Best Australian white wines over $40
It's no surprise that this list of best Australian white wines over $40 is jam-packed with riesling and chardonnay. But, given the calibre of winemaking in Australia, it's also no surprise that this list features grapes that continue to increase in popularity, including chenin blanc, marsanne, rousanne, viognier, albariño, and fiano.
For those on the hunt for some of the best Australian riesling, there are examples from Crawford River in Henty, Frankland Estate in Frankland River, along with Robert Stein's Reserve Riesling from Mudgee.
Looking for a good Australian chardonnay? Well, below you'll find some of the best Australian chardonnay, which makes up half of this category. There are expressions from Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, Beechworth, and the Yarra Valley, Tasmania, and NSW's Orange and the Hunter Valley. The Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay comes from Margaret River, and the fruit for the Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay is a blend of grapes from Tasmania, Tumbarumba, and the Adelaide Hills.
2018 Brokenwood ILR Reserve Semillon, Hunter Valley
This wine is an unmistakable ILR and is one of the season's highlights. Alluring smoky tones and hints of lanolin adorn the ripe, lemony fruit. The sweet-natured palate is generous, flavoursome and powerful with moreish lemon butter tones. The rate of progression in this wine is driven by the warmth of the '18 season. That said, it is no less lovely, and the upside is that it's ready to drink now, so you won't need to wait years to enjoy it. – Toni Paterson MW
97 points | $120 | Screwcap | 10.8% alc. | Drink to 2028 | Halliday profile | Brokenwood | @brokenwoodwines
2022 Castagna Ingénue Viognier, Beechworth
Impressive density and ripeness, but let's hear it for that structure. Ingénue offers an interesting balance between fruit power, textural charm and the pure resonating clarity of acidity. Dusty lemon, citrus, peach, apricot stone, spice and almond cream. A grapefruit pithiness brings a touch of sinewy mouthfeel to the texture and savouriness. Acidity drives, finishing clean with a bright crunch. A wine of irresistible beauty. – Jeni Port
96 points | $100 | Diam | 14.5% alc. | Drink to 2034 | Halliday profile | Castagna | @castagnabeechworth
2023 Coriole Rubato Reserve Fiano, McLaren Vale
This is a stellar bottle. Is it the finest example of the grape on our shores? I’d wager so. The making is deceptively simple, but in that lies the beauty. The right site, expertly judged picking, fruit selection, phenolic extraction and time in barrel are key – a quietly confident stewardship. There’s a front-to-back seamlessness suffused with a mineral, sea-salt-inflected quality, oak a cohesive ghostwriter. Corella pear, tangerine peel, red apple, wildflowers, soft herbs, crystallised lemon, floral nectar and lemon pith lead to a lemon barley water/tonic grip and crushed rock minerality. Intense, effortlessly layered and vibrant, this is superb. – Marcus Ellis
96 points | $55 | Screwcap | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2029 | Halliday profile | Coriole | @coriole
2023 Crawford River Wines Riesling, Henty
100 per cent whole-bunch pressed fruit that spent six weeks on lees prior to racking, sulphur addition and blending. A luminous, bright green gold. Ravishing aromatics. Apricots, orange blossom, geranium, makrut lime leaves and more. Just as enticing on the dry, gently textured, energetic and very long palate. And while it's just so damn delicious now, history tells us that it's always worth putting what is one of Australia's greatest wines away for a few years. – Philip Rich
97 points | $54 | Screwcap | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2029 | Halliday profile | Crawford River Wines | @crawford_river_wines
2023 Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Riesling, Frankland River
One of the great rieslings of Australia. This is textural as much as pure, with lime blossom, ginger flower and a touch of beeswax. Flavours of Bickford's lime cordial, lemon curd, mandarin and zest caress the palate; the talcy-fine acidity is lipsmacking. – Jane Faulkner
96 points | $58 | Screwcap | 13% alc. | Drink to 2038 | Halliday profile | Frankland Estate | @franklandestate
2023 Garagiste Terre Maritime Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula
The finest chardonnay on the peninsula this vintage and always up there as one of the best. Spine-tingling, complex, detailed and superfine. Pure fruited, zesty citrus, juicy acidity, perfect oak and lees balance, the palate energised and finishes long. It’s something else. It’ll sell out in a flash – be quick. – Jane Faulkner
97 points | $75 | Screwcap | 13% alc. | Drink to 2033 | Halliday profile | Garagiste | @garagiste_wines
2023 Holyman Chardonnay, Tasmania
