The Picardy Chardonnay 2025 comes from Pemberton, one of the cooler pockets of Western Australia's Great Southern wine country, and shows the restrained, Old World-leaning style the region has built its reputation on. It is a Chardonnay built on finesse and detail rather than sheer richness.

The nose offers white peach and grapefruit alongside a subtle nutty complexity and a faint struck-match note, while the palate carries that same citrus and stone fruit through to a long, savoury finish. There's nothing broad or blowsy about it — the fruit stays precise rather than opulent, with a fine thread of minerality running underneath.

Fine acidity gives the wine real drive and a chalky, almost flinty texture that keeps each mouthful tight and focused rather than soft or round. The finish is long, clean and savoury, closer to a cool-climate French style than the richer, more generous Chardonnays of warmer Australian regions.

This is a Chardonnay for the table: try it with pan-fried snapper, roast chicken with lemon and thyme, or a simple risotto finished with parmesan and a squeeze of lemon.

It is drinking beautifully now and has the acid structure to reward another two to three years in the cellar.