Top 10 best New World Chardonnays

El Porvenir's Alto de Los Cuises is the most complete Chardonnay in this ranking: a wine from Cafayate, in Salta, planted on terraces at around 1,850 metres on the Sierra de Quilmes. Fermented in 500-litre barrels, aged 6 to 7 months on the lees with regular bâtonnage, it offers pear, white peach, fresh butter and flint. The palate is rich, held by vibrant acidity, with a long, mineral finish. It takes first place because it reconciles the breadth of a great white with the freshness that altitude brings. To drink within five years, €59.00 a bottle.

Hamilton Russell's Chardonnay is the longest-ageing wine in the ranking, a South African white built for fifteen years and more. The estate lies in the cool Hemel-en-Aarde valley, near Hermanus and the ocean, and is farmed organically and biodynamically. The wine ferments and ages for 9 months in French oak barrels of various ages. It offers acacia, lemon, peach, toasted hazelnut and brioche, on a round, linear palate with a saline finish. Compared with no. 1, it is more classic, close to a great white Burgundy. €49.90 a bottle.

Dog Point's Chardonnay is the most generous in this ranking, a white from Marlborough, New Zealand, from organically farmed vines and vinified with native yeasts. Its 18 months in oak barrels give it notes of smoke, toast and biscuit, around lime, peach and apricot. The texture is unctuous, balanced by vibrant acidity. Broader than the Hamilton Russell, it remains the most affordable of the top three: €37.00 a bottle, in a set of 3. It will keep five to ten years.

Far Niente's Chardonnay is the most opulent in this ranking, a Napa Valley white from the Coombsville vineyards, a cool sector with volcanic and gravelly soils. The wine finishes its fermentation in French oak barrels, then ages 10 months on fine lees, half in new oak; malolactic fermentation is avoided to keep the tension. White fig, melon, honeysuckle, honey and toasted hazelnut make up a broad wine, at 14.5%. It embodies the great Californian style, richer than the Australians in the ranking. €119.90 a bottle, to keep for ten years and more.

Crystallum's Clay Shales is the Chardonnay closest to Burgundy in this ranking: a single-plot wine, on the Hemel-en-Aarde ridge, named after its clay and Bokkeveld shale soils. Native yeasts lead the fermentation, then the wine spends 10 months on the lees in old barrels and foudres. Lemon thyme, toasted oats, white peach, quince and oyster shell precede a round, taut palate. A neighbour of Hamilton Russell, it is more site-specific and more saline. €49.90 a bottle, to drink within ten years.

Shaw & Smith's Lenswood Vineyard is the most precise Chardonnay in this ranking, a single-vineyard cuvée from the Adelaide Hills, in South Australia, at around 400 metres altitude. Hand-picked, it ferments in oak barrels, 30% of them new, then ages 10 months on the lees. Williams pear, Granny Smith apple, lime and citrus peel shape a straight wine with well-integrated oak. The 2021 vintage is beginning to open up and will hold for ten more years. It shows cool-climate Australia, the opposite of Napa's rich style. €71.90 a bottle, in a set of 3.

House of Arras's Blanc de Blanc is the only sparkling wine in the ranking: a Tasmanian Chardonnay made using the traditional method, with secondary fermentation in the bottle. The grapes come from cool coastal plots and ferment in stainless-steel tanks, then the wine rests for several years on the lees before a moderate dosage. Ripe citrus, green apple, white flowers and brioche notes make up a fine, lively mousse. It shows another facet of the grape, that of the great blanc de blancs, with the island's oceanic freshness. €39.80 a bottle, in a set of 3.

Catena Zapata's Adrianna White Bones is the most mineral Chardonnay in this ranking, from the Adrianna vineyard in Gualtallary, in the upper Uco Valley in Mendoza, at around 1,450 metres. Its limestone soils, rich in marine fossils, give a taut, chalky wine. Whole-bunch pressed, fermented with native yeasts in mostly used French oak barrels, it undergoes partial malolactic fermentation. Citrus, orange blossom, honeysuckle and touches of ginger precede a straight palate. More austere than the El Porvenir, it needs time. €122.00 a bottle, for ten years of ageing.

Garcés Silva's Amayna is the most coastal Chardonnay in this ranking, grown in the Leyda valley, in Chile, about 13 kilometres from the Pacific. Whole-bunch pressed, it ages 12 months on fine lees, 60% in barrels and foudres, the rest in stainless-steel tanks. Guava, pear, yuzu, chalk, toasted cashew and flint lead to a long finish with notes of sea spray. It is the most maritime of the ten, straighter than the Dog Point. To drink within five years, €32.00 a bottle.

Ten Minutes by Tractor's Estate Chardonnay is the most saline white in the ranking, a wine from the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, in the state of Victoria. Its breezy plots, close to the Southern Ocean, combine clays, silts and volcanic sands. Fermented mostly in barrel with little new oak, it undergoes partial malolactic fermentation for its tension. Green apple, white peach and ripe lemon rest on notes of toasted hazelnut. More maritime than the Shaw & Smith, it rightly closes the ranking. €53.00 a bottle, in a set of 2.