Dexter Wines is the estate of Tod and Debbie Dexter, who planted vines at Merricks on the Mornington Peninsula in 1987. Tod's winemaking pedigree runs through Stonier, where he helped establish the estate's standing, and a period at Yabby Lake, before he committed to his own label. The estate chardonnay draws on the home vineyard's sandy loam soils over clay subsoil, close to Western Port Bay, where cool maritime conditions slow ripening. Farming is low-yielding and largely hand-worked. The 2024 season was mild and unhurried, giving measured ripeness and the bright, mineral acidity that defines Peninsula chardonnay, with good flavour development at modest sugar levels.

Grapes are hand-harvested and whole-bunch pressed straight to barrel, with only light juice settling. Fermentation is wild, using indigenous yeast, in French oak barriques with a modest share of new wood. The wine passes through malolactic fermentation and is matured on its lees for around ten to eleven months, with lees contact building the creamed, nutty, cashew-like texture and moreish sulphide notes noted by reviewers. Acidity is left largely untouched to keep the wine tense and focused. It is bottled at roughly 13.5% alcohol, in a restrained, savoury style intended to reward further time in bottle.