The second year of the Chardonnay Challenge saw over 130 people taste and vote for their favourite Australian Chardonnay. With the top 3 from 2024 coming back to defend their title, would Cullen Kevin John, Giaconda and Toldpuddle be able to once again reign supreme or would it be a new contender knocking them off. This year was harder for me to decide on the actual contenders to put into the line up. My goal for these events has always been more about showcasing a grape and regions as a whole, rather than a flat out competition, it’s critically important for us as a wine consuming country and industry to ensure we don’t solely focus on the premier or well known names all the time. Chardonnay is our greatest grape for quality across the country, with each region offering premium tiers and wines that compete on the world stage. The 2024 edition saw 8 regions represented, and in 2025 7 regions. We seem to be more of a nation that drinks wine from regions closer to where we live, this is a little different in places such as Queensland and New South Wales where the consumer to me appears to drink a larger range of regions.
The contenders.
1 - Bass Phillip Estate 2020, Gippsland, Vic.
The last wine made by the incredible Phillip Jones, considered by many to be the Pinot Noir king of Australia.
2 - Oakridge 864 Henk Vineyard 2022, Yarra Valley, Vic.
A name and wine known globally, the 864 represents the pinnacle of the single vineyard wines made by the incredible Dave Bicknell.
3 - Giant Steps Bastard Hill 2023, Yarra Valley, Vic.
A wine that burst onto the scene in 2024, with high praise from critics and wine publications, selling out within days and from one of the steepest vineyards around, hence the ‘Bastard Hill’.
4 - Savaterre 2022, Beechworth, Vic.
The vineyard across the road from Giaconda, sitting comfortably in its own skin and a wine that creates excitement year in year out.
5 - Gaffy and Neal Merricks North 2023, Mornington Peninsula, Vic.
A wine made by Doug Neal (Paradise Wines) and Darren Gaffy (Principia Wines), this collab hits all the spots for quality to price ratio. The cheapest wine in the lineup but by no means the cheapest quality.
6 - Deepwoods Reserve 2023, Maragaret River, WA.
Another wine from the quality to price bracket that bats way above its $. The team at Deepwoods have been putting in huge amounts of effort into the vineyards and its reflected in this wine. Cleaning up at the capital city wine shows and from critics alike.
7 - Xanadu Reserve 2020, Margaret River, 2020.
Choosing the WA wines was extremely difficult, with such a consistent level of quality across the region and so many big names. To be honest I chose to put this in because Xanadu won the cabernet challenge in 2024 and Glenn is ab absolute legend, facts.
8 - Leeuwin Art Series 2020, Maragret River, WA.
Controversially I gave Leeuwin another chance to contend this year, it’s possible the winery with the most admiration from the country as a whole. The art series chardonnay has been at the top of Australian Chardonnay for as long as the winery has been around.
9 - Singlefile The Vivienne 2021, Great Southern, WA.
Not every incredible wine from WA is from Margaret River, with The Great Southern and Frankland River producer world class wines as well it was time to showcase this. The Vivienne was a wine I tried last year at the Singlefile Dinner in Melbourne, its was pristine, pure and I knew it would perform well in this setting.
The Defenders.
10 - Cullen Kevin John 2023, Margaret River, WA. 1st Place 2024.
Storming through the states last year, Cullen showed its purity of fruit and more traditional style of Chardonnay stands the test of time, such power and elegance, world class.
11 - Giaconda Estate Chardonnay 2022, Beechworth, Vic. 2nd Place 2024.
My love and admiration for Giaconda is well documented, to me it is the greatest white wine we produce as a country. A challenger to the world’s best let alone Australia’s.
12- Tolpuddle 2023, Coal River Valley, Tasmania. 3rd Place 2024.
The little island powerhouse, showing that great things can come from small places. With a focus on 2 varietals only, Tolpuddle has mastered both, with the Chardonnay always featuring in great Australian lineups.
