Ravensworth Estate Chardonnay / 2025 / 750mL

The Ravensworth Estate Chardonnay 2025 is a taut, cool-climate white from the Canberra District in the ACT, built around citrus and white stone fruit rather than richness. It sits at the leaner, more savoury end of Australian Chardonnay, with real drive through the middle.

Grapefruit pith, lemon curd and white nectarine lead the aromatics, with a chalky, almost flinty edge sitting behind the fruit and a touch of crushed nuts and fennel seed as it opens in the glass.

The palate is fine-boned and linear, with grapefruit and green apple carried on bright, high-country acidity. Texture comes from a gentle creaminess across the mid-palate that keeps the wine from feeling austere, and the finish is long, dry and faintly saline, leaving a mineral afterglow rather than any sense of weight.

Serve it with grilled flathead and lemon, scallops with brown butter, chicken poached in white wine, or a goat's cheese and leek tart. It also handles the richer end of the table well — pork belly, or a mushroom risotto finished with parmesan.

Drink from now through to around 2032. The Ravensworth Estate Chardonnay 2025 is already enjoyable with an hour's air, but the acid structure suggests it will build texture and toasty complexity over the next several years in a cool, dark spot.