"It is delightfully fruited and elegantly fragrant on the nose showing nectarine, rockmelon, lemon peel and subtle vanilla characters. The palate is succulent and beautifully rounded, displaying attractive fruit intensity and creamy mouthfeel, finishing long and juicy. Well balanced and comforting with charming fruit flavours. At its best: now to 2020" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Dec 2018

The result is a Chardonnay that exhibits guava, citrus and stone fruit flavours which combine seamlessly with the subtle toasty oak. The palate is richly textured with flavours of ripe fruit, lees complexity and subtle oak with a fresh elegant finish.

For over 25 years, Crossroads has represented the very best of small parcel winemaking. The Crossroads Milestone Series celebrates our dedication from the vineyard to the winery – creating benchmark wines from New Zealand.

The 2017 vintage was another great one for Chardonnay in Hawke’s Bay. A moderate spring with low frost risk and good flowering led into an extremely dry and warm summer. Above average temperatures were recorded in January and February, which set the vines up well. Some late rains alleviated the drought pressure brought about by the hot summer. The 2017 Chardonnay was sourced from a range of Hawke’s Bay vineyards in the Korokipo, Crownthorpe, Bridge Pa, Clive and Mangatahi sub regions of Hawke’s Bay. These vineyards are characterised by moderate temperatures and free draining soils, perfect for producing high quality fruit.

The fruit was gently picked and pressed to give fine fresh juices with a soft texture. The batches were kept separate and fermented with a range of vessels, temperatures and yeast strains to give complexity of aroma and mouth feel. After aging on full yeast lees with regular stirring the batches were blended and prepared for bottling.

Food Pairing: Fantastic with roast chicken, oysters or fish and chips.