2025 Battles Estate Chardonnay | 96 Points | Margaret River

🔥 96-POINT MARGARET RIVER CHARDONNAY FOR $55. THAT IS SERIOUS VALUE.

One of Margaret River's Most Exciting New Chardonnay Producers 

Battles might just be one of the next ones.

96 Points – Halliday Wine Companion

 

Margaret River, WA

RRP $55

There are plenty of famous Chardonnay names in Margaret River.

The 2025 Battles Estate Chardonnay is a seriously impressive modern expression of Margaret River Chardonnay — combining citrus and white stone fruit, flint, saline minerality and beautifully judged French oak with the concentration and texture that makes this region so brilliant for the variety.

And the critics are taking notice.

96 POINTS – HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION

At an RRP of just:

$55

this is exactly the sort of Chardonnay we love finding.

Battles – A Producer on the Rise

Battles is the project of Lance Parkin, Kris Ambrozkiewicz and Richard Healy, and the wines have quickly developed a serious reputation.

Wine Advocate critic Erin Larkin has described Battles as producing some of the most exciting wines emerging from Western Australia — and indeed Australia — praising their combination of regional authenticity, sophistication and seamless structure.

That's a hell of an endorsement for such a young producer.

And Chardonnay is becoming a particularly important part of the Battles story.

Single-Vineyard Margaret River Chardonnay

The 2025 Estate Chardonnay comes from one vineyard:

Ellens Ridge Vineyard – Burnside, Margaret River

This is an important distinction.

We're not talking about a broad regional blend assembled from numerous vineyards.

The 2025 is described by Battles as coming from a “single voice” — the Ellens Ridge vineyard.

The fruit was:

Hand picked

Wild fermented

Fermented on full solids

Matured with 40% new oak

Partial malolactic fermentation

with rigorous barrel selection before the final wine was assembled.

Serious fruit. Serious winemaking.

Tasting Notes

Expect a classic modern Margaret River combination of:

Preserved lemon & citrus

White peach & nectarine

Flint & mineral characters

Cashew & subtle nuttiness

Fine French oak

Saline freshness

The palate has excellent concentration and texture, but the key is the acidity running underneath.

There's richness without heaviness.

Oak without excess.

Fruit concentration without sacrificing precision.

And that lovely salty Margaret River finish keeps you coming back for another glass.

The Margaret River Chardonnay Sweet Spot

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

At the top end, the wines can now easily command $100, $150 and considerably more.

That's what makes wines like this particularly exciting.

You don't need to spend that here.

Battles is applying serious winemaking to high-quality Margaret River fruit and producing Chardonnay with genuine regional identity for an RRP of:

$55.

And when Halliday is giving the wine:

96 POINTS

the value becomes pretty difficult to ignore.

Why We Love It

This is exactly the sort of producer we want to get behind.

Relatively new.

Small production.

Excellent vineyard sourcing.

Minimal-intervention winemaking.

And wines that are already getting serious critical attention.

The 2025 gives you:

Margaret River

Single-vineyard Ellens Ridge fruit

Hand-picked Chardonnay

Wild fermentation

Full-solids fermentation

40% new oak

Partial malolactic fermentation

96 Points – Halliday Wine Companion

And the RRP?

$55.

That's the killer.

There's enough fruit and texture here for people who love classic Margaret River Chardonnay, but also the flint, saline minerality, tension and precision that define the best modern examples.

96 Halliday. Single Vineyard. Wild Fermented. Margaret River. $55.

Battles is a name worth remembering.

👉 If you love Margaret River Chardonnay, get onto this producer now. At $55, the 2025 Battles Estate Chardonnay delivers a hell of a lot of wine for the money.