2024 Ashton Hills Reserve Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills

There’s some lovely aromatics going on here: just-ripe white stone fruit, white lily, grilled nuts, melon rind and a whiff of nougat. Textured and mouth-filling, with a drive of pithy, tangy grapefruit, nectarine and nutty oak. There’s plenty of snappy acidity and the length is impressive. Very smart gear. Drink to 2036.

96 points Aaron Brasher for The Real Review, May 2026

The 2024 Reserve Chardonnay leads with white peach and curry leaf, sweet tobacco, white pepper and torched pear (à la tarte tatin). The reduction here, although pronounced, is balanced and opens up through the finish, allowing the fruit and site to express with ease. This is powerful and has levity, with saline acidity and a classy display of phenolics that shape the finish. This is a really good wine. Drink to 2039

96 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, December 2025

A selection from the best barrels and parcels, bringing finesse and tension. Aromas of sliced lemons, struck match, grapefruit, citrus blossoms and crushed stones. The palate is tightly wound, with a generous core of fruit, striking acidity and a long and mineral-edged finish. Drink or hold.

96 points James Suckling, August 2025

The sophisticated 2024 Chardonnay Reserve instantly appeals with a highly complex opening of grapefruit, dried florals, cantaloupe and a strong backbone of oak and smoky lees. Creamy textures give way to a chalky acidity that tightens up the finish. The 2024 is very well pitched to enjoy over the medium term. Drink to 2040.

95 points Angus Hughson for Vinous, June 2025

The wine is designated as 'Reserve' by virtue of three barrels (blended) from three separate vineyards in Piccadilly Valley. Wild fermentation is employed. A mix of old and new French oak barrels for maturation. It's got quite a bit of power and muscularity, smoky, sweet spices over lime, just-ripe nectarine, just-ripe pineapple, crystallised ginger, preserved lemon and cinnamon-crusted apple pie. A cavalcade of character, well meshed, harmonious and with vivid drinkability. It's complex, layered and intense; more importantly, it feels high quality in all its elements. Serious chardonnay. Drink to 2035.

95 points Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion, 2025

This is an exceptionally sophisticated Chardonnay that opens with complex high notes of white flowers and citrus blossom before fanning out with fresh white fleshed stone fruit, baked pear, panforte and subtle nods to smoky, leafy spice and flintiness. The harmonious, tightly structured palate is creamy, layered and intense, the tangy acidity the thread that ties the lively flavours together on the expansive and impressively long finish.

Bring this bottle to a lunch centred around slow-cooked Nanban ocean trout served with a rich dashi glaze. The wine’s intense, creamy weight effortlessly bridges the rich, melting collagen and sweet fats of the protein, while the saline acidity cuts through the savory, umami-rich glaze with precision.

Keeping it casual? Uncork it on a quiet weekend night to a low-luxe pairing of pan-fried sea scallops basted in brown butter, letting the wine’s vivid citrus energy act as the ultimate luxury condiment.

More about this wine

Ashton Hills is a three-hectare vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley sub-region
of the Adelaide Hills. Planted in 1982, it is located at an altitude of 570 metres with a southerly aspect. Fruit for the Ashton Hills wines is also sourced from neighbouring vineyards, as well as the broader Adelaide Hills region.

The 2024 Ashton Hills Chardonnays are blend of three Piccadilly Valley vineyards, with three of the most suitable barrels of the vintage selected for this Reserve bottling. It was fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in a mix of seasoned and new Burgundian oak for nine months.

Drinking well on release, it is built to develop favourably for a decade or more.