2025 J&S Fielke Piccadilly Chardonnay | Adelaide Hills, SA | 95 Points

🏆 Double 95 Points | One of the Adelaide Hills' Most Exciting New Chardonnays

95 Points – Halliday Wine Companion | 95 Points – The Wine Front

From Jemma & Steve Fielke | The Remarkable Swaby Vineyard in Piccadilly Valley

2025 J&S Fielke Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay

Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills, South Australia

95 Points – Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion

95 Points – Kasia Sobiesiak, The Wine Front

RRP $45

There are certain young Australian winemakers you need to keep an eye on.

And Jemma and Steve Fielke are absolutely two of them.

Their Lenswood Chardonnay has already developed a remarkable reputation among serious Chardonnay drinkers.

But now they've introduced something equally exciting.

2025 J&S FIELKE PICCADILLY VALLEY CHARDONNAY

And what a debut.

95 POINTS – HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION

95 POINTS – THE WINE FRONT

From one of the most celebrated Chardonnay districts in Australia, this is a wine of extraordinary purity, precision and mineral intensity.

And the best part?

RRP $45.

That's exceptional value for Chardonnay of this quality.

Tasting Notes – Pure, Mineral and Beautifully Precise

This is a very different expression of Chardonnay from the richer, more generous Lenswood release.

The Piccadilly is all about finesse.

Precision.

Minerality.

And that wonderful sense of tension you find in great cool-climate Chardonnay.

Expect:

• Crisp red apple

• White nectarine

• Fresh lemon and grapefruit

• Bitter citrus peel

• Roasted almond

• Oat biscuit and shortbread

• Subtle white chocolate

• Flint and crushed stone

• Chalky minerality

• Delicate ginger spice

• Fine French oak

The nose is beautifully expressive without being excessive.

Fresh apple and nectarine lead into almond, citrus, flint and subtle savoury complexity.

Then comes the palate.

Tight. Focused. Pure. Mineral.

There's impressive fruit concentration, but everything is held together by a fine line of refreshing acidity.

The texture is silky and gently creamy, while the mineral character gives the wine extraordinary definition.

A touch of ginger spice and citrus bitterness carries through the long, elegant finish.

This is Chardonnay with serious class.

The Swaby Vineyard – A Fascinating Chardonnay Site

Here's something that makes this wine particularly interesting.

The 2025 Piccadilly Chardonnay comes from the Swaby Vineyard, in the township of Piccadilly.

Serious Adelaide Hills wine enthusiasts may recognise the vineyard through its association with BK Wines.

It's a fascinating site in one of the coolest and most highly regarded parts of the Adelaide Hills.

Piccadilly Valley has developed a reputation for Chardonnay with exceptional natural acidity, aromatic purity and fine mineral structure.

And the Swaby Vineyard demonstrates exactly why.

The fruit has intensity.

But also remarkable precision.

And the resulting wine has that beautiful combination of concentration and restraint that makes great Chardonnay so compelling.

Piccadilly Valley – One of Australia's Great Chardonnay Districts

If you love Chardonnay, you need to know Piccadilly Valley.

Located in the Adelaide Hills, this beautiful district has become synonymous with some of Australia's finest cool-climate white wines.

Its relatively cool conditions and long growing season allow Chardonnay to develop complex flavours while retaining excellent acidity.

The finest wines combine:

Citrus.

Stone fruit.

Floral perfume.

Mineral structure.

Fine texture.

Extraordinary length.

And the 2025 J&S Fielke Piccadilly Chardonnay captures those qualities beautifully.

Jemma & Steve Fielke – A New Generation of Adelaide Hills Talent

Jemma and Steve Fielke are two of the most exciting names emerging from the Adelaide Hills.

Both grew up in the region.

They met while studying viticulture and oenology at the University of Adelaide.

And both have developed their careers around the vineyards and wineries of South Australia.

Jemma's focus is viticulture.

Steve's is winemaking.

Together, they launched J&S Fielke in 2019.

Their philosophy is refreshingly straightforward.

Great wine begins in the vineyard.

Careful farming.

Healthy vines.

Exceptional fruit.

And winemaking that supports rather than overwhelms the character of the site.

What makes their project particularly interesting is their desire to explore the different personalities of the Adelaide Hills.

Not simply to make Chardonnay.

But to demonstrate how different vineyards and districts can produce completely different expressions of the same grape.

And that brings us to something fascinating.

Piccadilly Versus Lenswood – Two Chardonnays, Two Personalities

This is one of the most exciting aspects of the J&S Fielke range.

In 2025, Jemma and Steve produced two outstanding Chardonnays from two of the Adelaide Hills' most celebrated districts.

Both have received extraordinary critical acclaim.

But they are very different wines.

