Domenica Chardonnay 2023

Domenica Estate Chardonnay 2025 Beechworth, Victoria

Peter Graham spent over a decade as assistant winemaker at Giaconda — the producer most serious Chardonnay drinkers consider Australia's benchmark. When he started his own label on a remote granite ridge above Beechworth, the bar was always going to be set high. Vintage after vintage, he's cleared it.

Domenica sits 460 metres atop a granite ridge south-west of Beechworth, with just 4 hectares planted to Chardonnay, Nebbiolo, Shiraz and Gamay — all reflecting their high-altitude origin with a gripping mineral texture. Ten acres of hand-tended, low-cropped vines produce a mere 1,500 cases annually across the entire range — this is genuinely small, hands-on winemaking, not a marketing claim. 

In the glass: bright citrus, white stone fruit and a distinct flinty edge, with fantastic concentration and a fine, pithy grip carrying through a long, dry finish. Spice, cashew, custard and nougat aromatics sit over a stony minerality and refreshing acidity — a wine that drinks more like fine Chablis than the rich, buttery style Australian Chardonnay is sometimes (unfairly) known for. One respected merchant called it a tightly composed, high-altitude Chardonnay that marries Giaconda-like finesse with its own stony, cool-climate precision. 

This is serious, age-worthy Australian Chardonnay priced well below what's actually in the bottle.