Chardonnay Challenge (Perth) 2026

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

I was privileged to attend this year’s Chardonnay Challenge. The Wine Animal Hosts ‘The Chardonnay Challenge 3.0.
This event is the brainchild of Brenden ‘Brenno’ Robnik (The Wine Animal) and Leigh Gerreyn (Behind The Glass), and takes place on both the East Coast and West Coast of Australia. The W.A. event is ably hosted at Lamonts Cottesloe, and accompanied by a matching four course meal.

Attendance was considerable, with 60 people packing out the Lamonts venue, and there was a mix of industry people and enthusiastic amateurs like me.

The Chardonnays are from East and West Coast also, with most selected from the upper echelons of Australian chardonnay. My notes reflect the order of service, and not the group’s preferences, which were revealed via an online voting system later in the event. (We were asked to score each of the wines, using the 20-point system, and allowing half-point increments).

Domaine Granjoux Chardonnay 2023 (Beechworth, Victoria): Lemon colour. A little struck match on the nose, with cedary oak, lime zest, lemon blossom and gentle stone fruits. The palate was a mix of lemon/lime, nectarine and white peach. There is a slight lees character, and a fresh acid lift to accompany the citrus. Medium length.

Flametree SRS Chardonnay 2024 (Margaret River, W.A.): Pale lemon colour. The nose opens with a little sulphide note, followed by slightly smoky and polished oak. Lime and tropical fruits sit alongside some light stone fruit aromas. The palate shows more stone fruits (peach, nectarine) and lime cordial giving a light tang to the mouthfeel. Medium acid and a slightly leesy texture led to a long finish.

Shaw and Smith Lenswood Chardonnay 2024 (Adelaide Hills, S.A.): Lemon colour, slightly darker than the previous wines. Citrus blossom and white peach sit on top of some savoury oak on the nose, while the palate extends more into citrus territory and peach merging into the background. Acid is high and slightly tart and the wine has a reasonably long finish.

Cherubino Black Label Pemberton Chardonnay 2024 (Pemberton, W.A.): Lemon colour. This has a richer nose than the previous wines, with ripe peach and nectarines, polished cedary oak and an attractive reductive note. The palate is also a little richer, with pink peach and nectarine, and a little mandarin. Acid appears softer than the previous wines, and the finish is long. This was one of my favourites of the tasting.

Elanto Chardonnay 2024 (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria): Pale lemon colour. A balanced nose, with tropical and stone fruits, some citrus and pineapple. Oak seems modest by comparison. There’s lots of tropical and orchard fruits on the palate, alongside a touch of grapefruit. Oak sits neatly in the background, and the wine has medium length. A lighter style in the context of this testing.

Pierro Chardonnay 2024 (Margaret River, W.A.): Lemon colour. A savoury nose overall, with glace` pineapple and unripe peach underneath some nutty oak. The oak dominates the palate as well, with unripe stone fruits and tropical fruits also. Acid is in a supporting role, and the finish is reasonably long.

Giant Steps ‘Applejack Vineyard’ Chardonnay 2024 (Yarra Valley, Victoria): Very pale lemon colour. A citrus dominant nose (grapefruit, lime cordial, lemon pith) with pear and quite savoury nutty oak. There’s some light caramel on the palate, and some minerality, with gentle citrus fruits. Medium to high acid (but not sharp or overpowering) and a reasonably long finish.

Vasse Felix ‘Heytesbury’ Chardonnay 2023 (Margaret River, W.A.): Pale lemon colour. An initial flinty note on the nose, followed by a good mix of citrus and stone fruits, a herbal note and just enough cedary oak to keep the balance. There’s slightly more peach than citrus on the palate, with slightly grippy oak and a modest lees texture. Medium to high acid and a long finish. One of my favourites and I’m glad I have a few in the cellar.

Leeuwin Estate ‘Art Series’ Chardonnay 2023 (Margaret River W.A.): Very pale lemon colour – one taster likened it to a young Riesling. A touch of sherbet initially on the nose, with fragrant floral and citrus notes (including lime and grapefruit) and white peach. There’s cashew /nutty oak slightly in the background. The oak is more prominent on the palate, which combines the oak well with lifted citrus (which reminded me a little of a Viognier). Acid supports the wine well, and there’s good length. Unlike most of the other wines in this tasting, it appeared as an outlier in that it’s nowhere near ready to drink yet and needs more time to develop.

Giaconda Chardonnay 2023 (Beechworth, Victoria): Lemon-yellow in colour. This opened with a good whiff of sulphides on the nose, which blew off to reveal ripe peach, polished oak, some tropical fruits and a little lemon. The palate shows a balance mix of stone fruits, savoury oak (with a little tannic grip as well), light citrus and supporting acid. A slightly creamy texture, and considerable length. Completely in balance and my wine of the night.