2025 Lenswood Chardonnay

96 Points – Halliday Wine Companion

95 Points – The Wine Front

The richer, more generous expression.

Expect ripe stone fruit, citrus, nougat, roasted nuts and beautiful savoury complexity.

There's tremendous texture and concentration, balanced by refreshing acidity.

2025 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay

95 Points – Halliday Wine Companion

95 Points – The Wine Front

The more tightly structured and mineral-driven wine.

Think crisp apple, nectarine, citrus, flint, almond and beautifully precise acidity.

There's lovely texture, but the overall impression is one of elegance, freshness and definition.

Same winemakers.

Same vintage.

Two different vineyard districts.

And two wonderful examples of how much site matters in great Chardonnay.

Personally, I'd buy both.

Open them side by side.

And discover just how fascinating the Adelaide Hills can be.

The 2025 Vintage

The 2025 growing season in the Adelaide Hills was warm, dry and relatively early.

Those conditions encouraged generous flavour development and aromatic intensity.

But the cooler vineyard sites of Piccadilly Valley helped preserve the natural acidity required for a balanced Chardonnay.

The result is a wine with excellent concentration.

But also remarkable freshness.

Fruit intensity without heaviness.

Texture without excessive oak.

Power without sacrificing precision.

That's exactly what we want.

Winemaking – Wild Fermentation and French Oak

The winemaking is wonderfully considered.

The fruit was whole-bunch pressed, with the juice settled overnight without additions.

It was then transferred into French oak barrels, including approximately:

20% NEW OAK.

Fermentation occurred naturally using indigenous yeasts.

No sulphur was added until the wine had completed natural malolactic fermentation in late spring.

The wine then spent approximately:

NINE MONTHS IN BARREL.

It was bottled without fining or filtration.

The result is a Chardonnay that combines beautiful fruit purity with subtle oak complexity and a wonderfully refined texture.

And that's exactly what makes it so impressive.

A Chardonnay for Lovers of Great White Burgundy

If you love Chardonnay from:

Chablis

Puligny-Montrachet

Saint-Aubin

Meursault

or Australia's finest cool-climate regions, this deserves your attention.

Not because it's trying to imitate Burgundy.

But because it shares many of the qualities that make great white Burgundy so compelling.

Precision.

Minerality.

Fine acidity.

Subtle oak.

Beautiful texture.

And exceptional length.

The 2025 Piccadilly Chardonnay is exactly the sort of wine that serious Chardonnay drinkers will appreciate.

Food Pairings

This is an outstanding food wine.

Its combination of acidity, minerality and fine texture makes it particularly versatile.

Try it with:

• King George whiting

• Fresh scallops

• Grilled prawns

• Roast chicken

• Snapper

• Lobster

• Mushroom risotto

• Roast pork

• Goat's cheese

• Comté

• Gruyère

Personally, I'd love this with beautifully grilled King George whiting, lemon and a little brown butter.

The citrus acidity and mineral precision would make a magnificent combination.

Cellaring Potential

This is already a beautiful Chardonnay.

But there's plenty of potential for further development.

The Wine Front suggests a drinking window of:

2027–2035.

That's an impressive recommendation for a wine at this price.

The tightly structured acidity and concentration should allow the wine to develop additional complexity over time.

Expect the youthful apple, citrus and nectarine characters to evolve towards toasted nuts, honey, biscuit and deeper savoury notes.

I'd happily open a bottle now.

But I'd also be putting some away.

Why We Love It

Because this is exactly what makes Australian Chardonnay so exciting.

Two talented young winemakers.

A celebrated Adelaide Hills vineyard.

Thoughtful viticulture.

Minimal-intervention winemaking.

And extraordinary critical acclaim.

Look at what you're getting:

2025 Vintage

Swaby Vineyard – Piccadilly Valley

Jemma & Steve Fielke

Whole-Bunch Pressed

Wild Fermentation

20% New French Oak

Nine Months Barrel Maturation

Unfined and Unfiltered

95 Points – Halliday Wine Companion

95 Points – The Wine Front

And:

RRP $45

This is seriously impressive Chardonnay.

A wine of remarkable purity, beautiful texture and exceptional mineral definition.

And at $45, the value is extraordinary.

2025 J&S FIELKE PICCADILLY VALLEY CHARDONNAY

Adelaide Hills, South Australia

95 POINTS – HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION

95 POINTS – THE WINE FRONT

RRP $45

Red apple. White nectarine. Citrus. Flint. Roasted almond. Beautiful acidity. Extraordinary length.

ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING NEW CHARDONNAYS COMING OUT OF THE ADELAIDE HILLS.

If you love elegant, mineral-driven Chardonnay with exceptional precision and genuine cellaring potential, don't miss this remarkable debut from Jemma and Steve Fielke.