Occasionally, when rare parcels of particularly outstanding Beechworth grapes become available, Savaterre's wine maker Keppell Smith likes to create something unique, like this Chardonnay, and bottle it under Savaterre's Frere Cadet (Younger Brother) label. These wines are created with the same attention to detail that goes into their premium Savaterre label.

Pōtiki, meaning ‘last born’ in Maori, is blended from a selection of newer plantings and some of our more established blocks on the Martinborough Terrace. Barrel fermented in 300 litre puncheons with indigenous yeasts, followed by 11 months on lees to bring a subtle complexity. The 2022 has an expressive, floral, and delicate fruit driven nose of white peach, rock melon and orange blossom. The palate has a refined mineral entry, with hints of salinity. It opens further with notes of citrus and fennel and flavours of pastry and almond. Beautifully balanced on the palate, this wine is fresh and joyous, combining cool fruit notes with fine acidity.

Sourced from dry-grown, hand tended vines in the north east of Victoria, this Beechworth Chardonnay from Savaterre will surely convince even the most hardened Chardonnay critic that modern Australian Chardonnay is of supreme world-class standard. Keppell Smith handcrafts a Chardonnay of utmost power and concentration that produces a length of flavour that borders on the immortal.

Vasse Felix Chardonnay is a pure, elegant and vibrant style of Chardonnay, embracing the region's powerful fruit with complexity and restraint to express the environment, with the hallmarks of Vasse Felix's premier vineyards.

McHenry Hohnen is the quintessential family owned business with Murry McHenry and David Hohnen being brothers-in-law and the winemaking now being handled by David's son-in-law Ryan Walsh. With decades of Western Australian winemaking and selling history behind David and Murray the wines being produced are of utmost purity and subtlety. The Burnside Chardonnay is a relative recent addition to the range and is a funky, wild little number with attractive stone fruit characters that are balanced by a beautiful natural acidity.

This winery retains its cult status by continually producing wines of poise, class and adhering to strict biodynamic principals. The Bannockburn Chardonnay is at this stage pert and linear, with floral and citrus notes. It will take a little time for this little gem to begin to give up its secrets.

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?

Clos le Cailleret is renowned for its intense and well-defined minerality. Domaine de la Pousse d'Ors 'Clos le Cailleret comes off a 0.727 ha parcel of the 3.3 ha Clos le Cailleret 1er Cru vineyard in the commune of Puligny-Montrachet. This vineyard is enclosed by a stone wall and has an east/south-east facing slope. Soils in the vineyard are limestone and very stony with good drainage. The vineyard is farmed along organic principles. Grapes are hand harvested and sorted using a new optical sensor. The wine is fermented, undergoes malolactic fermentation and is matured for up to 12 months in 350L barrels of which 50% is new French oak.