Cullen ‘Kevin John’ Chardonnay 2023 (Margaret River, W.A.): Lemon yellow colour. A little struck match initially, with a variety of stone and citrus fruits, matched by vanillan oak. There’s ripe peach, pears, and tropical fruits on the palate, with oak moving slightly into the background, and acid in support without being tart or sharp. Considerable length.

Singlefile ‘The Vivienne’ Chardonnay 2020 (Great Southern, W.A.): Yellow colour and (not surprisingly) the darkest wine of the tasting. A mix of stone fruits, polished oak, lemon pith and herbs on the nose. The stone fruits are starting to show a little development on the palate, with supporting oak providing a little grip and savoury notes. Gentle acid and a long finish. Very well balanced, and I rated this highly.

Now for the group votes. I believe the online scoring system included the votes from an Eastern States Chardonnay Challenge, so the results are not only from this (presumably W.A. centric) audience. Brenden, when announcing the rankings, emphasised the small number of points overall separating first from twelfth. So, in reverse order, the rankings are:

12. Pierro Chardonnay 2024 (Margaret River, W.A.)
11. Shaw and Smith Lenswood Chardonnay 2024 (Adelaide Hills, S.A.)
10. Domaine Granjoux Chardonnay 2023 (Beechworth, Victoria)
9. Giant Steps ‘Applejack Vineyard’ Chardonnay 2024 (Yarra Valley, Victoria)
8. Cherubino Black Label Pemberton Chardonnay 2024 (Pemberton, W.A.)
7. Flametree SRS Chardonnay 2024 (Margaret River, W.A.)
6. Elanto Chardonnay 2024 (Mornington Peninsula, Victori
5. Singlefile ‘The Vivienne’ Chardonnay 2020 (Great Southern, W.A.)
4. Giaconda Chardonnay 2023 (Beechworth, Victoria)
3. Vasse Felix ‘Heytesbury’ Chardonnay 2023 (Margaret River, W.A.)
2. Leeuwin Estate ‘Art Series’ Chardonnay 2023 (Margaret River W.A.)
1. Cullen ‘Kevin John’ Chardonnay 2023 (Margaret River, W.A.)

This was my first Chardonnay Challenge (I believe this is the third year it's been hosted). The event was extremely well organised, entertainingly hosted, and a lot of fun. It included a raffle for a magnum of Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay 2011, and an auction for a full set of the wines tasted tonight. My compliments to Brenden and Leigh for their commitment to chardonnay, and my thanks to the Lamonts team for their service and their ongoing support of the Chardonnay Challenge.

Cheers
Allan

[felixp21]

many thanks Allan, awesome write-up.
I'm hanging out for the Leeuwin release, April 1st over here....

[Waiters Friend]

Hi Felix

Sunday 29th March here for LEAS release. Another Lamonts event, so you may see a write up of that one next week.

Cheers
Allan

[VinoEd]

The Melbourne event has been postponed and a new sate not advised yet, but I have a ticket for me and my brother in law. Looking forward to it!

Cheers Ed

[Sean]

Really appreciate these reports Allan.

Brenno has posted a video talking with Erin Larkin about the new release of LEAS Chardonnay.

Just go to YouTube and enter into Search - The Wine Animal + Leeuwin Estate

[felixp21]

so I got a case of the uber-hyped 23 LEAS Chardonnay, and yes, it lives up to the hype. Of course, can only really get a feel for how it might end up in 10-15 years when it enters its window, it is unbelievably tight and textural at the moment, but I feel it is every bit as good as the 2018, and may one day surpass it. Can't wait to try these side-by-side in 2035, should be fabulous.

I know its cool and groovy and William Kelley-like to rave about how great Giaconda is, but for me, LEAS is well and truly a level above, and vintage by vintage, it is honestly moving towards Burgundy Grand Cru territory. So, again for me, the $150 asking price for the current vintage is, on a World-wide scale, ridiculous value. Forgetting white Burgundy for a second, California chardonnay is rapidly approaching Burgundy price levels, but the wines themselves are woefully short on quality. I've had same-vintage comparisons of LEAS and Marcassin a number of times, and honestly, the LEAS thumps it every time. So we should be grateful we can buy wines of this quality for $150, and don't have to fork out the $600-800 the Yanks do for an inferior bottle.

The other couple of MR chardonnays that I simply am amazed by are the Moss Wood (always very backward on release, and IMO suffers in terms of "score" as a result of this) and the Pierro VR, which is produced only in exceptional vintages. (again, needs at least 6-8 years to integrate.)

Whilst the Chardonnay challenge is a great idea, would love to see it done both as a recent release and a 15 year retrospective. That is when the upper echelon of wines really move into gear.

[JamieAdelaide]

Great event! One of the organisers was going to swap some GC Burgundy for Giacomda with me. Didn’t realise they in the industry. Cheeky bugger said they keen to swap a giaconda for a “couple of bottles” - so 3-4K of Burg’ for a Gia’. Came to my senses.

