2025 Battles Estate Burnisde Chardonnay | New Release | Margaret River

🔥 New Release | One of Margaret River's Most Exciting Chardonnays Returns

The Previous Two Vintages Both Scored 97 Points from Halliday Wine Companion

A Tiny-Production Barrel Selection from the Ellens Ridge Vineyard

2022 – 97 Points Halliday | 2023 – 97 Points Halliday & 96 Points The Wine Front

Margaret River, Western Australia

New Release | Flagship Chardonnay | Ellens Ridge Vineyard

RRP $90

This is one of the new-release Australian Chardonnays I've been seriously looking forward to.

2025 BATTLES BURNSIDE CHARDONNAY

If Battles isn't already on your radar, it should be.

Because over the past few vintages, this tiny Western Australian producer has quietly been turning out some extraordinary Chardonnay.

And Burnside sits right at the top of the tree.

Look at the recent track record:

2022 Burnside Chardonnay – 97 Points Halliday Wine Companion

2023 Burnside Chardonnay – 97 Points Halliday Wine Companion

2023 Burnside Chardonnay – 96 Points The Wine Front

2024 Burnside Chardonnay – 97 Points Halliday Wine Companion

The previous two vintages have established Burnside as one of the most exciting Chardonnay labels emerging from Margaret River.

And now comes:

THE 2025 BURNSIDE.

Brand new.

RRP $90.

And based on what has come before it, this is absolutely a wine to watch.

Tasting Notes

The 2025 shows the precision, texture and mineral drive that have become signatures of Burnside Chardonnay.

Expect:

• Grapefruit
• Lemon and citrus zest
• White peach
• Stone fruit
• Cashew paste
• Flint and struck stone
• Toast
• Fennel cream
• Subtle savoury funk
• Saline minerality

There's beautiful intensity here, but it isn't about sheer richness.

The palate is detailed and focused, with citrus and stone fruit running through creamy, nutty and lightly toasted characters.

Then comes the flinty mineral edge.

The oak brings texture and complexity rather than dominating the fruit.

And underneath everything is the line and tension that makes great Margaret River Chardonnay so compelling.

Citrus. Flint. Cashew. Toast. Salinity.

Power with precision.

Texture with tension.

Serious Chardonnay.

The Track Record

This is where Burnside becomes particularly exciting.

The previous releases haven't simply been good.

They've been exceptional.

The 2022 Burnside Chardonnay received:

97 POINTS – HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION

The 2023 Burnside Chardonnay followed with:

97 POINTS – HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION

and:

96 POINTS – THE WINE FRONT

That's not a one-off great vintage.

That's a pattern.

And that's exactly why we're so excited about the newly released 2025.

The Ellens Ridge Vineyard

The fruit comes from the Ellens Ridge Vineyard in Margaret River.

This vineyard is central to the Burnside story.

The Burnside Chardonnay is not simply another wine in the Battles range.

It's a barrel selection.

The best parcels are assessed and the most compelling barrels selected for the flagship Burnside bottling.

The vineyard has historically delivered Chardonnay with a beautiful combination of:

Finesse.

Power.

Natural acidity.

Mineral tension.

Length.

That combination allows Battles to make Chardonnay with plenty of flavour and texture without sacrificing precision.

And that's exactly the balance we're looking for in serious Margaret River Chardonnay.

What Makes Burnside Different?

Battles also produces an excellent Margaret River Chardonnay.

Burnside takes things another step.

Think of it as the:

FLAGSHIP BARREL SELECTION.

Rather than simply making a bigger or oakier Chardonnay, the focus is on selecting the barrels with the greatest complexity and character.

That's important.

Because great Chardonnay isn't necessarily about more.

It's about:

More detail.

More length.

More texture.

More precision.

More complexity.

And that's what Burnside has delivered over successive vintages.

The 2025 Vintage

The 2025 vintage saw Burnside return to a more traditional mid-February harvest after the unusually early and hot 2024 season.

The resulting wine shows classic Chardonnay characters of citrus and stone fruit combined with creamy French-oak complexity.

Battles describes the 2025 as showing vibrant, toasty funk before moving into:

Grapefruit.

Cashew paste.

Flint.

Toast.

Fennel cream.

And importantly, the wine retains the characteristic:

LINE AND MINERAL EDGE

of the Ellens Ridge Vineyard.

That's exactly what we want to hear.

Battles – A Producer to Watch

Battles is the project of winemaker Lance Parkin and sommelier/wine professional Kris Ambrozkiewicz.

It's not a massive operation.

And that's part of the attraction.

The focus is on small-production wines from carefully selected Western Australian vineyards, with vineyard provenance and detail at the centre of what they do.

The wines have quickly attracted serious critical attention.

And Burnside Chardonnay has become one of the clearest demonstrations of what this producer can achieve.

The 2023 was produced from an extraordinarily small barrel selection.

Only three barrels made the cut.

That vintage amounted to only around:

80 DOZEN.

That's tiny.

This isn't mass-produced Chardonnay.

It's a serious barrel-selection wine from a producer whose reputation is growing very quickly.

Margaret River Chardonnay

Margaret River has become one of the world's great Chardonnay regions.

And it's easy to understand why.

The best examples can combine:

Citrus intensity

with:

Stone-fruit richness

then add:

Flint

Cashew

French oak

Saline minerality

while retaining the acidity and tension required to hold everything together.

It's that combination of richness and precision that separates great Margaret River Chardonnay from merely good Chardonnay.

And Burnside sits firmly in that conversation.

Food Pairings

Give this wine the food it deserves.

Perfect with:

• Grilled marron
• Lobster with beurre blanc
• Seared scallops
• Roast chicken
• Grilled snapper
• King George whiting
• Salmon
• Moreton Bay bugs
• Mushroom risotto
• Comté
• Gruyère

But I'd be equally happy with:

A big Burgundy glass and absolutely nothing else.

Let the wine do the talking.

Cellaring

The 2025 is incredibly young.

If you love powerful, youthful Chardonnay with citrus, flint and barrel-derived complexity, give it some air and enjoy it now.

But based on the structure and pedigree of previous Burnside releases, this is also a wine I'd be very comfortable putting away.

Drink now or cellar for 8–12+ years.

With time, expect the citrus and stone fruit to move toward more complex characters of:

Hazelnut

Toast

Cream

Brioche

Honey

Flint

while retaining that essential mineral backbone.

Why We Love It

Because this is exactly the sort of producer we love discovering at Liquid Vibe.

Small.

Exciting.

Not yet known by everyone.

And making wines that are already attracting serious critical attention.

Look at the Burnside track record:

2022 – 97 POINTS HALLIDAY

2023 – 97 POINTS HALLIDAY

2023 – 96 POINTS THE WINE FRONT

And now:

2025 – NEW RELEASE

From the Ellens Ridge Vineyard.

A flagship barrel selection.

Margaret River Chardonnay.

RRP $90

The scores for the 2025 will come later.

But sometimes the most exciting time to buy a wine is before everyone else catches on.

That's what we love doing at Liquid Vibe.

Finding producers and wines before the scores arrive and before everyone starts chasing them.

And given the pedigree of the previous Burnside releases, the 2025 Battles Burnside Chardonnay is absolutely one we're excited about.

2025 BATTLES BURNSIDE CHARDONNAY

Margaret River, Western Australia

New Release

RRP $90

The previous two vintages: 97 Halliday. 97 Halliday.

👉 If you love serious Margaret River Chardonnay, don't wait for the scores. The track record already tells you why Burnside is a wine worth watching.