Affordable Chardonnay Favourites Under $45

Refined Chardonnays don’t have to come with a hefty price tag. This curated collection highlights elegant, well-crafted styles offering purity of fruit, subtle oak, and beautiful balance. Great Chardonnay, great value. Carefully selected for quality and consistency, these bottles offer everything from bright, refreshing styles to richer, more generous expressions — all at wallet-friendly prices. Ideal for everyday drinking or stocking up on trusted favourites.

1 x Ate Chardonnay 2023 - South East Australia, Australia

Winemaker "Made from South Eastern Australia Chardonnay grapes, showcases the winery's commitment to retaining freshness and acidity. Harvested in the cool of the night, this wine offers a base of cool fermentation that results in a beautifully balanced and expressive Chardonnay."

Até Winery produces meticulously crafted wines from some of the premium wine growing areas of Victoria and South Australia. These wines embody the mischievous and playful nature of the Greek goddess Até. With a focus on fruit-forward profiles and generous flavours, each wine displays the hallmarks of its region and is a testament to the artistry and passion of the winemaker.
All these wines exemplify the winery's commitment to quality and flavour.

2 x In Dreams Chardonnay 2021 ~ Yarra Valley, Australia

93/100 Campbell Mattinson 
Bronze - Philip Rich (2020 vintage)
94/100 Jeni Port (2019 vintage)
94/100 The Wine Front (2017 vintage)
91/100 James Halliday (2017 vintage)
91/100 Toni Paterson (2017 vintage)
Bronze - Huon Hooke (2017 vintage)
93/100 Campbell Mattinson (2016 vintage)
91/100 The Wine Front (2016 vintage)

James Halliday Five Star Rating (2016 vintage)
Handcrafted, micro-winery (2016 vintage)

Campbell Mattinson "Yarra Valley Chablis, if you like. Or that kind of style, anyway. Sweet pear, juicy green and red apple, nectarine, an element of honeysuckle and a light clip of cedarwood. Textbook in its loveliness. There’s an aspect of tart acidity here but it works in context and anyways, in time, the wine as a whole will shine all the more ".

Philip Rich "A vibrant green gold. Nectarines and citrus aromas intermingled with some matchstick and almonds. A savoury wine with good freshness and crunch" (2020 vintage)

Jeni Port "Nice emotion. Introduction of dusty oak and lemon sherbet, green apple. On the leaner side of chardonnay with pronounced lemony acidity, taut and taste of cold steel. Concentrated and yet to do a full reveal." (2019 vintage)

James Halliday "A soften than usual framework for '17, white flesh stone fruit and melon combine with subtle oak, the acidity providing a path to follow in dreams." (2017 vintage)

Toni Paterson "A delicious wine with good balance and flavour. It has a core of composed grapefruit and fresh pear, plus refreshing integrated acidity. There is impressive detail in the form of oatmeal and clotted cream. I like the palate softness and overall roundness of the wine. Well-made, well-balanced and satisfying" (2017 vintage)

Huon Hooke "Light, bright yellow hue, with a fresh herb, lemon and citrus aroma, laced with subtle hints of oak, yeast lees and sulfides.The wine is fresh and light, but has good intensity and purity of fruit. Soft, svelte and sleek." (2017 vintage)

Campbell Mattinson "Lots going on and the volume to carry it. Wood smoke, preserved lemons, nougat, and roasted nuts, a gun smoke character too. Pears, tinned. Oatmeal. It's lively, expressive and textural, the finish satisfying. Nothing at all wimpy; it's a mouthful of flavour." (2016 vintage)

1 x Georges Duboeuf Chardonnay Pays D'OC Blanc IGP (Organic) 2021 - Southern France, France

84/100 - Gillian Sciaretta, Wine Spectator (2018 Vintage)
85/100 - Gillian Sciaretta, Wine Spectator (2017 Vintage)
84/100 - Wine Enthusiast (2005 Vintage)
87-88/100 - Robert Parker (2005 Vintage)
84/100 - Wine Enthusiast (2002 Vintage)

Gillian Sciaretta, Wine Spectator "Crisp and fresh notes of apple and peach are lightly spiced and marked by floral accents on the clean finish. Drink now. 5,000 cases made, 500 cases imported. — GS" (2018 Vintage)

Gillian Sciaretta, Wine Spectator "Light- to medium-bodied and lightly spiced, with a plump profile offering apple and lemon notes. Creamy finish. Drink now. 1,500 cases made, 465 cases imported. — GS" (2017 Vintage)

Wine Enthusiast "With its distinctive enameled, flowered bottle, this sets out to be a fun party wine. It succeeds with its fresh, flowery, open fruit, enhanced by vanilla, spice and green apple flavors." (2005 Vintage)

Robert Parker "Displaying toasty, yeasty white peach and peanut aromas, the 2005 Chardonnay Vin de Pays d’Oc is an oily-textured pleasure machine. Thick, spicy, and expressive, it is riddled with apples, pears, and melon balls. It should be drunk over the next 2-3 years." (2005 Vintage)

Wine Enthusiast "Soft, light and fresh, this wine has attractive acidity as well as crisp, green flavors. There's a touch of vanilla which broadens it out. It's a solid, ready-to-drink wine." (2002 Vintage)

Winemaker Notes: A pale, golden straw colour. The nose is powerful and delicate, with intense pear, fig, pineapple and roasted hazelnut aromas and discreet hints of honey. Unctuous and lively on the palate, with hints of fig and vanilla. We recommend to taste this wine at 9-10 °C.

