2025 Picardy Chardonnay | Pemberton, WA | 96 Points The Wine Front

🏆 96 Points | One of Australia's Great Cool-Climate Chardonnays

From Picardy – The Pannell Family's Extraordinary Pemberton Estate

96 Points – The Wine Front | 95 Points – Ray Jordan | 95 Points – Wine Pilot

Four Dijon Chardonnay Clones | Dry-Grown Single Vineyard | French Oak

2025 Picardy Chardonnay

Pemberton, Western Australia

96 Points – The Wine Front

95 Points – Ray Jordan

95 Points – Shanteh Wale, Wine Pilot

RRP $70

There are certain Australian wineries that deserve far more attention than they receive.

And Picardy is absolutely one of them.

Located in the beautiful, cool-climate region of Pemberton in Western Australia, Picardy has spent decades producing some of Australia's most refined and distinctive Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

And the 2025 Picardy Chardonnay is another outstanding release.

96 POINTS – THE WINE FRONT

This is Chardonnay made with a very clear philosophy.

Forget excessive oak.

Forget enormous buttery richness.

Forget Chardonnay that tastes more like winemaking than grapes.

Instead, think:

White peach. Citrus. Honeysuckle. Flint. Roasted almond. Beautiful acidity. Extraordinary length.

This is Chardonnay inspired by the great white wines of Burgundy.

And it is seriously impressive.

Tasting Notes

The 2025 Picardy Chardonnay is a beautifully refined, complex and mineral expression of Pemberton Chardonnay.

Expect:

• White peach and nectarine

• Lime and lemon zest

• Golden apple

• Japanese melon

• Gardenia and honeysuckle

• Delicate honeyed florals

• Fresh mint

• Green olive

• Roasted almond

• Cashew

• Fine French oak spice

• Flinty minerality

• A subtle saline finish

The aromatics are immediately captivating.

White peach, lime and delicate flowers lead into a beautifully textured palate.

There's lovely concentration, but nothing feels heavy.

A gentle creaminess from French oak and lees maturation provides richness through the middle of the wine.

Then comes the acidity.

Fine. Precise. Beautifully integrated.

A subtle flinty texture adds another dimension, while roasted almond, citrus and saline minerality carry through the long, elegant finish.

Pure. Mineral. Textural. Elegant. Exceptionally long.

This is serious Chardonnay.

Critical Acclaim

96 Points – The Wine Front

Gary Walsh was particularly impressed by the 2025 release.

He highlighted its remarkable combination of delicacy and flavour, with white peach, lime, floral perfume, mint, green olive and beautifully judged spicy oak.

The palate delivers finely etched acidity, subtle flinty texture and exceptional persistence.

His conclusion was wonderfully simple:

“Superb.”

95 Points – Ray Jordan

Ray Jordan praised the wine's seamless integration, subtle creaminess and distinctive linear structure.

He highlighted the savoury aromatics, chalky mineral character and the precision achieved through Picardy's four Dijon Chardonnay clones.

His recommended cellaring period?

Nine years.

95 Points – Shanteh Wale, Wine Pilot

Shanteh Wale was equally enthusiastic.

She found lemon flesh, gardenia, honeysuckle, melon, golden apple and white peach, with creamy oak and roasted almond providing depth.

Her assessment emphasised the wine's elegance, versatility with food and excellent ageing potential.

Three outstanding reviews.

96 | 95 | 95 POINTS

And one exceptional Pemberton Chardonnay.

The Pannell Family – One of Australia's Great Wine Stories

To understand Picardy, you need to understand the Pannell family.

And particularly:

BILL PANNELL.

Bill Pannell is one of the pioneering figures of modern Western Australian wine.

He helped establish Moss Wood in Margaret River in 1969, laying the foundations for what would become one of Australia's most celebrated wineries.

After selling Moss Wood, Bill and his wife Sandra embarked on a new adventure.

They wanted to create something special in the cooler climate of Pemberton.

And they had a very particular vision.

Great Pinot Noir.

Great Chardonnay.

Inspired by Burgundy.

That vision became:

PICARDY.

Today, the estate remains a family operation, with Dan Pannell continuing the family's commitment to precision, vineyard quality and restrained winemaking.

And the Chardonnay is one of the finest expressions of that philosophy.

Pemberton – One of Australia's Great Chardonnay Regions

Pemberton is one of the most exciting regions in Australia for cool-climate Chardonnay.

Located in the far southwest of Western Australia, it benefits from the moderating influence of the Southern Ocean.

Picardy's vineyard sits approximately:

250 metres above sea level

and:

35 kilometres from the Southern Ocean.

The soils are predominantly well-drained loam and gravel.

The vineyard enjoys a long, relatively cool growing season, allowing Chardonnay to develop flavour while retaining excellent natural acidity.

