2025 By Farr Chardonnay | Iconic Geelong Chardonnay

🍷 BY FARR | ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S BENCHMARK COOL-CLIMATE CHARDONNAYS

One of Australia's Benchmark Chardonnays

Powerful and concentrated, yet streamlined, mineral and incredibly precise.

Geelong, Victoria

RRP $117 a bottle

There are certain Australian Chardonnays that have moved beyond simply being great regional wines and become benchmarks for Australian Chardonnay.

By Farr Chardonnay is one of them.

The newly released 2025 By Farr Chardonnay is another superb expression of the Farr family's remarkable Geelong vineyard: powerful and concentrated, yet streamlined, mineral and incredibly precise.

This isn't a big, buttery Chardonnay.

It's a wine built around intensity, texture, tension and length.

The 2025 comes from the same vineyard as the legendary Sangreal Pinot Noir, planted in 1994 on an exposed north-facing slope of red soil over limestone.

At RRP $117, this is serious Australian Chardonnay.

Tasting Notes

The 2025 is already showing an extraordinary combination of power and refinement.

Expect layers of:

• Ripe lemon and grapefruit
• White peach and nectarine
• Citrus blossom
• Almond meal
• Flint and struck stone
• River pebble minerality
• Subtle smoke
• Fine French oak
• Saline complexity
• Long, driving acidity

The fruit has real intensity, but it's the mineral and saline character that takes the wine to another level.

There's power without heaviness, richness without excess and acidity that gives the wine tremendous energy.

Current release notes describe the 2025 as full-bodied, layered, focused and beautifully poised, with ripe citrus, white stone fruit and almond meal wrapped around fine saline acidity.

This is Chardonnay that demands your attention.

The Sangreal Vineyard – Planted in 1994

The vineyard is fundamental to understanding this wine.

By Farr Chardonnay comes from the same site as Sangreal Pinot Noir, planted in 1994.

It's an exposed north-facing slope, with red soil sitting over limestone. Importantly, the limestone runs down through the root zone, helping create the combination of concentration and mineral drive that has become such a recognisable part of the wine.

These are now mature, low-yielding Chardonnay vines.

And after more than three decades, the vineyard has developed a very clear identity.

Power. Minerality. Salinity. Length.

That's By Farr Chardonnay.

Serious Chardonnay Winemaking

The winemaking is every bit as considered as the vineyard.

The fruit is:

Hand-picked
Whole-bunch pressed
Transferred to barrel with solids
Naturally fermented
Matured in French oak – approximately 30% new
Kept in barrel for around 11 months

The aim isn't to create an overtly oaky Chardonnay.

It's about building texture, complexity and structure while allowing the vineyard to remain at the centre of the wine.

That's why the finished wine can be powerful yet still feel chiselled and controlled.

Powerful – But Never Heavy

This is one of the things By Farr does exceptionally well.

There's genuine concentration in the 2025.

But the wine never feels cumbersome.

One current assessment describes the palate as sleek but generous—smooth, chiselled and beautifully proportioned, with intensity rather than sheer weight providing the generosity.

That's an excellent description of the By Farr style.

There's plenty of fruit, but the wine isn't simply about fruit.

You find flint, stone, smoke, saline notes and earth-derived complexity.

It's the difference between Chardonnay that's merely delicious and Chardonnay that makes you keep returning to the glass.

The Farr Family

By Farr has become one of the defining estates of modern Australian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The winery was established by Gary and Robyn Farr in 1994 in the Moorabool Valley near Geelong. Gary brought extensive experience from neighbouring Bannockburn Vineyards as well as formative vintages working at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy. Today the estate is carried forward by the Farr family, including Nick Farr.

But what's important is that these wines don't taste like attempts to copy Burgundy.

The Burgundian influence is in the philosophy:

Individual vineyards.
Site expression.
Texture.
Restraint.
Minimal interference.

The resulting wine tastes unmistakably like By Farr.

A Modern Australian Chardonnay Classic

The reputation of By Farr Chardonnay has been built over decades rather than around one high-scoring vintage.

It's now regularly spoken about among Australia's elite Chardonnays.

The 2024 vintage received 95 points from Campbell Mattinson at The Wine Front, who praised its intensity, texture, complexity, length and, importantly, its distinctiveness.

The 2025 continues that story.

Early release commentary describes it as a masterclass in precision and power, with the vineyard's characteristic mineral thread running through the wine.

Where Does It Sit in the Farr Chardonnay Range?

The Farr family produces several fascinating expressions of Chardonnay, but they're not simply quality steps on a ladder.

They express different vineyards.

Irrewarra Chardonnay
Linear • Citrus-driven • Mineral • Fine • Precise

By Farr Chardonnay
Powerful • Flinty • Saline • Textural • Complex

GC Chardonnay
Concentrated • Profound • Layered • Structured • Cellar-worthy

For many Chardonnay drinkers, By Farr Chardonnay hits the sweet spot.

There's serious concentration and complexity, but also enough energy and immediacy to make it incredibly enjoyable young.

Food Pairings

Give this something worthy of it:

• Fresh oysters
• Lobster
• Seared scallops
• Kingfish
• Grilled snapper
• Roast chicken
• Crab linguine
• Butter-poached marron
• Mushroom and truffle risotto
• Comté or Gruyère

Oysters and By Farr Chardonnay would be difficult to beat—the saline, mineral character of the wine makes the combination particularly compelling.

Serve around 10–12°C in a large Chardonnay or Burgundy glass.

Cellaring

This is absolutely worth putting in the cellar.

The 2025 has the concentration, acidity, mineral structure and oak integration to develop beautifully.

Current assessments suggest a drinking horizon through approximately 2032+, though well-cellared bottles should comfortably evolve beyond that.

Drink now–2035+.

If opening one young, give it plenty of air and don't serve it too cold.

Why We Love It

This is exactly why By Farr Chardonnay has become an Australian benchmark.

You have mature Chardonnay vines planted in 1994, growing on a north-facing slope where red soils sit over limestone. The fruit is hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, naturally fermented and matured in French oak.

But technical details only tell part of the story.

The magic is in the glass.

Ripe citrus. White stone fruit. Flint. Smoke. Almond. Stone. Salinity. Fine oak. Driving acidity.

It's powerful, but not heavy.

Rich, but not broad.

Complex, but not overworked.

At RRP $117, the 2025 By Farr Chardonnay belongs firmly in the conversation alongside Australia's greatest Chardonnays.

If you drink Giaconda, Leeuwin Estate Art Series, Yarra Yering, Bindi, Tolpuddle or Australia's other great Chardonnays, By Farr should absolutely be in your cellar.

The 2025 By Farr Chardonnay is not simply one of Geelong's great white wines. It's one of the benchmark Chardonnays of Australia.

👉 If you love serious white Burgundy or Australia's greatest cool-climate Chardonnays, the 2025 By Farr Chardonnay deserves a place in your cellar.