Top Rated: Chardonnay

Chardonnay tussles with shiraz for the strongest category in Australian wine today. Western Australia does the heavy lifting, putting forth half of our highlights, the vast majority, of course, from Margaret River. The Yarra Valley, Adelaide Hills and Tasmania are next in line, though a long way behind the dominance of the west in sheer numbers.

Reflecting the strength and diversity of the category, three winners emerged from the 11 nominations in our Awards judging, each receiving first-place votes and total scores too close to separate. Put to a second vote, the scores were again too close to single out a winner, so we have done the unprecedented and put forward three very different wines from three of the top producers in three very distinct regions. Seek them out. We love them all.