2024 Ashton Hills Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills

A restrained wine with aromas of grilled lemons, flint, grapefruit, crushed stones and gun smoke. The palate is precise and pure, with a mid-weighted mouthfeel and fine acidity. There’s nice balance of fruit density and minerals, finishing with a saline edge and high tension. Delicious. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

95 points jamessuckling.com

The 2024 Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay leads with toasty reduction and a rich, enveloping nose of stone fruits, exotic spices and curry leaf. The palate follows in this same vein, offering a whole lot of wine for the money. The finish is lean and a little metallic, the reduction serving to clip the finish rather than allow an easy flow of unbroken flavor. However, this remains a very impressive wine, one that I am sure will please legions of thirsty Chardonnay drinkers. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

94 points Erin Larkin robertparker.com

Light yellow with smoky reductive and oak aromas at first sniff, the palate intense in grapefuit and spice flavours. A totally delicious chardonnay with some generosity to it as well as finesse. Refined and linear with a persistent finish. Yum! 11 Dec 2025 Drink 2025–2034

93 points Huon Hooke therealreview.com

Bright and fresh, clean and lively. A pure-feeling chardonnay with gentle influence of nougat and cinnamon oak characters amongst red apple, green mango, lemon curd and nashi pear fruit characters. Right on. Shy of medium weight, a little crispness and yet pleasing haziness to texture, the finish a twist of pink grapefruit freshness. Great drink.

93 points Mike Bennie winecompanion.com.au

Ashton Hills was established in the early 1980s by Stephen George, a quiet visionary who recognised the potential of the cool, elevated Piccadilly Valley long before it became a benchmark for Australian Chardonnay. Now part of the Wirra Wirra family, the estate continues under winemaker Liam Van Pelt, whose approach centres on precision, restraint and site transparency. The Piccadilly Valley bottling reflects the heart of the estate’s high altitude vineyards, where cold nights and long growing seasons shape wines of tension and finesse.

Fruit is harvested in small parcels to capture purity and natural acidity. Whole bunch pressing protects delicacy, fermentation often includes wild yeasts for complexity, and maturation in fine French oak builds texture without overshadowing the mineral spine. Lees contact adds a gentle creaminess, yet the line remains bright and focused. The philosophy is balance and longevity, allowing the vineyard to speak clearly.

Pale gold in colour, the aromas open with white peach, lemon zest and grapefruit layered with cashew, flint and subtle spice. The palate is medium bodied and tightly structured, with citrus and stone fruit wrapped in bright acidity and a chalk edged texture. Flavours extend into a long, mineral finish that feels cool and persistent.

It pairs beautifully with oysters, scallops, roast chicken and seafood with butter sauces. Already impressive for its clarity and energy, it will cellar confidently for ten to fifteen years, developing nutty and savoury complexity.