- By Brenden Robnik (24/03/2026)
The latest stop on my tour of Australia with 12 of the greatest chardonnay’s had me headed over west to what has become my home away from home. There is something about WA that just feels different to me, the lifestyle, the weather, beaches and most importantly the wine community and wine scene. Australia is such a unique and diverse country yet the wine community it appears is connected closer and perhaps more intensely than many other industries.
Purpose of the Chardonnay Challenge
The goal and purpose for me personally of these challenge’s is not to declare a winner or rank the best in a certain order. It is to open eyes to a wide range of wines from across out great regions with a hope it encourages people to try more wines they perhaps may avoid or not know about. Sure there is a ‘winner’ at each event and overall but that for me is more part of the entertainment of the night, creating atmosphere and open discussion amongst the guests. So many wine events are focused on the presenting winery/winemaker/personality speaking and educating the guests, which is absolutely incredible. For me though, I want to see people chatting, discussing, disagreeing and just enjoying themselves amongst like minded people. After all we are all a little crazy when you consider our love of fermented grape juice!
The Perth Crowd and Atmosphere
The Perth crowd are some of the most biased towards their own regions and wines, but it is with good reason, they produce world class wines across multiple varieties and regions. Why go anywhere else they say. My expectations were for a Margaret River whitewash and maybe that’s warranted not just because it’s the local region, but due to its incredible ability to produce WORLD CLASS chardonnay. As I wandered around Lamont’s with a full house (the place was closed for our event, which was the first time ever on a Saturday night) I just felt the energy lifting as we went through the brackets, wines dividing friendship groups, calls of which wine was from where and why it was better. For me these discussions are vital in taking away some of the barriers people feel when they attend wine events, whilst this style is not for everyone and many people want the in depth information etc, my personal belief is that bringing more people into wine will help long term for anyone hosting and running events of any type.
Styles, Standouts and Line-Up Approach
One thing was clear, the Margaret River wines were favoured in the room, Giaconda however sticks out due to it’s reductive nose and intoxicating fruit profile with many people calling Giaconda for any wine that exhibited that curry leaf and matchstick aroma. Leigh did the line up and I had no say or gave him no opinions on what order to serve in, he chose to focus more on style and power than regions, which I like. Some wines will always perform more favourably in a large bracket format as they are fuller or more pronounced on the nose, this does not make them better, it just makes them what they are. I have had all 12 of the wines on their own and can tell you they are all incredible in their own way, whether it’s the reductive nose and fruit drive from Giaconda and Singlefile or the lush stone fruit and saline drive from the Cullen and Cherubino and lets not forget the magic that is Leeuwin Estate and its unmatched use of oak and high fruit power without any Malolactic fermentation.
Results
Alright enough from me, you have probably skipped ahead to this part and if you have read the whole thing, thanks, that means a lot! Giaconda has a slender lead from Brisbane over KJ which just happen to be the top 2 from last year as well, but this event can change a lot due to the sheer volume of voters! So without any further dribble, here are the top 6 and then the rest in no particular order, but I have to say that with 50 people voting out of 20 with ½ points to see that the entire range of 12 wines was seperated by around only 30 points is a testament to the quality of Australian Chardonnay!
- Cullen Kevin John 2023
- Vasse Felix Heytsbury 2023
- Leeuwin Estate Art Series 2023 (pre-release)
- Giaconda 2023
- Singlefile The Vivienne 2020
- Pierro 2024
Elanto, Giant Steps Applejack, Granjoux, Shaw + Smith Lenswood, Flametree SRS and Cherubino Pemberton 2024 rounded out the 12. BUT never forget that its less than 1 point per person separating each wine its insanely close across the board and I could not be happier with how Australian Chardonnay is placed.
What’s Next
Sydney and Melbourne are next, if you would like to attend please email, text or DM me, dates for both will be up shortly and I know they will sell out fast, please come join me and celebrate this amazing variety.
Cheers and Drink Well!