Halliday Top 100 Wines 2025: Best white wines over $40

While it's not surprising to see chardonnay dominate this list of the 20 best Australian white wines over $40, that varieties such as gewürztraminer and fiano also feature is testament to the breadth and diversity of Australia's wine landscape. 

2023 A. Rodda Wines Baxendale Vineyard Whitlands Chardonnay, King Valley

A high-class chardonnay from a high altitude vineyard that specialises in scintillating chardonnays of great purity. Brimming in alpine florals, white flowers, lemon sorbet and white peach bright scents. Embraces a brisk, easy energy across the palate, pulsing in citrus, stone fruits, almond skin and nougat amid a light, evolving complexity. It's early days, but that brisk acidity is in place with some serious ageing in mind. – Jeni Port

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2019 Brokenwood ILR Reserve Semillon, Hunter Valley

This iconic wine delivers power, length and intensity, with a weighty, expansive palate and remarkable complexity that set it apart. The aroma is so seamless that it is difficult to dissect, but a closer look reveals alluring hints of charred citrus, lemon butter, meringue and flint. The palate is deeply satisfying and, though it has gained extra dimensions, softness and layers with age, it retains an inherent freshness and youthful beauty. – Toni Paterson MW

98 points | $120 | Screw cap | 11.5% alc. | Drink to 2031 | Brokenwood profile | Winery website | @brokenwoodwines

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2023 Canobolas Wines Chardonnay, Orange

Sourced from deep red ferrosol soils. Some wines require time and the peace and serenity of place to hear their voice. This is such a wine. It is not shouting for attention, instead, it's telling an age-old story of the trickling river streams, deep iron oxide soils and the under-vine make-up of a special place. Fresh linen, lotus flower and grapefruit pulp. An earthy celeriac and artichoke pull towards the crystalline salinity of quartz and scallop shell. Full mlf has tamed its natural quivering acidity and allowed for a horchata creaminess. A wine that might be passed by but, for those that revere wines of earthly spirit and finesse, this is utterly glorious. – Shanteh Wale

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2024 Coriole Rubato Reserve Fiano, McLaren Vale

A deeply fruited and textural iteration this year, while also possessing considerable verve and effortlessness. Golden delicious, nashi pear, fresh fennel seeds and fronds, green almond, lime pith, mandarin oil and a green cardamom/fenugreek leaf spice note. It’s saline and lightly chewy, working in neat concert with the fruit intensity that swells on the mid-palate, keen acidity joining the fray to close out, the flavours lingering indelibly. It’s also a wine that builds with interest over a couple of days and as the temperature climbs. It’s a beacon for the variety’s elevated potential here. Absolutely top drawer. – Marcus Ellis

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2020 Crittenden Cri de Coeur Sous Voile Savagnin, Mornington Peninsula

If there’s a wine/style I look forward to every year, it’s this one. The ’20 spent 48 months in old oak barriques, under a protective seal of flor slowly morphing into a complex, dry and stunning drink. Flavours from Turkish dried apricots (no sweetness) dried porcini, blood orange peel, salted caramel and preserved salty lemons, yet it's so fresh. There’s a sensation of richness with aldehydic aromas and flavours, yet plenty of acidity driving this, not just the flor-yeast characters. Finishes very dry and very, very long. – Jane Faulkner

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2022 Delamere Vineyards Block 3 Chardonnay, Tasmania

From Delamere's oldest Pipers River chardonnay vines, wild barrel ferment in 100% new oak, 12 months' maturation. The most Burgundian of wines for my money. Beautifully detailed white peach, citrus and nectarine fruits, softly spiced oatmeal, a wisp of struck flint, wildflowers, stone, clotted cream, gently grilled hazelnuts, almond meal and sea spray. The palate unfurls wonderfully, the flavours pulled across the tongue by pitch-perfect minerally acidity; all tension, release and sustain. Long, complex and cracking drinking. – Dave Brookes

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2024 Dr Edge Chardonnay, Tasmania