That's important.

Because great Chardonnay requires more than ripe fruit.

It needs:

Acidity.

Structure.

Texture.

Minerality.

Length.

And Pemberton can deliver all five.

Four Dijon Chardonnay Clones

This is one of the most fascinating things about Picardy.

The Chardonnay isn't made from a single clone.

It's produced using equal proportions of four carefully selected Dijon clones:

76 + 95 + 96 + 277

Each contributes something different.

Clone 76 brings white peach, fine tannin and structure.

Clones 95 and 96 contribute citrus fruit and delicate floral characters.

Clone 277 adds spice, tightness and palate definition.

Put them together and you get something far more complex than any one clone could deliver individually.

That's one of the secrets behind Picardy Chardonnay.

It has fruit.

But it also has tremendous detail.

Dry-Grown, Hand-Picked and Low-Yielding

Picardy takes its vineyard work extremely seriously.

The Chardonnay is:

100% estate grown.

Dry grown.

Cane pruned.

Hand picked.

Yields are carefully controlled, with a maximum target of approximately seven tonnes per hectare.

Excess fruit is removed during the growing season to concentrate the remaining crop.

And because the winery sits just 200 metres from the vineyard, the hand-picked grapes travel almost immediately from vine to press.

This is the sort of attention to detail that makes great Chardonnay possible.

Winemaking – Precision Rather Than Power

The winemaking is beautifully considered.

Approximately 40% of the fruit is whole-bunch pressed, with the balance destemmed before pressing.

The juice is settled before fermentation begins.

It then moves into French oak barriques to complete fermentation.

For the 2025 vintage, approximately:

25% NEW FRENCH OAK

was used.

The wine spends around:

10 MONTHS IN BARREL.

During maturation, partial malolactic fermentation and regular lees stirring help build texture and complexity.

But the oak is never intended to dominate.

The aim is to enhance the fruit while preserving the Chardonnay's natural freshness and mineral character.

And that is exactly what the 2025 achieves.

A Chardonnay for Burgundy Lovers

If you love serious white Burgundy, Picardy deserves your attention.

Not because it tastes exactly like Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet or Chassagne-Montrachet.

It doesn't.

But the philosophy is similar.

Vineyard first.

Fruit purity.

Restrained oak.

Fine acidity.

Mineral structure.

Long-term ageing potential.

There's a wonderful combination of citrus, stone fruit, floral perfume and savoury complexity.

And the finish has that beautiful tension between fruit concentration and acidity.

It's exactly the sort of Chardonnay that becomes increasingly fascinating as it warms slightly in the glass.

Food Pairings

This is an extraordinary food wine.

Try it with:

• Roast chicken with lemon and herbs

• Grilled marron

• Scallops with brown butter

• Pan-fried snapper

• Roast pork

• Lobster

• Mushroom risotto

• Creamy chicken dishes

• Roast cauliflower

• Comté

• Gruyère

• Brie

Personally, I'd love this with roast chicken, mushrooms and a beautiful cream sauce.

The wine has enough texture to complement the richness, while the acidity keeps everything fresh.

Cellaring

This is already delicious.

But don't underestimate its ability to age.

Picardy Chardonnay has an excellent reputation for bottle development, and the 2025 has the fruit concentration, natural acidity and structure to reward patience.

Suggested drinking window: 2026–2035+.

Young, expect citrus, white peach, flowers, flint and roasted almond.

With bottle age, those characters can develop into deeper notes of honey, toasted nuts, dried citrus and savoury complexity.

Buy some for now.

And definitely put some away.

Why We Love It

Because this is exactly the sort of Chardonnay that reminds you how good Australian wine has become.

Look at what you're getting:

2025 Vintage

Pemberton, Western Australia

The Pannell Family

Single Estate Vineyard

Four Dijon Chardonnay Clones

Dry-Grown Vines

Hand-Picked Fruit

25% New French Oak

Approximately 10 Months Barrel Maturation

And the scores:

96 POINTS – THE WINE FRONT

95 POINTS – RAY JORDAN

95 POINTS – WINE PILOT

All for:

RRP $70

This is not Chardonnay built around oak, butter or sheer richness.

It's about balance.

Precision.

Texture.

And that wonderful combination of fruit intensity and mineral freshness.

2025 PICARDY CHARDONNAY

Pemberton, Western Australia

96 POINTS – THE WINE FRONT

RRP $70

White peach. Citrus. Honeysuckle. Flint. Roasted almond. Beautiful acidity. Extraordinary length.

ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S GREAT COOL-CLIMATE CHARDONNAYS FROM A TRULY OUTSTANDING FAMILY WINERY.

If you love great Chardonnay from Burgundy, Margaret River, Tasmania, Mornington Peninsula or the Yarra Valley, this absolutely deserves your attention.