2016 Xanadu Wines Chardonnay Margaret River Australia 750 ml

Margaret River is a Land of Extremes and Extreme Value

The perfect combination of Burgundian precision and New World ripeness collide in the 2016 Xanadu Chardonnay, a white wine that dazzles with pure flavors of fresh Meyer lemon, accented by jasmine, rocky minerality, and fresh-cut flowers.

It’s no surprise this golden bottle scored 96-points from Australian wine critic James Halliday, who noted, “It positively hums with energy and complexity,” and Halliday also declared the 2016 vintage in Margaret River to be a 9 out of 10 for its growing season, and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate likewise praised its “silky texture,” and “long, vibrant finish.”

What is surprising is that Xanadu manages to bottle 96-point finesse for $25, as Master Sommelier Sur Lucero explained to us at Wine Access HQ: “This is a great example of Australian styled wines like Vasse Felix from Margaret River or Kooyong from Mornington Peninsula, but one that combines their critical accolades with an amazingly low price.” A Wine Access exclusive these final cases of Xanadu’s 2016 are a must-have as warm weather inches closer.

The most remote region of Australia, the Margaret River is a land of extremes where jagged coastline meets dense forest. In the center lies Xanadu, a pioneering winery in the remote region that’s undergoing a modern renaissance for the transparency found in its luscious Chardonnays.

But Margaret river isn’t new—the region boasts striking similarities to Napa Valley and has long seduced visitors with its sun-dappled, slow-paced lifestyle. Like Napa, both regions are youthful but make for stiff competition with the long-established châteaux of Bordeaux. And both captured the imagination of one of the New World’s most legendary winemakers: Robert Mondavi, who was so convinced of Margaret River’s world-class potential in the early 1970s that he flirted with buying property. Although he resisted in the end, Mondavi did mentor a pair of legendary Margaret River estates, whose prestige today proves that his hunch about the region was dead-on.

Xanadu has been a fixture of the region since its early days. Dr. John Lagan and his wife Eithne planted their first Cabernet Sauvignon and Semillon near the coast in 1997; the Xanadu property now has over 200 acres of vines planted in Margaret River’s well-drained gravelly soils. Acquired by the Rathbone family in 2005, Xanadu has remained family-owned and obsessively quality-focused, as evidenced by the estate’s expansive roster of trophies and gold medals, and 90+ point scores from critics the world over.

Wine Access fans have heaped heavy praise on Xanadu’s red wines, and today we invite you to taste the 2016 Chardonnay—not only at the best price in the nation, but the only price in the nation.