Thorn-Clarke 2018 Sandpiper Chardonnay

You don't find many chardonnays this stylish for under $20 a bottle. This is razor-sharp on trend with cool-climate fruit from the Eden Valley producing a wine that has plenty of flavour but is also refined and delicate. It's all about the quality fruit with citrus notes and white stone fruit flavours combining impressively with a small percentage of French oak. Lees contact has added some texture. There is everything you'd want in a modern Aussie chardonnay here; it's well worth snapping up a case for Christmas. $20. www.thornclarkewines.com.      

Pizzini 2018 Pinot Grigio

This is pinot grigio in the classic northern Italian style from a family of style leaders in the little Italian enclave of the King Valley in Victoria. I've always felt the brisk refreshment of grigio is a better fit for the Australian lifestyle than the oilier gris style and this is a very good choice for summer refreshment. Aromatic, crisp, bright and lively with citrus and lemon sherbet notes along with ripe pear to the fore, this is a wine for enjoying well chilled in its youth. Great with picnics, salads and seafood dishes. $21. www.pizzini.com.au 

Glaetzer-Dixon 2014 La Judith Pinot Noir

Looking for a special bottle of wine from Tasmania? This is made in tiny quantities (literally just a few hundred bottles) by multi-award-winning winemaker Nick Glaetzer as a homage to his mother. It is a serious, beautifully integrated wine with power, persistent and precision and is, as far as know, the most expensive Tasmanian table wine to be released - a real statement. I much prefer this to the inaugural 2013 release. $220.