Value is subjective, but it’s hard to argue with $28 – especially for a 96-point wine. It’s hard to argue with any of the 20 wines on this list of top white wines under $40, in fact, all rated between 94 and 96 points by the Halliday Tasting Team.
Naturally, riesling features heavily, but you’ll also find sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, a handful of Mediterranean varieties including fiano, greco, grillo and vermentino, plus more on the list. There are even a couple of chardonnays.
Whether you’re looking to stock up ahead of summer, or take the financial risk out of experimenting with new producers or varieties, there’s plenty to explore below.
Adelina Wines Polish Hill River Smith Riesling 2025, Clare Valley
Epic riesling. All the flavour, all the concentration, all the zip and tension. Tangy lime, some grapefruity zestiness, green mango, green almond, some light, wispy yeasty savouriness, a touch of lemon blossom and preserved lemon with a delicate riff of pickled ginger. Pristine, fine-boned, skeletal and very persistent. A fine example of the regional classic with some X-factor. – Mike Bennie
95 points | $38 | Screw cap | 10.7% alc. | Adelina Wines profile | Winery website | @
Black & Ginger Rapunzel Riesling 2025, Grampians
With grapes from the Miner's Ridge vineyard, winemaker Hadyn Black has produced another stunner of a riesling. There's an energy here, a vibrancy of fruit and acidity that is a potent riesling mix. Lime and citrus zest, green apple, floral spices and hints of rosemary on the bouquet assume a deeper resonance on the palate. Combines a mineral, wet rock tang and fine-edged acidity with a smooth roll out of citrus, apple and honeysuckle notes with lively gingery spice. Finishes dry and gently powdery. Mighty good drinking now and well into the future. – Jeni Port
95 points | $35 | Screw cap | 11.2% alc. | Black & Ginger profile | Winery website | @
By Fabiano Greco 2025, McLaren Vale
Crushed, with six hours soaking in the press, cool, long ferment, nine months in seasoned oak. No fiano this year (although only 5% last year), and a generously open and pure nose of orchard florals, golden apples, Lisbon and Meyer lemons, pineapple quince and fresh chamomile flowers. It’s paler in the glass than the '24, leaning into soaring fruit purity and revelling in texture perfectly offset with vigour. The clarity of expression here is something else, the nose so effortlessly detailed and layered. For a region long dominated by reds, the potential for the right white grapes in McLaren Vale is immense, and this is a decisive statement that greco has a dazzling future there. – Marcus Ellis
95 points | $34 | Amorim | 13.1% alc. | By Fabiano profile | Winery website | @
Corymbia Rocket's Vineyard Chenin Blanc 2025, Swan Valley
The level of bang for buck here is ludicrous. One of Australia's more complex, exciting textural white wines lays in the glass. Catch it in its youth for the crystalline texture, the sea spray, green almond, Pink Lady apple juice characters, citrus blossom lift, cool, slate-like mineral finish and rush of slippery texture that feels glassy as it does gently sticky. An impressive wine of detail in fruit, florals, minerality and yet one that holds attention for high-end drinkability, too. – Mike Bennie
95+ points | $35 | Screw cap | 12.8% alc. | Corymbia profile | Winery website | @
Deep Woods Estate Single Vineyard Albariño 2025, Margaret River
What a cracking wine, just loving this for its savouriness as much as the tangy squirt of saline and citrusy flavours. Lemons and limes, thyme and white nectarine. There’s texture and ultra-refreshing acidity. A level of complexity and detail here – it’s not one-dimensional. A delightful drink on its own or with food. – Jane Faulkner
95+ points | $35 | Screw cap | 13% alc. | Deep Woods Estate profile | Winery website | @
First Creek Wines Limited Release Small Batch Vermentino 2025, Hunter Valley
Reflective of the warmer vintage, this vermentino is distinctly sweet-fruited and full-flavoured, but retains its characteristic saline thread. Notes of heady citrus, pear skin and green mango. It is decidedly chameleonic in the glass and evolves nicely with air. – Toni Paterson MW
95 points | $40 | Screw cap | 13% alc. | First Creek Wines profile | Winery website | @
Gemtree Wines Small Batch Fiano 2025, McLaren Vale
