Fairly it was in response to chardonnays that had been overly treated with new oak, had no balance and were very one dimensional.

Times have changed and Orange should be proud to have helped lead the charge.

A lot could be written about Chardonnay from Orange.

The grape produces simply stunning wines in this region as we now look to create chardonnays with balance between wonderful fruit and generous oak.

This ethos creates a more complex wine than those older styles and where better to achieve that than right here in our wonderful cool climate of Orange.

The younger of the two Bloodwood chardonnay plantings, it derives it name from great Australian winemaker Max Schubert who died March 6th 1994, when Stephen Doyle was planting the vines.

In its early days the wine challenged the conventional thought process of what Australian Chardonnay should be.

Balance between fruit and oak, with wonderful racy acidity, look for this amazing wine to have wonderful longevity, with some vintages still fresh after a decade in bottle.

Murray Smith is one of the true pioneers of the region.

His wines have even achieved somewhat of a cult status.

Murray started planting his vineyard between 1986 to 1988 and it was perhaps his red blend 'Alchemy' that shot him to super stardom.

His 'Shine' Chardonnay however is always in high demand.

Locals and visitors alike both hunt the extraordinary wine that perhaps sits at the bigger and bolder style chardonnays of the region.

With Murray no longer making wine however these bottles are becoming more and more scarce, so if you see one buy it.

Every week it feels like Colmar are winning another medal or even trophy for one of their wines.

It was their Chardonnay in fact at the 2016 Orange Wine Show that helped the Bill and Jane Shrapnel announce themselves as serious producers in the region.

Trophy for Best Wine at the show for their Chardonnay and they have not looked back since.

Now they create stunning examples of the varietal, including some must try single block expressions that highlight the potential of the grape in the region.

Will Rikard-Bell has been generating quite a reputation over the past couple years.

Top 50 Young Gun of Wine, Top 10 James Halliday new winery, but its easy to see why when you try his wines, pure class.

The 'Black Label' Chardonnay is truly breathtaking and extremely limited, with Will only looking to produce the wine in exceptional vintages.

The wine young is restrained and delicate with noticeable acidity that is very alluring.

This is one for the cellar however as this will truly show its brilliance with age.

Hard to get your hands on though as it is only available to club members or online, not even restaurants have this one, so for something very special this is definitely worth it.

When Tom Ward hasn't been promoting and raising awareness for New South Wales Wine as industry president, he has been making some serious chardonnay's.

Named after Tom's late grandmother, it is annually one of his most popular releases.

Tom is always remarkably somehow able to balance his winemaking between edgy experimentation and classically stunning Burgundian styles.

Sourced from the Balmoral vineyard this chardonnay has wonderful peach and vanilla characteristics with excellent acidity giving it tremendous length.