All estate fruit from 1986-planted vines on Joe and Lou Holyman's Gravelly Beach estate. Pale straw with aromas of white peach, citrus and nectarine and hints of struck match, oatmeal, almond meal, white flowers, crushed stone and a gentle whiff of almond paste. Beautifully balanced with plenty of tension and light on the palate. Textural, too, with a swell of oatmeal and fine, briny acidity lending sapidity and a wonderful energy to the long finish. – Dave Brookes
97 points | $60 | Screwcap | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2032 | Halliday profile | Holyman | @stoneyrise_wine
2022 Indigo Vineyard Small Batch Chardonnay, Beechworth
Indigo Vineyard's Small Batch wines are based on barrel selection and released only in outstanding years. Quality Beechworth chardonnay comes calling in a rainbow of scents and flavours: nougat, summery stone fruits, citrus, quince paste, cashew, baking spices and crème brûlée brittle toffee. It's quite intoxicating to take it all in, elegant, effortless in complexity and emboldened by a tangy acid drive through to the finish. Time is on its side. – Jeni Port
96 points | $55 | Screwcap | 13% alc. | Drink to 2032 | Halliday profile | Indigo Vineyard | @indigovineyard
2019 John Kosovich Wines Bottle Aged Reserve Chenin Blanc, Swan Valley
Magnificent stuff, all the texture, gentle maturity, breezy freshness, honeyed notes, fresh lime and gingery apple tones, crisp edges, light chalky pucker and gentle savoury nuttiness – so well judged, such a delight to drink. It nails the brief of a fancy chenin with maturity on its hand and delivers a gift of a modestly matured and wickedly drinkable white of texture, interest and varietal verity. Excellent wine. – Mike Bennie
95 points | $58 | Screwcap | 13.2% alc. | Drink to 2035 | Halliday profile | John Kosovich Wines | @johnkosovichwines
2022 Oakridge Wines 864 Henk Aqueduct Chardonnay, Yarra Valley
From the highest section at Henk, around 260m. Hand picked, whole-bunch pressed to 500L French puncheons (20 per cent new), wild-yeast fermented, matured for 10 months on lees. The first Henk to make an 864 since 2018 and worth the wait. A glorious wine opening with orchard fruits, freshly cut white pears together with a little sea spray and lightly grilled cashews. On the palate, this is restrained, tightly coiled and mouth-filling – you can still taste this very precise wine long after you've taken a sip. – Philip Rich
98 points | $97 | Screwcap | 13.9% alc. | Drink to 2034 | Halliday profile | Oakridge Wines | @oakridgewines
2021 Penfolds Yattarna Bin 144 Chardonnay, Tasmania Tumbarumba Adelaide Hills
The 2021 Yattarna will go down as one of the greats. Launched in 1998 with the 1995 vintage, the Yattarna is one of Australia's benchmark chardonnays. Like its sibling Bin 311, grapes are sourced from Tasmania, Tumbarumba and the Adelaide Hills and the wine is matured in French oak barriques (70 per cent new) for nine months. Pale straw with green flashes and an inviting aromatic profile of oatmeal-dotted apple, white peach, nectarine and citrus fruits cut with hints of fine spice, almond croissant, roasted hazelnuts, lemon curd, washed-rind cheese, white flowers and a filigreed lacework of struck-match complexity that arcs through the wine. A picture of grace and latent power with a core of pure grapefruit, white peach and citrus riding on rails of minerally acid far into the distance. Elegance writ large. – Dave Brookes
98 points | $175 | Screwcap | 13% alc. | Drink to 2040 | Halliday profile | Penfolds | @penfolds
2023 Pooles Rock Single Barrel Chardonnay, Hunter Valley
This wine was born from an observation that there is always one perfect chardonnay barrel in each season, complete, without the need for blending. It is also a 'single-vineyard' wine, with its volume limited to that of a puncheon, 500L. This is a beautifully refined, intense wine with gentle autolytic detail and texture from extended lees ageing in new French oak. Notes of scented peach, clotted cream and oatmeal accent a long, tight, grapefruity palate. Simply outstanding. – Toni Paterson MW
98 points | $68 | Screwcap | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2029 | Halliday profile | Pooles Rock | @poolesrockwine
2022 Pooley Wines Cooinda Vale Chardonnay, Tasmania
Chardonnay from the Pooley Cooinda Vale vineyard near Campania; matured in French oak (35 per cent new). Light straw with aromas of white peach, nectarine and grapefruit with hints of soft spice, nougat, white flowers, oatmeal, a wisp of struck flint and crushed riverstone. Savoury and pure, it's a wine of great detail and clarity. Crystalline acidity provides the line and there is a distinct savoury umami ache to its presence on the palate as the wine trails away, complex and captivating. – Dave Brookes
97 points | $90 | Screwcap | 12.5% alc. | Drink to 2030 | Halliday profile | Pooley Wines | @pooleywines
