The Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay is made using very traditional winemaking techniques involving wild yeasts and the use of French oak barriques. The resulting wine is always finely flavoured and softly textured with a linear elegance that allows the wine to retain its freshness. Lovely aromatics of white flowers, peach, biscuit and flint. Integrated fresh flavours of stone fruits, lemon zest and roasted nuts create a generous and complex feel across the palate which is elegant and long on the finish.

Church Road is one of Hawke's Bay's pioneering wineries, and its McDonald Series wines celebrate one of its original owners from the early 1900s, Tom McDonald, and his entrepreneurial spirit. New for Vintage Cellars, Church Road McDonald Series Pinot Gris is a hedonistic style with its rich perfume and texture and a seductive natural sweetness balanced by a touch of spice on the finish. Appealing ripe pear, peach, rose petal, ginger and warm spice aromas are evident on the nose, complimented by subtle creamy complexity. On the palate the wine is lush and full bodied with a moderate level of sweetness balanced by gentle acidity and a touch of ginger spice on the finish.

Church Road is one of Hawke's Bay's pioneering wineries, and its McDonald Series wines celebrate one of its original owners from the early 1900s, Tom McDonald, and his entrepreneurial spirit. New for Vintage Cellars, Church Road McDonald Series Chardonnay is a finely structured, elegant white with subtle oak influence and great drinkability. An elegant yet multidimensional Chardonnay, with a core of ripe stonefruit and fragrant citrus, overlaid with aromas of roasted nuts, subtle creaminess and a hint of smoky struck flint. The palate is powerful yet fresh and restrained with fine texture, great length and balanced fresh acidity

A pale straw colour with vivid green hues. Gunflint, almond and lemon zest characterise the aroma. The wine has a steely edged structure and the mid-palate is filled with white peach and oyster-shell flavours. It draws into a long, spicy finish.

Established in 1896, Te Mata Estate remains family owned, producing internationally recognized wines exclusively from its Hawke's Bay vineyards. The Estate's ownership varied frequently until John and Wendy Buck acquired it in 1978. John and Wendy instigated a twenty-year development program, which commenced with the restoration of the original winery building and the replanting of all of the original vineyards, as well as the acquisition of new vineyard sites. Elston is named for Elston Hall in Nottinghamshire, the ancestral home of Charles Darwin’s family. Darwin’s ‘theory of natural selection’ forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory, the foundation of biology. The wyvern symbol of Elston Hall appears on the label. The superb quality of the 2021 vintage was immediately apparent in the fully ripe grapes that were hand-harvested from their separate, individual plots within Te Mata Estate’s vineyards. Each parcel was gently whole-cluster pressed, cold settled and racked to new and seasoned French oak barrels for fermentation. The resulting wines remained in contact with their yeast lees, with a number going through malolactic fermentation. The finest lots were selected for further maturation, spending a total of 11 months in barrel. Brilliant white gold in the glass, Elston Chardonnay ’21 has wonderfully intense aromas of golden peach, apricot, and lemon zest. Focused but flowing - this is a wine of precision, power, and poise. On the mouth-watering palate there’s oodles of ripe, white-fleshed fruit, nougat and nutmeg, integrated fine oak tannin, and just a flick of salinity. A long line of sweet citrus acidity, and ripe Hawke’s Bay chardonnay fruit, runs through here. Resplendent in its charms, Elston Chardonnay ’21 would match with the best grilled lobster you can get. Or just sit and watch the wine unfold over several hours with a soft-ripened white cheese.

Appeasing fragrances of nectarine, stonefruit, honey and lemon zest flowing from the nose mellow down to provide undertones of crème Brulee, roast nuts and citrus fruit. The supple palate features crisp and classic Chardonnay fruit elements that are balanced by the fine and refreshing acidity, leading to a lengthy and persistent climax. Grilled shellfish dishes like scallops and lobster, wild mushrooms, white truffles and hazelnut crusted chicken taste excellent with this elegant Chardonnay wine.

Giesen's Estate Chardonnay is wine that's very approachable in youth and suitable for any occasion. The fruit is sourced from a premium Hawkes Bay vineyard, producing a Chardonnay with good fruit intensity and a touch of complexity through lees contact and restrained use of oak. Sweet stone fruit and citrus aromas with excellent textural viscosity, subtle oak characters and focussed acidity on the palate. A balanced and lengthy finish rounds off an ideal NZ Chardonnay for seafood dishes.

Uber-stylish sauvignon blanc from New Zealand’s Wairarapa region. This comes equiped with all of the much-loved hallmarks of classic savvy b. Passionfruit, gooseberry, kiwi, lime - tricked up with a bit of mineral complexity thanks to a diverse soil profile. People often stick their savvy b in the fridge as soon as it comes out of the box (and who can blame them), but for the patient among us this will develop beautifully over the next couple of years.