One thing that stands out to some and something I have been asked by many industry professionals is, why the differing vintages. It doesn’t make sense, isn’t relevant and not a true tasting are all messages I have received over the past year. They fall on deaf ears, to do these tastings properly I wanted to give each producer the chance to show a wine from a vintage they loved or thought was drinking well currently. Reaching out to the producers and asking them these questions gave me a better understanding of the wines and vintages. It levelled the playing field, ensuring each wine had a better chance to shine. The only condition I have is that the wine cannot be more than 5 years old (2020 in this case).
I started in Sydney with 42 people, followed by Melbourne with 45 and finished in Perth where 62 people voted 100% for Maragaret River wines (not really but it always feels like it over there). This year saw a much more consistent level of scoring with only around 100 points overall separating 1st and 12th. I actually don’t like using the words last place or 12th as its really not fair, it implies just through human nature that its not as good and in this case its not the case. This comes down to personal preference with no wines having any faults it’s truly personal. The voting is out of 20 with ½ points allowed, no scores below 10 are taken and I may edit this going forward and make 14 the lowest, as anything below that would really reflect a wine that was faulty. Sydney and Melbourne were very similar with scoring, with the main surprise to many being the Singlefile from Great Southern, it captivated with its steely minerality, flinty reduction and power of fruit. It was leading after the Sydney event, Giaconda hot on its tail with the Cullen, Bass Phillip and Oakridge performing very well. Melbourne was slightly different with Cullen showing its class and quality, Giaconda again closely following with Gaffy and Neal shining bright on the night. Heading to Perth my concern was always the bias that WA consumers have for Margaret River, seeing as 90% of what they drink is from the region closest to them. I kept thinking to myself that Cullen, Leeuwin and Xanadu would just sweep the floor, hopeful that Singlefile would somehow manage to sneak the win if WA had to win. We all know my desire for Giaconda to win but I held grave hopes. We sat, talked and voted at Lamont’s with such a large crowd it was great to hear so much chat about wine and why each person liked a particular wine. Entire tables discussing each wine at length, it’s the best thing to witness for me. The voting was close and with so many people voting the leaderboard was bound to get a shake up.
Much to my delight the Giaconda came home with the win, a truly deserving wine that was across the events the most consistently scored. A true testament to this great wine and in my eyes a very deserving winner. In second place and basically switching with Giaconda was the Cullen Kevin John, again the purity of fruit and elegance of this wine was a showstopper. To think these wines finished 1 and 2 last year as well just goes to prove their standing at the top of Australian Chardonnay. In 3rd place and my highest scored wine across the 3 tastings was Singlefile’s The Vivienne and I am so glad it finished on the podium. A wine that from the first time I had it I was wowed, completely stunned with its power and purity, it almost reminded me of the Giaconda such was its power. To satisfy the purists out there and everyone who has been following along, the final order is below, please remember that this is not an indication of quality with the overall difference in points being so small it is a testament to the greatest grape we produce.
1 - Giaconda 2022
2 - Cullen Kevin John 2023
3 - Singlefile The Vivienne 2021
4 - Leeuwin Art Series 2020
5 - Tolpuddle 2023
6 - Xanadu Reserve 2020
7 - Gaffy and Neal Merricks 2023
8 - Giant Steps Bastard Hill 2023
9 - Oakridge 864 Henk Vineyard 2022
10 - Bass Phillip Estate 2020
11 - Savaterre 2022
12 - Deepwoods Reserve 2023
Thankyou to each and everyone who came along to one of the events, it’s so incredible to think that only a few years ago I was swinging a hammer and not enjoying my career what so ever. There are so many opportunities to forge friendships and wine tasting groups as a result of coming along to an event. I have witnessed tasting groups form in all the capital cities I have visited and love the messages and calls I get from people to talk about wine non stop (I know my wife appreciates not having to hear me talk about wine all thew time now). If you haven’t already please sign up to the Wine Animal newsletter, and better yet sign up to the Jungle Club for first access and intel on future events and wine sales.
As always, thankyou and The Wine Animal is out.