Hills & Rivers Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019 $18.99 
Well if it doesn’t just look like spun gold in the glass right? This shiny-new release from the folk at Ash Ridge wines has well and truly James Brown’ed it and got on the good foot with grilled grapefruit, punchy, ripe peach and lemon zest zappiness. Clearly papa’s got a brand new bag because they’ve doubled down on the toasty, roasty, caramelised oak which injects funkadelic fabulousness on the finish. If it were a song, it’d be a radio-friendly, unit-shifter – but as a drink, its wallet-friendly stonefruit, citrus and smoky notes will more than wow the crowds.
