness across 25 wines.

Like the Shiraz lineup last week, this Chardfest includes a few interlopers (a few bubbles and a Kiwi wine or two), just because I felt like it. Oh, and there will be a Pinot Noir version of this dive next week too.

Let’s go:

10 TIP TOP Chardies in this lineup

Burton McMahon Lusatia Park Vineyard Chardonnay 2024

Gant & Co. Chardonnay 2025

Nova Vita Firebird Road Block #4 Chardonnay 2023

Novum Chardonnay 2023

Pequod Spaghetti alle Vongole Chardonnay 2025

Shaw + Smith Lenswood Chardonnay 2024

Shaw + Smith M3 Chardonnay 2025

Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay 2025

Tapanappa Tiers 1.5m Chardonnay 2025

VS & B Thorley Chardonnay 2023