I had another 2005 Leeuwin Estate Art Chardonnay ( stelvin ) a few days ago. Agree with Felix, it would be fantastic to see a Chardonnay challenge with aged Chardonnay. It’s a wonderful wine and I backfill Leeuwin from auctions as I deplete my white Burgundy supplies.

Stelvin drinks the same for a decade. If I’m going to drink Chardonnay young I’d definitely prefer high quality cork. Some Tasmanian producers going this way. Their high acidity Chardonnays stationary for a decade. Cork provides development and more complex tannin.

I slept through the Giaconda debacle! I’d be 75 before they ready for my palate ( as long as that gun-flint not too overt ). But maybe my last experience was an overtly flinty vintage. Your note on the Gia Allan, reads confidently of less distracting reduction?

[Waiters Friend]

I slept through the Giaconda debacle! I’d be 75 before they ready for my palate ( as long as that gun-flint not too overt ). But maybe my last experience was an overtly flinty vintage. Your note on the Gia Allan, reads confidently of less distracting reduction?

Not necessarily, Jamie. My opening comment was "This opened with a good whiff of sulphides on the nose, which blew off ... ". I didn't rate the LEAS as highly on the night (although have tried it again and acquired some) as the Giaconda, and partly that is because a) the LEAS is too tight at the moment and b) I like the reductive style if balanced by the riper fruit.

I'm really interested in the comments regarding "a Chardonnay challenge with aged Chardonnay". Given that this is an event based on Australian Chardonnay, maybe15 years might be a step too far for some of the wines featured, but I recall on the night some comments from idustry people suggesting 5 years would be a good starting point. Over to Brenno and Leigh - what do you reckon and can it be done?

Cheers
Allan

[VinoEd]

I also grabbed some of the latest LEAS however with my wife away for work and being a solo parental duties with a busy work schedule completely missed Giaconda (have managed to get a few bottles 3 of the last 4 years and I’m ok with that).

I’m looking forward to the Melbourne Chardonnay Challenge. I’m about 7 or so years into my more serious wine journey and enjoy trying to predict how things will evolve and which I’ll add to the cellar. A good chance to do that.

Cheers Ed

[felixp21]

I watched the you-tube clip, thanks for the tip.
I'm a WA subscriber, find my palate and Erin Larkin's do not really align, but certainly they do in this case. Her comments on the 23 LEAS where very much my own experience.
not sure this bloke "the wine animal" knows a lot, but that's ok. My experience with youtube is that very few posters know much about what they are posting lols.
She's very polite, is Erin, and just decided to nod when the guy pushed the point about "some vintages of LEAS in the early 2000's underwent malo (they didn't, and she knew it). Also pretty weird that the bloke basically purports to be some sort of wine tragic, but doesn't like cabernet (???) I mean, maybe a lesser and slightly more polarising grape like gruner, but cabernet?? seriously? That's like some expert loves AFL, but doesn't like the Bont.
Like parfait, ain't nobody don't like the Bont.

[JamieAdelaide]

Geez who doesn’t luv the Bont?

My mistake Allan, thought it blew off. I don’t consider myself one of those technocrat, Aussie wine Nazis, elevating issues. But stelvin and reductive notes are a starting concern for someone who cellars wine for development. I’m not trying to be a contrarian and denying that Giaconda is a brilliant wine and something we all should be proud of as Aussies. I’m just at the stage of my drinking career, having cellared wine to maturity for many years, I can shrug off a bit of FOMO.

I’m no expert on our Chardonnays. I’ve found exciting development and freshness in most At 10-15. Your tasting list should do it in a canter! Thats said, I have had a smaller number of more tired expressions. They just did not have the zing stelvin usually delivers.

[Jimmya]

I watched the you-tube clip, thanks for the tip.
I'm a WA subscriber, find my palate and Erin Larkin's do not really align, but certainly they do in this case. Her comments on the 23 LEAS where very much my own experience.
not sure this bloke "the wine animal" knows a lot, but that's ok. My experience with youtube is that very few posters know much about what they are posting lols.
She's very polite, is Erin, and just decided to nod when the guy pushed the point about "some vintages of LEAS in the early 2000's underwent malo (they didn't, and she knew it). Also pretty weird that the bloke basically purports to be some sort of wine tragic, but doesn't like cabernet (???) I mean, maybe a lesser and slightly more polarising grape like gruner, but cabernet?? seriously? That's like some expert loves AFL, but doesn't like the Bont.
Like parfait, ain't nobody don't like the Bont.

Actually he is correct, the 2006 underwent malo (as stated by the Horgans at a tasting I was at, plus i have the tech sheet at home somewhere) it was the last, wether every vintage before that underwent malo I'm not sure...