Is this Australia's best Chardonnay? If not then it shares the rarified air reserved for only the finest examples. Rich yet restrained, with mineral notes, cashew and almond meal, amazing fruit complexity and wonderful length...why not try the benchmark?

CLOTILDE DAVENNE Chablis Vieilles Vignes Chablis is a superb winegrowing region entirely dedicated to Chardonnay. Clotilde Davenne Chablis comes from the village of Courgis, right next door to her winery in Prehy. Pale in colour with hints of green, the Chablis Vieilles Vignes offers a nice freshness and aromatic nose of fresh fruits, white flowers and dried fruit. The mineral aromas, of flint in particular, make it sing.

HARTFORD WINES Hartford Court Sevens Bench Chardonnay, Carneros

Jean Noel Gagnard handed his eponymous Domaine to his daughter Caroline Lestimé in 1989. She had studied business in Paris, before returning to the village to take over the reins of the family estate, and had to handle male chauvinism at its most rampant. Nonetheless, she has followed her own convictions, and enhanced (rather than diminished) the reputation of this fine producer. In the vineyard, she uses no fertilisers or herbicides, but has not taken hold of the biodynamic bible.- James Halliday. 1er Cru Blanc la Boudriotte - Size: 0.48 ha (1.19 ac) Variety: Chardonnay Terroir: Facing southeast, 240-meters altitude, with shallow, compact clay soil Viticulture: Certified organic (biodynamic practices) Vinification: Delicate pneumatic pressing, indigenous yeast andmalolactic fermentation in barrel. Aged for 18 months on lees in 228L oak barrels (1/3 new). Caroline Lestime describes the 2016 wine as, sorbet with good freshness and a delicate lightness to its feet.