London Wine Fair’s ‘celebration of Chardonnay’

Australian wines took the top two places, from 27 global examples of premium Chardonnay judged blind, at the London Wine Fair’s third annual Icon Tasting.

Billed as a benchmark tasting to assess the finest Chardonnay from classic and emerging regions, Tolpuddle Vineyard’s 2023 Chardonnay from Tasmania’s Coal River Valley claimed victory over Vasse Felix’s 2020 Heytesbury Chardonnay from Margaret River in Western Australia.

A third Australian, Shaw & Smith’s 2021 M3 Chardonnay from Adelaide Hills in South Australia, claimed seventh spot as well as third place in the Best Value ranking.

This year’s LWF Icon Tasting follows 2025’s Battle of the Bubbles and the Judgement of London in 2024, which paid homage to Steven Spurrier’s landmark 1976 Judgement of Paris event.

With the theme changing each year, the aim of the tastings are to identify whether there is a level platform across the world’s best wine regions.

Chardonnay: 'a global language for the best of wine'

Conceived by Hannah Tovey, head of the LWF, the Icon Tasting wines are selected by Ronan Sayburn MS, Decanter World Wine Awards co-Chair and CEO of the Court of Master Sommeliers, and Sarah Abbott MW, wine marketing consultant and co-founder of The Old Vine Conference.

This year, two sparkling and 25 still wines – chosen as benchmark premium examples from key Chardonnay-producing regions around the world – were flighted according to style, terroir, winemaking technique, oak ageing and cultural lens or heritage.

Tasting the wine in two flights over two hours, the 18-strong judging panel represented all aspects of the wine trade, including one Master Sommelier and 11 Masters of Wine.

In announcing the results at LWF the day before World Chardonnay Day on 21 May, Sayburn said they offered ‘an interesting snapshot of contemporary Chardonnay preferences rather than a definitive ranking of the world’s greatest wines’.

Abbott said the tasting showed ‘that fine Chardonnay is a global language for the best of wine’, reflecting ‘the staggering adaptability of this iconic grape variety’.

Looking at the top 10 wines, results were evenly split between Europe and non-European regions.

Chardonnay Showdown: The top 10

1. Tolpuddle Vineyard, Chardonnay, Coal River Valley, Tasmania, Australia 2023
2. Vasse Felix, Heytesbury Chardonnay, Margaret River, Western Australia 2020
3. Danbury Ridge, Octagon Block Chardonnay, Crouch Valley, Essex, England 2023
4. Dom Ruinart, Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, France 2013
5. Domaine Henri Boillot, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Burgundy, France 2022
6. Bell Hill, Limeworks, North Canterbury, New Zealand 2020
7. Shaw & Smith, M3, Adelaide Hills, South Australia 2021
8. Felton Road, Chardonnay, Bannockburn, Central Otago, New Zealand 2021
9. Antinori, Cervaro, Castello della Sala, Umbria, Italy 2023
10. Domaine Donatsch, Unique Chardonnay, Malans, Graubünden, Switzerland 2024

My equal highest scores went to the same top two wines as well as the Shaw & Smith M3 (you can take the Australian out of Australia…), alongside Bell Hill’s Limeworks and a real discovery – for me – in Domaine Katsaros’ 2020 Stella Chardonnay from Krania in Thessaly, Greece.

In terms of the wines Sayburn and Abbott deemed best value (based on the highest points per retail price), after the Shaw & Smith, my highest scorers (in descending order) were Storm’s Ridge Chardonnay, Ataraxia, Viña Aquitania and Familia Deicas.

The best value

1. Familia Deicas, Preludio Barrel Select Lote No 29, Juanicó, Canelones, Uruguay 2020 (£24-£30)
2. Ataraxia, Chardonnay, Hemel-en-Aarde, Walker Bay, South Africa 2024 (£28-£25)
3. Shaw & Smith, M3, Adelaide Hills, South Australia 2021 (£35-£40)
4. Storm, Ridge Chardonnay, Hemel-en-Aarde, Walker Bay, South Africa 2024 (£41)
5. Viña Aquitania, Sol de Sol Chardonnay, Traiguén, Valle de Malleco, Chile 2024 (£25.50)

Following last year’s LWF Icon Tasting of Battle of the Bubbles, which featured at least five Blanc de Blancs, I did find it odd to only have two here representing the global breadth of Chardonnay-based sparklings.

Especially at the expense of not being able to include at least one Oregon wine – undoubtedly one of the world’s leading Chardonnay-producing regions? Canada’s Niagara Peninsula, and Argentina too, might also feel like they deserved to be among the contenders.

Nevertheless, the quality of the 27 wines on show in this Chardonnay Challenge was indisputable, with none scoring less than a strong Silver on my tasting sheet.

Chardonnay Showdown: The wines (in tasting/flight order)

1. Dom Ruinart, Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, France 2013
2. Graham Beck, CH14:227 Blanc de Blancs, Robertson, South Africa 2020
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3. Storm, Ridge Chardonnay, Hemel-en-Aarde, Walker Bay, South Africa 2024
4. Sieur d’Arques, Toques et Clocher, Haute Vallée Chardonnay, Limoux, France 2024
5. Ataraxia, Chardonnay, Hemel-en-Aarde, Walker Bay, South Africa 2024
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6. Domaine Donatsch, Unique Chardonnay, Malans, Graubünden, Switzerland 2024
7. Domaine Takahiko Soga, Yoichi-Nobori Chardonnay, Hokkaido, Japan 2024
8. Dr Heger, Ihringer Winklerberg Chardonnay, Baden, Germany 2023
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9. Danbury Ridge, Octagon Block Chardonnay, Crouch Valley, Essex, England 2023
10. Chapel Down, Kit’s Coty Chardonnay, Kent, England 2023
11. Familia Deicas, Preludio Barrel Select Lote No 29, Juanicó, Canelones, Uruguay 2020
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12. Tolpuddle Vineyard, Chardonnay, Coal River Valley, Tasmania, Australia 2023
13. Shaw & Smith, M3, Adelaide Hills, South Australia 2021
14. Vasse Felix, Heytesbury Chardonnay, Margaret River, Western Australia 2020
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15. Kistler, Les Noisetiers, Sonoma Coast, California, USA 2022
16. Peter Michael Winery, Belle Côte Chardonnay, Sonoma County, California USA 2021
17. Penfolds, Yattarna Bin 144 Chardonnay, Australia 2019
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18. Viña Aquitania, Sol de Sol Chardonnay, Traiguén, Valle de Malleco, Chile 2024
19. Bell Hill, Limeworks, North Canterbury, New Zealand 2020
20. Domaine Coche-Dury, Bourgogne Blanc, Burgundy, France 2020
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21. Domaine François Raveneau, Montée de Tonnerre 1er Cru, Chablis, Burgundy, France 2021
22. Alex Moreau, Les Chenevottes 1er Cru, Chassagne-Montrachet, Burgundy, France 2022
23. Domaine Henri Boillot, Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Burgundy, France 2022
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24. Antinori, Cervaro, Castello della Sala, Umbria, Italy 2023
25. Domaine Katsaros, Stella Chardonnay, Krania, Thessaly, Greece 2020
26. Felton Road, Chardonnay, Bannockburn, Central Otago, New Zealand 2021
27. Torres, Milmanda, Conca de Barberà, Spain 2018

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