Les Vins Georges Duboeuf is one of the largest wine producers in France founded by the late Georges Duboeuf who was affectionately known as 'le roi du Beaujolais' (the king of Beaujolais) or sometimes pape du Beaujolais (Pope of Beaujolais). Les Vins Georges Duboeuf produces a staggering 3 million cases of wine annually. The company is most well-known for its popularization and production of Beaujolais wines. In 2018 Georges’ passed control of his company to his son Franck Duboeuf, who is considered to be one of the key specialists in Beaujolais, its terroir and its wine, and has shifted production to focus more on Beaujolais Nouveau.

1 x Brown Hill Golden Horseshoe Reserve Chardonnay 2019 ~ Margaret River, Western Australia

95/100 Erin Larkin, Halliday Wine Companion
92/100 Ray Jordan, WA Wine Guide
Bronze - Huon Hooke, The Real Review

94/100 James Halliday Wine Companion (2018 vintage)
93/100 Steven Creber, Halliday Wine Companion (2017 vintage)
90/100 Nick Buttler, The Real Review (2017 vintage)
93/100 Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion (2016 vintage)
92/100 Ray Jordan (2016 vintage)
90/100 The Wine Front (2016 vintage)

Silver - Margaret River Wine Show 2020

‘SMALL PRODUCER OF THE YEAR’ ~ The West Australian Wine Guide 2010
‘SMALL PRODUCER OF THE YEAR’ ~ The West Australian Wine , Guide 2009

Erin Larkin, Halliday Wine Companion "Hand picked, whole-bunch pressed, fermented in a combination of seasoned and new French oak. Toasty, chewy and packed with layers of flavour and texture. The saline acid ties it all to a post, the concentrated fruit forms a deep pool of flavour on the tongue. There's a lot to ponder, a lot to like, and thankfully, a whole bottle to drink. Get to it."

Huon Hooke, The Real Review "Very light-straw colour. The aroma is reserved and a bit shy, with a faint floral overtone, while the palate is light but reasonably intense, straightforward and tickled up with a trace of sweetness. A pleasant wine."

James Halliday Wine Companion "Hand-picked, chilled, whole-bunch pressed, fermented in new and 1yo French barriques. This has good mouthfeel and varietal expression, the oak surprisingly well behaved. It is still youthful, with room to grow and prosper." (2018 vintage)

Steven Creber, Halliday Wine Companion "Opens with plenty of winemaking 'funk' on the bouquet (struck match, cashew, toast), but there's a core of quality grapefruit, melon and peach varietal character as well. Generous in flavour, combining all those elements found in the bouquet, it has an attractive viscosity of mouthfeel with fresh acidity keeping things taut and controlled on the palate. Well made." (2017 vintage)

Nick Buttler, The Real Review "Grapefruits and charry oak - vanilla custard rounds out the bouquet. A lovely, creamy palate - lees work is evident, partial MLF (malolactic fermentation) wouldn't surprise - artifice done well. A generous wine that retains poise, complex enough, the grapefruit acid line leaves a hint of bitterness that demands the next sip." (2017 vintage)

Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion "A wine that glimpses the current zeitgeist of mineral-clad, tauter expressions of chardonnay, while also paying heed to the proclivity of Margaret River for generosity and texture. Honeydew melon and quince leap out of the blocks, while a juicy kernel of cashew, brulee and nougat set the pace for stone fruit notes and a generous lick of medium toasted French oak, toning the palate." (2016 vintage)

The Western Australian Wine Guide 2018 "Brown Hill Estate is small family-run southern Margaret River producer has gone from strength to strength with a range of exceptional quality and value-for-money wines. The vines are all dry grown and on quite harsh gravelly soils, resulting in small yields. All grapes are hand-picked. The reds are put into a high percentage of new American and French oak. Great value and super wines."

1 x Villa Vescovile Chardonnay 2022 - Trentino, Italy

Vino "....intense notes of fresh fruit accompanied by delicate floral hints. In the mouth it proves a fresh, dry wine with a particularly aromatic aftertaste. Perfect for aperitif, appetizers and fish dishes."

Vivino User Review, PT "....melange of lemon peel, lime, green apple, pear, peach and tar on the nose. Fresh and straightforward, with low acidity and melon and pineapple flavors."

Winemaker "..fresh fruit aromas and floral hints. The palate is dry and fresh, pleasantly aromatic."

100% Chardonnay

Villa Vescovile wines are sourced from prestigous vineyards of the Trentino area located just north of Trento. Overseen by the famous winemakers of Rocca delle Macie, Villa Vescovile wines are produced using the acclaimed winemaking traditions of South Tyrol. The grapes are planted on the sloping terrain of the area and are cultivated using the pergola system, on terraced soils. The grapes produce two red wines and four white wines, all of which are worthy examples of character and tipicity. Villa Vescovile wines encompass the important denominations of origin of the region. Known for their balance of fruit, they epitomise what makes North Italian cool climate wines famous.

Villa Vescovile wines are a collaboration with Rocca delle Macìe Winery which was established in 1973, when film producer, Italo Zingarelli – of Ettore Scola’s “We All Loved Each Other So Much” fame, and also of the wildly popular series of films featuring comedy duo Bud Spencer and Terence Hill (including “They Call Me Trinity” and “Trinity Is Still My Name”) – decided to realize his lifelong dream by acquiring the “Le Macìe” estate – extending across 93 hectares (230 acres) in all, of which only two were under vine – in order to create a winery in the heart of the Chianti Classico zone.