2023 Robert Stein Vineyard Reserve Riesling, Mudgee
White gardenia, seashell, lemon sorbet and aloe. Freshly shaved fennel, calamansi lime. Fine tannins like a delicate Chantilly lace cover the palate with acidity that slips through, gathering momentum. Powerfully built with deceptive grace and poise. A stunning wine with the ability to age over decades. – Shanteh Wale
96 points | $60 | Screwcap | 12% alc. | Drink to 2038 | Halliday profile | Robert Stein Vineyard | @robertsteinwinery
2017 Silkman Wines Aged Release SILK Chardonnay, Hunter Valley
SILK is a barrel selection from the top two barrels of Silkman's reserve chardonnay parcel. This year, it was from one year old puncheons. It is, of course, in a similar vein to the Reserve, but the intensity is at another level. It has all the same detail, finesse and restraint, with gentle sulphide hints and aromatic smokiness, but the core of intense flavour running through the wine sets it apart. It has an effortless, graceful flow. Just divine. – Toni Paterson MW
98 points | $80 | Screwcap | 12.4% alc. | Drink to 2027 | Halliday profile | Silkman Wines | @silkmanwines
2022 Swinging Bridge Caldwell Lane Chardonnay, Orange
This has seen time in 20 per cent new hogsheads and puncheons with the rest varying, up to five years of age, in barrel for seven months with occasional stirring. Meyer lemon, pine lime sherbert, talc and crushed chalk. A hint of sparkler flint and raw pinenut. The wine flourishes on the palate with oyster brine salinity and zeal. A savoury pecorino cheese rind and lemon yoghurt creaminess. Savoury and seamless. – Shanteh Wale
96 points | $70 | Screwcap | 12.9% alc. | Drink to 2035 | Halliday profile | Swinging Bridge | @swingingbridgewines
2023 Symphony Hill Wines Albariño, Granite Belt
This is grown on the Symphony Hill estate vineyard. It's a seriously good take on the variety with concentration of flavour, excellent, slippery then chalky texture, bright perfume, distinct flavours and a riff of spice and minerality that elevates the wine. Expect aromas of green melon, candle wax, faint honeycomb, bergamot tea and green almond. The palate is more fruity, perhaps, a bit of lemon-ginger tea over rockmelon, some stewed apple elements, with that minerally, saline acidity lifting everything and twisting it long and into a pleasing, gently bitter profile. It's very complete, complex and compelling. Very much worth a look. – Mike Bennie
94 points | $65 | Screwcap | 13.8% alc. | Drink to 2028 | Halliday profile | Symphony Hill Wines | @symphony_hill_wines
2018 Tahbilk 1927 Vines Marsanne, Nagambie Lakes
A regular gold medallist in Australian wine shows, 1927 Vines presents marsanne as a bottle-aged beauty. Hard to believe it is 6 years old. The scintillating purity of early-picked fruit and bracing acidity meets time in bottle, and it is so youthful, fresh and alive. Quince, green apple, lemon zest and grapefruit pith with elevated honeysuckle florals entice. But the best is yet to come. Give it time. – Jeni Port
95 points | $48 | Screwcap | 11% alc. | Drink to 2033 | Halliday profile | Tahbilk | @tahbilkwines
2022 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay, Margaret River
If one wine typifies the current state of Australian chardonnay (complex, superfine, detailed and majestic) as much as a wine of place, Heytesbury could possibly be it. There’s a lot of fruit power this vintage, yet still, a tightly coiled style in youth. A millefeuille of flavour – grapefruit, lemon salt, white nectarine and complex savoury nuances, the oak and lees folded into the wine. There’s an intriguing zinc character too, a little flinty and funky with mouth-watering acidity. Moreish and compelling all the way through. Mesmerising. – Jane Faulkner
97 points | $120 | Screwcap | 13% alc. | Drink to 2034 | Halliday profile | Vasse Felix | @vassefelixwines
2022 Yangarra Estate Vineyard Roux Beaute Roussanne, McLaren Vale
All fermented in 675L ceramic eggs, 52 per cent of final blend on skins for 120 days, the remainder whole-bunch pressed, a further four months in egg after blending. The power of this release is somewhat of a statement, as is the synchronised harmony of fruit and structure. Power is not to be mistaken for heft, but rather a certain density of matter, an intensity of flavour that is inextricably locked with a commanding drive of skin tannins and subtle but purposeful acidity. Spiced pear, dried lime, green almond, grippy heirloom apple, dried mint … flavour descriptors are inevitably clumsy, such is the individuality of expression. It’s even better on day two, promising a very bright future. It’s world-class stuff. – Marcus Ellis
97 points | $70 | Screwcap | 13.5% alc. | Drink to 2035 | Halliday profile | Yangarra Estate Vineyard | @yangarraestate
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