A blend of chardonnay from the Derwent and Tamar Valleys; hand-picked, direct press to 50/50 French oak barrique/clay amphora, wild ferment, nine months on lees. Gorgeous grapefruit and lemon lead, followed by hints of white peach, gentle spice, crushed stone, clotted cream, clover blossom, meal and lemon curd. Such a harmonious wine with a brilliant composition, dreamy fruit profile, a decent lick of umami and that wonderful stony Tasmanian acidity. What a ripper! – Dave Brookes

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2024 KOERNER Old Vine Slate Riesling, Clare Valley

The fruit for this wine is sourced from 101-year-old vines from the Parish vineyard, and it doesn't feel like we are in the Clare anymore. It smells and drinks of elsewhere, more the ilk of Rheingau. Indeed, the red clay on slate soils imparts a level of richness beyond a single dimension. This is deliciously citrusy, citing a mandarin note amongst the usual lemon-lime. It's fleshy, tensile and feels tireless in its drive. Powdered quartz, green apple, some phenolic grip and a crunchy spiced pear note that thrums a pulse behind the endless stream of powerful fruit. A true marvel. – Katrina Butler

96 points | $50 | Diam | 12.4% alc. | Drink to 2038 | KOERNER profile | Winery website | @koernerwine

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2023 Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Drive Block Chardonnay, Yarra Valley

From the Funder & Diamond vineyard, planted in Wandin East in '90. The '22 is the reigning Halliday Wine of the Year and this is, as you'd suspect, a worthy successor. With its bouquet of white nectarine, pink grapefruit and traces of sea spray and piercing, perfectly structured palate, this is more tightly coiled, at this stage, than the 864 Henk Chardonnay. It may prove to be more long lived, too. Those who have both will have a ton of fun comparing them over the next decade or more. – Philip Rich

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2024 Patrick Sullivan Wines Ada River Chardonnay, Gippsland

My, my, Patrick Sullivan, this Ada River is something else. It's got power and drive, flavour and definition, length and line. A stunning chardonnay offering citrus, white stone fruit and spicy oak, superbly integrated. It’s satisfying thanks to the neat tug of phenolics, ensuring texture alongside fine acidity and a touch of flinty sulphides. This is moreish, savoury and harmonious. If you manage to cellar a few bottles, the reward will be even greater. – Jane Faulkner

97 points | $115 | Diam | 13.8% alc. | Drink to 2034 | Patrick Sullivan Wines profile | Winery website | @patricksullivanwine

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2023 Penfolds Yattarna Bin 144 Chardonnay, Tumbarumba/Adelaide Hills/Tasmania

The 2021 was an absolute beauty and Penfolds white winemaker Kym Schroeter has managed to craft an equally impressive multi-regional chardonnay from 2022 as a follow-up. It's all filagreed nuance and tension with pure citrus and fleshy stone fruits, cut with hints of soft spice, créme frâiche, oatmeal, grilled nuts, lemon curd, marzipan, lemongrass, oyster shell and river stone. It shows a pitch perfect textural sway, with a touch of pith, a fine, filagreed acid profile and a long finish with tones of softly spoken oak spice, almond meal, citrus and grilled nuts. A wonderful release. – Dave Brookes

98 points | $220 | Screw cap | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2038 | Penfolds profile | Winery website | @penfolds

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2024 Pizzini Attento Pinot Grigio, King Valley

A grigio of serious intent. The winemaker believes the grape deserves nothing less. Whole-bunch pressed fruit is used, the first pressing fermented wild in seasoned oak. There's an understated elegance here with layers of citrus, quince, apple and pear combined with firm, coiled acidity and measured perfectly in line and length. The wine's signature saline/oyster shell crunch to close is so mouth-wateringly good. – Jeni Port

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2024 Seppelt Drumborg Vineyard Riesling, Henty

2024 is officially the 60th anniversary of the planting of Drumborg vineyard. A truly wonderful milestone! A terrific wine, too, opening with focused aromas of lemon sherbet, pink grapefruit, makrut lime and orange blossom. The palate is just as focused and pure fruited, with the wine's 3.6g/L residual sugar perfectly balanced by its mouth-watering acidity. Have this with food now, but make sure you still have a bottle or two a decade, or longer, from now. – Philip Rich

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2023 Shaw + Smith Lenswood Vineyard Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills

From a Lenswood site at 500m elevation, produced from three chardonnay grape clones. A beautiful, poised and energetic white wine that marries minerality, fine-boned fruit character, the sweet spice of oak seasoning, freshness and textural nuance with aplomb. An ultra-appealing perfume of stone fruits, cinnamon, sea spray, nougat, ginger biscuits and halva meets a flavour profile of similar descriptors lifted on a gentle wash of green apple and fino sherry saline/savoury notes that follow through with more flinty minerality. It sits even, succulent and deeply flavoured, yet fresh through its ultra-persistent course across the palate. Seductive, superb wine. – Mike Bennie

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2023 Silkman Wines Reserve Chardonnay, Hunter Valley

Classic Silkman, with a fine line of integrated acidity, nervy, zippy energy, and a silky fruit flow. High toned and fragrant, it has a beautiful lightness, respectful oak and mouth-watering citrus notes on the close. Clean, detailed sulfides and impressive length. Complex, refreshing and fabulous. – Toni Paterson MW

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2023 Tyrrell’s Wines Vat 47 Winemaker's Selection Chardonnay, Hunter Valley

An established star in the Australian wine landscape, and rightly so, for its purity, complexity and power. Made from hand-picked grapes sourced entirely from the Short Flat vineyard, planted by Murray Tyrrell. The lemony fruit is intense and the palate is beautifully expansive, textural and deeply satisfying, with barely perceptible savoury winemaking details that embellish and enrich the wine without a shred of dominance. The flavours build to an impressive crescendo, finishing with remarkable purity, energy and deliciousness. An outstanding chardonnay – one of Australia's best. Pure class. – Toni Paterson MW

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2025 Werkstatt Whitfield Gewürztraminer, King Valley

Gewürz is super well suited to the high alpine, super cool Darling Estate vineyard at Whitlands, which supplied the grapes for this wine. It's fine boned and delicately delivered, delightfully so, with a spiciness that jumps out of the glass. Aromas of musky florals, lychee, rose petal, tangerine and candied ginger. Builds on the palate and just keeps on going, replete in apple, citrus, high aromatics, spring florals and that gorgeous, lasting spiciness. Essentially off-dry in style, matched to bright acidity. Bring on the Thai food. – Jeni Port

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2024 Wines by KT Peglidis Vineyard Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley

A single-vineyard wine. So poised, pure and pretty, a triumph of a riesling that scales the heights for its intensity of fruit character and freshness. Green apple crunch, blackcurrant detail, jasmine florals, ginger-lemon tea notes, saline minerality at the core and a breathtaking overall freshness. So compact, tight, tense and precise, this is a tour de force of the variety from the region, and very complex overall. 250 dozen produced. – Mike Bennie

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2023 Xanadu Wines Reserve Chardonnay, Margaret River

The ’23 vintage is turning out to be a very special one in Margaret River both with chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, but let’s stay with the former here. This is a humdinger. Sure it’s tightly wound, given its youth and all the electrifying acidity within, but there’s substance and depth, too. A little waxy, refined, with grapefruit, lemon, ginger spice, a dash of oak spices (the 20% new French oak superbly integrated) and a little yuzu tonic water pucker. It’s linear, long, with moreish sulphides, the merest hint of creamy lees and almost a savoury overlay. Brilliant. – Jane Faulkner

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2023 Yangarra Estate Vineyard Ovitelli Blanc, McLaren Vale

55/17/17/7/4% grenache blanc/grenache gris/roussanne/clairette/bourboulenc. Some grenache blanc and roussanne was fermented on skins for around seven months (47% of the finished blend). The remaining fruit was basket pressed. Texture. For me, it’s the defining point of this wine. Oh, I love the hard-to-pin-down flavours that drift through orchard fruits and citrus, suggest a piney and briny herbal note – like a sea breeze gliding through a cypress tree – and are further complexed with a hint of cracked fennel seed and white pepper. But it’s the texture that really elevates this, the frisson of pumiceous (it’s a word …) grip and succulent fruit, the sapid, mineral/tonic quality, the elegant tensioning, fine-tuned to perfection. What a delight. – Marcus Ellis

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Taste the Top 100

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Taste the Top 100: Melbourne
Wednesday November 12, 2025
Panama Dining Room, Fitzroy
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