This differs from the other Fiano in the stable that is made in tank, while here a fruit selection was raised in 3000L unlined concrete vat for six months with weekly stirring, then racked and returned for three months. This skipped a vintage while the winery transitioned under new ownership. It’s a welcome return. Savoury and saline, textural and pithy, refined and long. Lees have contributed a subtle creaminess and umami overtones. Wild apple, fennel pollen, citron, red apple skin, white miso, a pumice-like mineral note. It’s further evidence that fiano can make serious, elevated wines. – Marcus Ellis
96 points | $38 | Screw cap | 13% alc. | Gemtree Wines profile | Winery website | @
Gilbert Family Wines gilbert Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Orange
This is a wine that has come of age, a grown-up, sophisticated version of cool-climate sauvignon blanc. Aromas of white peach, Rainier cherries and pomelo. There is a tropical essence that shows in hibiscus blooms and pineapple core. The palate widens with salinity and a fleshy, almost oily texture. Acidity drives the wine, but the high-pitched notes are dissolved through worked lees stirring. There are young almond and wet stone minerals that take the enjoyment of this wine to new levels. A stunning white wine, with so much textural presence and detail. – Shanteh Wale
95 points | $32 | Screw cap | 12.9% alc. | Gilbert Family Wines profile | Winery website | @
Hentley Farm Wines Mt Crawford Vineyard Riesling 2025, Barossa Valley
Riesling sourced from Mt Crawford at the southern extreme of the Barossa Valley. Pale in the glass with a flash of green and aromas of freshly squeezed lime juice, Granny Smith apple and white peach with a distant Bickford's lime cordial tone and hints of crushed quartz, almond blossom, Christmas lily, lemon sorbet, lemongrass and Key lime pie. There's a lovely tubular core of lime and stone that travels frictionless on a plane of minerally acidity. Flavoursome and expressive at first before focusing on the long, dry finish. A ripper! – Dave Brookes
96+ points | $37 | Screw cap | 11% alc. | Hentley Farm Wines profile | Winery website | @
Heroes Otway Hinterland Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Port Phillip Zone
Whole-bunch pressed and fermented and matured in French oak and acacia puncheons. Another exceptional, and I should add, fairly priced wine from this under-the-radar producer. Brightly coloured with aromas of stone fruits, confit lemon and elderflower, and with the oak sitting discreetly in the background. Gently textured, harmonious, chalky and long on the palate. Should age well, too. – Philip Rich
95 points | $35 | Screw cap | 13.6% alc. | Heroes profile | Winery website | @
Inkwell Yellow Grillo 2025, McLaren Vale
Some shiraz made way for grillo in the Inkwell vineyard a few years back, with this the third release. A few days on skins, then was raised in alien-green eggs for about seven months. Deeply orange-gold in glass. This is headily intense and textural, moderated with a salt-licked savouriness. It’s the richest iteration thus far, but balanced and vibrant with it. Appealing oxidative detail further rights the ship. Tangerine peel, toasted oats, kombu, mustard fruits, juiced apple pulp, quince, papaya, fennel seed, caraway, match striking paper, linseed on an old cricket bat… Too much? It’s complex, in other words, fruit deep but with savoury detail aplenty. – Marcus Ellis
94 points | $32 | Screw cap | 12.5% alc. | Inkwell profile | Winery website | @
Ravensworth Regional Riesling 2025, Canberra District
Such an uplifting, crisply dry and ultra-refreshing wine. Pristine, beautiful aromas and flavours of lemon-lime, wet stone, makrut lime leaves and blossom. A touch of mandarin, too, with freshly cut Granny Smith apple. The acidity is thirst-quenching, there’s a fine line of texture, and it’s appealing for its savouriness, and more besides. I liked it so much that I poured a big glass to drink and decided the working day had finished on a high. – Jane Faulkner
95 points | $32 | Screw cap | 12% alc. | Ravensworth profile | Winery website | @
Rieslingfreak No.4 Riesling 2026, Eden Valley
Riesling sourced from across the southern ranges of the Eden Valley: High Eden for velocity and structure, and sites around Angaston and Springton for aromatic lift and flavour intensity. Pale with a flash of green. As high tensile and sizzlingly precise as ever. Fresh lime, lemon juice and crunchy green apple, with hints of ozone, grapefruit soda, crushed quartz, sliced fennel, Christmas lily, finger lime and lemongrass. Crystalline, with a laser-like focus and a head-spinning velocity. It's taut, sleek and lip-smackingly sapid. The freak has done it again. – Dave Brookes
