Elephant Hill Sea Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2020 $59 
Wow! You definitely know this has come from an oceanfront vineyard (Te Awanga) because the vein of salinity is strong in this one. I love it! Super-juicy, beautiful oak handling, silky, succulent and crammed with grapefruit it’s 88% clone 15 and 22% clone 95 handpicked, whole bunch pressed to barrel, wild ferment and a natural partial malolactic and 18 months on light lees, occasional stirring and 12 months in barrel (25% new) and then six months in tank before bottling. That’s the extra for experts, but all you really need to know is that it’s bright, clean, bursting with character and the perfect lunchtime wine with pan-seared, buttery, lemony gurnard.
