Results of the Chardonnay Challenge 2025

Thursday, 13 November, 2025

Chardonnay Challenge

At the 2025 Chardonnay Challenge, 13 Chardonnay wines from across the Western Cape scored 90 points or more.

It’s the wine consumers love to whinge about, trotting out the usual ABC or "Anything But Chardonnay" mnemonic, yet the past decade has reliably demonstrated that South African Chardonnay is on the up, both in terms of quality and market share. It accounts for nearly 5 million litres in domestic sales alone according to Sawis stats for 2024, with a further 24 million litres in global exports (packaged and bulk sales combined). It still lies third in the white wine popularity stakes which are dominated significantly by Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc, but this is an oversight the rejuvenated Chardonnay Association, launched in late 2024, is attempting to correct.

Now in only its fifth decade in South African soils, Chardonnay continues to raise the quality bar. Much of this incremental increase can be attributed to the impressive skills of the winemakers concerned. It’s true that in the 1990s and 2000s there was an overly enthusiastic use of oak, but that is no longer the case. Local vignerons have become more and more adept at allowing the fruit to speak louder than the wood. They also use different techniques, with use of whole bunch fruit, destemmed grapes, natural fermentation, and even alternative vessels such as amphora, eggs and cement tanks becoming more common.

The most recent Chardonnay Challenge tasting on 6 November 2025, organised by by Events by Celia, confirmed this trend with 13 wines averaging 90 points and above. As Suzaan Potgieter, editor of Die Burger Versnit said, "This is a category which South Africa does so well. And it’s obvious after the tasting to see that the wooded styles still perform better than the unwooded examples." The numbers bore her out with just one unwooded wine in the top 13, that being Le Pommier’s Summercourt from the 2025 vintage.

Fellow judges Fiona McDonald and former Meridian Wines KZN director Sue Wardrop concurred. "There were a few examples where the oak overpowered the fruit, but on the whole the balance and cohesion was impressive. It allowed the wines to display freshness, energy and vibrance – and that equates to better drinkability. No-one wants to be exhausted or fatigued after one glass of powerfully oaked chardonnay!" Fiona said. "I found the very best examples showed good poise and a lightness, with the oak being dialled down and more noticeable texturally than flavourwise," was Sue’s assessment.

One point worth making was how the vintage spread varied, with seven of the top performers from the somewhat challenging 2024 harvest, five from 2023 and just one from 2025. 2023 was deemed an "early drinking"harvest since it was marked by cool, wet periods. Winemakers had to be on their toes in 2024 as it was earlier than anticipated and presented variable quality. Vignerons who were nimble and got their grapes in on time and then treated each batch of fruit individually, were rewarded for their vigilance. And as for 2025, for many it was a dream harvest – so much so that many have been unwilling to praise it too loudly for fear of jinxing it! But early indications are that the 2025 is set to be a star of the last decade, which has already produced some striking vintages.

The geographic spread was also noteworthy with five wines from Stellenbosch, three from the Breedekloof, two each from Franschhoek and the Cape South Coast and one from Robertson. The presence of wines from the Cape South Coast region tells its own little story with the two wines being significantly geographically spread – one being the Villiersdorp Mosko 2023 which hails from the chilly heights of the Elandskloof, a ward of the Overberg district better known known for being the origin of Kaaimansgat and Altima wines, and the other being Baleia 2023 from the Lower Duiwenhoks district.

Overall, consumers can buy with confidence when faced with a retail shelf full of Chardonnay, knowing that this is a category on an upward trajectory.