Hunter’s Offshoot Marlborough Chardonnay 2018 $34.90 
I thought the previous vintage of this wine was pretty hard to beat, but I tell you now, this 2018 is an absolute knee-quaker, brain-shaker and rib-rattler of a wine. For a wine that proudly declares it’s ‘off-shootness’ it’s made with precision and extraordinary care. Cloudy juice was fermented in large, 900lt oak vessels before being matured for a further 12 months in oak barrels and then given another 6 months to knit together in a stainless steel tank before bottling. That’s resulted in roasted nectarine and ripe peach notes colliding with grapefruit and lemon layers and a lusciously long, ever-so-slightly creamy finish.
