2025 By Farr Irrewarra Chardonnay | Premium Western District Chardonnay

🍷 BY FARR | IRREWARRA | A COOLER, TIGHTER, MINERAL-DRIVEN EXPRESSION OF CHARDONNAY

One of the Hidden Gems of the Farr Chardonnay Range

The Chardonnay coming from this tiny site is seriously impressive.

Western District, Victoria

RRP $77 a bottle

If you love By Farr Chardonnay, don't make the mistake of overlooking Irrewarra.

The 2025 Irrewarra Chardonnay is made by the Farr family, but the fruit comes from a dramatically different site to the family's famous Geelong vineyards—a remote, cool-climate vineyard in Victoria's Western District, approximately 150km southwest of Melbourne.

Planted by the Calvert family in 2001, Irrewarra comprises approximately six acres of Pinot Noir and just two acres of Chardonnay, planted on their own roots. The vineyard sits high on a slope overlooking Salt Lake and Calvert Lough, with a long growing season that typically pushes harvest into April.

And the Chardonnay coming from this tiny site is seriously impressive.

At RRP $77, this is one of the smartest ways into the Farr family's world of premium Chardonnay.

Tasting Notes

The 2025 Irrewarra Chardonnay is all about precision, purity and tension.

Expect layers of:

• Ripe lemon and citrus
• Grapefruit
• White peach
• Green apple
• Delicate honey
• Barley sugar
• Beeswax
• Gardenia and subtle florals
• Creamy lees notes
• Nougat
• Fine oak
• Mineral and saline complexity

What makes this wine so compelling is the contrast.

There's generosity and creaminess through the middle of the palate, but the wine is framed by fine, driving acidity. Citrus and mineral characters provide tension while honey, cream and subtle barrel notes add texture.

One current assessment describes it as the most linear, precise and acid-driven Chardonnay in the Farr range, praising its purity, poise and balance.

That's exactly what makes Irrewarra so fascinating.

A Tiny, Remote Vineyard

The vineyard is a huge part of the story.

Irrewarra was planted in 2001 by the Calvert family to a mixture of clones on their own roots.

There are only:

6 acres of Pinot Noir
2 acres of Chardonnay

The site sits at the top of a slope facing two large bodies of water—Salt Lake and Calvert Lough—to the north.

It's exposed, cool and has a particularly long growing season.

Harvest often doesn't take place until April, allowing flavour to build slowly while preserving acidity.

The vineyard itself describes the site as producing wines with excellent fruit expression and a deceptively long, mineral palate.

That description could have been written specifically for this Chardonnay.

Generosity Meets Precision

Some Chardonnays impress through richness.

Others impress through acidity and minerality.

Irrewarra somehow manages to deliver both.

The 2024 has enough fruit and creamy texture to make it immediately appealing, but underneath there's a beautiful line of acidity keeping everything tight and focused.

Wine writer Ben Knight praised precisely this contradiction in the wine—the way generosity, finesse, flavour and restraint coexist—and called the 2024 Irrewarra Chardonnay brilliant.

That's what great Chardonnay does.

It doesn't force you to choose between richness and elegance.

You get both.

Made by the Farr Family

The Irrewarra wines are closely connected to the Farr family, with Nick Farr managing the vineyard with the same attention given to the family's Geelong estate.

That makes Irrewarra fascinating when tasted alongside the other Farr Chardonnays.

You're seeing the same winemaking philosophy applied to a completely different vineyard.

And the result isn't simply a cheaper version of Chardonnay By Farr.

It has its own personality.

Where Does Irrewarra Sit in the Farr Chardonnay Range?

This is worth understanding because the Farr Chardonnays are increasingly about individual vineyard expression.

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

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

GC Chardonnay
Intense • Concentrated • Layered • Powerful • Cellar-worthy

Irrewarra is arguably the most precise and mineral expression of the group.

And at $77, compared with significantly higher prices for Chardonnay By Farr and GC, the value is extremely compelling.

The Mineral Side of Chardonnay

One of the defining characteristics of Irrewarra is its length.

The vineyard's long growing season allows Chardonnay to develop flavour slowly while retaining the acidity that gives the wine its shape.

That's why the 2024 can show citrus, honey, cream and beeswax while remaining so focused and energetic.

There's richness—but there's always acidity underneath it.

There's oak—but it doesn't dominate.

There's fruit—but the wine's real personality comes from texture, minerality and length.

This is sophisticated Chardonnay.

Food Pairings

Perfect with:

• Fresh oysters
• Seared scallops
• Kingfish
• Grilled snapper
• Lobster
• Crab linguine
• Roast chicken
• Mushroom risotto
• Pork belly
• Comté or Gruyère

I'd particularly love this with scallops, lobster or simply grilled fish.

Serve around 10–12°C, rather than refrigerator-cold, and use a proper Chardonnay or Burgundy glass.

Cellaring

The 2025 is already incredibly attractive.

There's enough fruit generosity and creamy texture to make it delicious now, but that line of acidity and mineral structure suggests excellent development ahead.

Drink now–2035+.

I'd buy enough to do both.

Drink some now for the vibrant citrus, creaminess and energy, and cellar several bottles to see the honeyed, nutty and savoury complexity develop.

Why We Love It

This might be one of the best-value wines in the entire Farr portfolio.

Think about what you're getting.

A tiny two-acre Chardonnay vineyard, planted in 2001, on its own roots, in a remote Western District location with a long, cool growing season.

Then put that fruit into the hands of the Farr family.

The result is a Chardonnay that's completely different from the richer and more powerful expressions in the main By Farr range.

It's citrusy, mineral, creamy, saline, precise and beautifully acid-driven.

And at RRP $77, it gives you access to Farr-level Chardonnay without moving into the $100–$170+ territory of the family's top wines.

If you're a serious Chardonnay drinker, don't think of Irrewarra as the entry-level By Farr Chardonnay. Think of it as a completely different vineyard expression—and one of the hidden gems of the range.

For lovers of Chablis, white Burgundy and Australia's finest cool-climate Chardonnay, the 2025 Irrewarra Chardonnay is a must-buy.

👉 Cool, mineral and beautifully precise. If you love Chardonnay with citrus, tension and serious acidity rather than excessive richness, the 2025 By Farr Irrewarra Chardonnay is a must-try.