We know, Italian chardonnay might seem weird to some. We love chardy for being the chameleon grape- wherever it goes, it shines. In fact, it’s become such a success in Italy that it is now the 4th most planted white grape. This isn’t reinventing the wheel here, it’s just a well-made, familiar-in-style, and immensely delicious wine. It sees 40% new oak with periodic battonage (that’s the stirring of the lees in barrel to build texture and complexity). You’ll fine pineapple and tropical fruit, along with hints of chamomile and vanilla, all carried by balanced acidity in an elegant and fresh wine. It’s stylish and Italian, two words which are as synonymous as chardonnay and happiness.

Another year and another glorious vintage of one or our absolute favourites. We are still wondering if this “Golden Hillside” is an actual place, or a mythical place of the gods. The riesling from the Hillside is nothing short of heavenly, and the price suggests some sort of divine intervention. Plus, however high the vineyards of Clare Valley can get, surely those planted on celestial slopes are more so. How else would you get such an otherworldly balance of drool-worthy lime and sunshine-soaked lemons, refreshing minerality and cloudlike complexity? The bottle definitely says Clare Valley though.

If you head over to Central Wairau in Marlborough, you’ll find the idyllic Caythorpe Family Estate. Its vineyard sits over light silt and alluvial gravels, enjoying longs days of summer sun and cool autumn nights. This is kiwi Gris to a tee (that's fun to say out loud) - apricots and ripe peach with a thin but pointy acid line giving freshness and laser like focus to the wine. Citrusy, melony, delicious-y – a friendly, approachable, anytime white that's uber-moreish. Fare warning though, my tasting bottle seemed to evaporate quite quickly...