95+ points | $29 | Screw cap | 11.5% alc. | Rieslingfreak profile | Winery website | @
Scanlon Fumé Blanc 2025, Piccadilly Valley
Fermented on lees in old French oak for 11 months. Bright and crystalline, a little saline, with white peach, loquat, yoghurt panna cotta, a touch of toasted nuttiness, some brine. There are also the floral, subtly smoky overtures of white pepper. It reigns supreme in texture, the gentle retention of slippery silk cutting loose the grip of phenolics. A beautifully complex wine, a considered approach, from a region that respects the variety well. – Katrina Butler
95 points | $30 | Screw cap | 13% alc. | Scanlon profile | Winery website | @
Serrat Grenache Blanc 2025, Yarra Valley
A brilliant green gold. Subtle and beguiling aromas of green apple, freshly sliced white pear and frangipani. The wine's gentle texture is balanced by crunchy acidity. Finishes saline and pithy. A standout to drink now and over the next three to four years. – Philip Rich
96+ points | $35 | Screw cap | 13% alc. | Serrat profile | Winery website | @
Singlefile Great Southern Riesling 2025, Great Southern
This wine continuously belts above its pricepoint. It's nearly an injustice, so keep it a secret among friends. Enlivening, bright, luminescent, steely acids lead a triumph of citrus, green apple, freesias and white nectarine – spring's first bouquet. Awe-inspiring length. A measured addition of texture through lees stirring adds layers of complexity alongside the wine's signature mineral mouthfeel. Did I say triumph already? – Katrina Butler
96 points | $28 | Screw cap | 12.5% alc. | Singlefile profile | Winery website | @
The Story Wines Marsanne Roussanne Viognier 2023, Grampians
A blend of 60/20/20% marsanne/roussanne/viognier. Hand picked, whole-bunch pressed, maturation in acacia wood barrels. The style is now set, and it's totally individual, successfully so. Retains the intrinsic beauty of each grape variety – marsanne's florals and citrus; roussanne's pear and quince; viognier's ripe stone fruits and creamy spices – while introducing an exciting, dry, almond-like savouriness that takes the wine to the next level of complexity. It's waxy in texture but bright in acidity with a grippy edge. The producer notes this was the coldest vintage in his career. He rose to the occasion, big time. – Jeni Port
95 points | $36 | Screw cap | 13% alc. | The Story Wines profile | Winery website | @
The Wanderer Yellingbo Chardonnay 2025, Yarra Valley
A single-vineyard wine from Yellingbo in the Upper Yarra, barrel-fermented and matured in older French puncheons. Subtle aromas of nectarine, pink grapefruit and lemon curd. Beautifully balanced on a pure-fruited, delicate, chalky-textured and saline palate. Finishes nutty and long. Drink now and over the next four to five years. – Philip Rich
95+ points | $38 | Screw cap | 12.5% alc. | The Wanderer profile | Winery website | @
Usher Tinkler Wines Paperwasp Chardonnay 2025, Hunter Valley
Such a beautiful wine, displaying all of the lightness and energy of the '25 chardonnay vintage. The palate is fine and silky-smooth, with utterly gorgeous sulphide detail that is clean and perfect. Despite its energy, there is very good weight. The wine shows the strength of the vineyards and the insight of the winemaker, with a relentless pursuit of quality in both areas. Punches well above its weight for the price, and the lingering lemony flavours are just divine. – Toni Paterson MW
95 points | $38 | Diam | 13% alc. | Usher Tinkler Wines profile | Winery website | @
Werkstatt Riesling 2025, Mount Gambier
Made in a Kabinett style; the juice is slowly fermented in stainless steel; two months on gross lees and two months on fine lees; 13.5g/l in the final wine. A bite of loquat, pineapple skin and lemonade fruit. There is apple leaf and sparks of lime. The palate is bedazzled with salinity and pick-me-up freshness. Fruit sweetness is well worked into the body of the wine. It's hard to imagine a white wine that is more approachable, with acidity that rolls throughout the palate in cascading waves. This is so tastefully curated, shining a light on the suitability of riesling in Mount Gambier. A wine of total elation for breakfast, lunch, pre-dinner and throughout. – Shanteh Wale
95 points | $37 | Screw cap | 9.6% alc. | Werkstatt profile | Winery website | @
