Shaw & Smith M3 Vineyard Chardonnay 2025

The Shaw & Smith M3 Vineyard Chardonnay is a regional benchmark Adelaide Hills chardonnay from the very talented duo of Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith. Sleek, mid-weighted and highly contemporary, this modern Australian exemplar has amassed a huge following amongst chardonnay lovers. 

"Superlative right now and, what’s more, promises so much over the coming years. You’ve gotta love a Chardonnay with those qualities already on board at just one year of age. The scent captivates in grapefruit and citrus, preserved lemon, saline notes, almond cream and spice. Vibrant, intense and layered in flavour, M3 moves fast, elevated by a crunchy acidity with an almost linear drive and a solid core of tantalising lemony citrus in the engine room. There is a lovely detail and poise here right now to explore with a warm almond mealiness, grapefruit pith, citrus, nectarine, woodsy spice and light savoury notes coming on stream on a developing creamy texture. Reveals a deeper side which can only build from here with more time in bottle. It’s built to last. M3 combines the best qualities of 21st Century Australian Chardonnay."  Jeni Port

The majority of fruit for the 2025 vintage was sourced from the Lenswood, Piccadilly and Lobethal vineyards - grown on loams over clay and quartz - and complemented with fruit from a handful of trusted growers. The fruit was hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed, fermented and matured on lees in the finest French oak barrels for 9 months.

Expert reviews

"Superlative right now and, what’s more, promises so much over the coming years. You’ve gotta love a Chardonnay with those qualities already on board at just one year of age. The scent captivates in grapefruit and citrus, preserved lemon, saline notes, almond cream and spice. Vibrant, intense and layered in flavour, M3 moves fast, elevated by a crunchy acidity with an almost linear drive and a solid core of tantalising lemony citrus in the engine room. There is a lovely detail and poise here right now to explore with a warm almond mealiness, grapefruit pith, citrus, nectarine, woodsy spice and light savoury notes coming on stream on a developing creamy texture. Reveals a deeper side which can only build from here with more time in bottle. It’s built to last. M3 combines the best qualities of 21st Century Australian Chardonnay. Drink: 2026-2035."  Jeni Port, Wine Pilot - 96 points

"An iconic Adelaide Hills offering in good form here. Fine cedar and nougat leap from the glass alongside white nectarine, peach, pear, cinnamon apple and almond meal. A substratum of flint lingers beneath, present but well integrated, while Meyer lemon and subtle stone fruit blossom emerge with air. The sum is a perfume of both complexity and freshness - traits that carry faithfully to the palate. Good pillowy texture wraps around a core of cedar, nutty tones, river stone minerality, cinnamon, peach, almond cream and nectarine before tightening through a fine vein of phenolics and a wash of bright acidity. Excellent length, with freshness a defining feature. The 2025 has a slender feel - not a fault, but a style. A very successful one."  Tom Kline, Wine Pilot - 94 points

About the winery

 Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith 

Shaw & Smith began over a long lunch in 1989 when cousins Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith decided to realise a long held dream to make wine together. Today they own three vineyards in the Adelaide Hills; at Balhannah, Lenswood and Piccadilly, totalling 59 hectares. The vineyards are planted to varieties that perform particularly well in the region, namely Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Shiraz.

Shaw & Smiths' first vintage was in 1990 and in 1999 they purchased a property at Balhannah, where they planted vines and built a winery and tasting room in time for the 2000 vintage. The 35 hectare Balhannah vineyard is planted predominantly to Sauvignon Blanc and close-planted Shiraz on property surrounding the winery at 340 - 380m elevation. The soil is free draining sandy loam over red clay with underlying quartzite and shale, with varying amounts of ironstone pebbles.

In 2012, the pair purchased an existing vineyard in the cooler zone of Lenswood, about 10km north west of the winery. The 20 hectare vineyard is at an elevation of 455 – 500m and was planted in 1999. Undulating with east and west facing aspects, the vineyard is planted mainly to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The soils are brown loams over clay with broken shale on the ridges.

In 2019 Shaw & Smith celebrated its 30th anniversary with the purchase of a cool-climate vineyard site in Piccadilly Valley just below the Mt Lofty summit. The land is in the highest, coldest and wettest part of the Adelaide Hills at an altitude of 550 metres. The 4 hectare site has been planted to chardonnay and pinot noir, with vines closely spaced at 11,000 vines per hectare, a density that’s considered the maximum in places like Burgundy and Champagne.

Site selection is particularly important in the Adelaide Hills, with its diversity of altitude, aspect, microclimate, and soil. They also use a number of different clones of each grape variety, which contribute different qualities to the final product.