"...shining examples of the Kumeu Style"
Released this morning, the new 2024 Kumeu River Chardonnays are up there with the best recent vintages, like 2022 and '20, with excellent reviews from Jancis Robinson and The Wine Advocate's Erin Larkin. If you've followed our previous offers from Kumeu, you'll know we think they stand out among even the best New Zealand estates, managing to deliver the quintessence of top white burgundy at amazing prices.
Quantities are once again limited, particularly for the single-vineyard wines like Maté's Chardonnay, scoring 95-97 points by Wine Advocate. The good news is that the 2024 Estate and Ray's Road Chardonnays are superb, both astonishing value at £95 per six in bond, so it's time to fill your cellar with these.
Winemaker Michael Brajkovich was New Zealand's first Master of Wine, and we feel this gives him a special insight into the wine style he is trying to achieve. We certainly notice this with other world-class MW-winemakers like Oliver Zind-Humbrecht and Michael Hill-Smith of Shaw & Smith.
The 2024 growing season started well, except for a short spell of cold weather during flowering, ultimately limiting the size of the harvest to between 30% and 50% of normal volumes. After that, warm weather led to a steady maturation of the grapes right up until harvest, producing "shining examples of the Kumeu Style", to quote Michael.
All wines are in limited availability. Balanced orders requested for Single-Vineyard estate wines, 1:1 with Estate or Ray's Road Chardonnay.
Offered ex-cellars, available October 2025.
| WHITE | 2019 | 1 case | Kumeu River - Estate Chardonnay | Magnum | £125 per case of 3 | Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2019 / 1 case / Magnum £125 per case of 3 |
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| WHITE | 2022 | 2 cases | Kumeu River - Hunting Hill Chardonnay | 75cl | £380 per case of 12 | Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2022 / 2 cases / 75cl £380 per case of 12 |
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Tasting Notes"The 2022 Hunting Hill Chardonnay is mouthfilling and obvious in its outlay of flavor in the mouth—yellow peach, apricot, Golden Delicious apple, beeswax/lanolin and ripe lime flesh. The flutter of acidity that feathers the fruit is compelling and alluring in its power and juiciness. An exciting wine. It's a wine I want to drink (I will; the perks) and a wine I am enjoying considering too. It's intellectual and sensorial/corporeal in equal measure. The Hunting Hill Vineyard was planted in 1982 and overlooks Mate's Vineyard. This is a pleasurable, exciting, fleshy, complex, salty, kaleidoscopic wine. Excellent. Recommended. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink 2023-2037. 95+ points" Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com------"The 2022 Chardonnay Hunting Hill is an impressive, focused style. It has a sense of energy, being almost buoyant with the movement of a skimming stone across your palate. There's a powerful core of fruit here and it has plenty of substance within its no-more-than medium-bodied core before kerpow! It fires home with an almost spicy kick. Clever oak use, reminiscent of toasted nuts, meets restrained flavors of lemon and lime bitter and nectarine fruit. A wine that's still in its cocoon so give it time. It may even have the edge of Maté's.. Big call. 96 points" Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com |
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| WHITE | 2023 | 5 cases | Kumeu River - Coddington Chardonnay | 75cl | £150 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay 2023 / 5 cases / 75cl £150 per case of 6 |
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Tasting NotesTIED 1:1 WITH 2023 ESTATE OR RAY'S ROAD "The complexity and flintiness are so enticing, with sliced apples, lemons, minerals and gunpowder. Full-bodied, dense and intense, with subtle brioche, cooked lemon and apple notes. Racy and steely but with richness underneath. Some lemongrass. So complex. Drink or hold. Screw cap. 95 points." James Suckling, Aug '24 |
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| WHITE | 2023 | 10 cases | Kumeu River - Estate Chardonnay | 75cl | £90 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2023 / 10 cases / 75cl £90 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"This is fresh, crunchy and clean, with mineral and spice notes and plenty of salty undertones. Sliced lemons and apples. Medium-bodied with a fresh finish....93 points." James Suckling, Aug '24 |
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| WHITE | 2023 | 4 cases | Kumeu River - Hunting Hill Chardonnay | 75cl | £190 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2023 / 4 cases / 75cl £190 per case of 6 |
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Tasting NotesTIED 1:1 WITH 2023 ESTATE OR RAY'S ROAD "Aromas of apples, white peaches and steel with hints of lemongrass, fresh basil, flint and white flowers. Medium- to full-bodied with a tight and dense center palate and a crunchy and flavorful finish. Energetic acidity. So fresh yet dense at the same time. 96 points." James Suckling, Aug '24 |
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| WHITE | 2023 | 2 cases | Kumeu River - Maté's Chardonnay | 75cl | £200 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Maté's Chardonnay 2023 / 2 cases / 75cl £200 per case of 6 |
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Tasting NotesTIED 1:1 WITH 2023 ESTATE OR RAY'S ROAD "Very steely and floral, with brightness and impressive aromas of honeysuckle, lemongrass and just a touch of cream. Medium- to full-bodied with layered and creamy phenolics that give a lovely, almost velvety texture to the wine, and then the end is so crisp and minerally. Driven at the end. Needs time to come together. This will be so complex in three to four years. Best after 2027. 97 points." James Suckling, Aug '24 |
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| WHITE | 2023 | 6 cases | Kumeu River - Ray's Road Chardonnay | 75cl | £95 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Ray's Road Chardonnay 2023 / 6 cases / 75cl £95 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"A tight, focused and dense white. Sliced cooked apples, minerals and stone, with hints of dried mangoes. It’s medium-bodied and focused with a flavorful finish. Lime undertones. Drink or hold. 94 points." James Suckling, Aug '24 |
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| WHITE | 2024 | Kumeu River - Coddington Chardonnay | 75cl | £175 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay 2024 / / 75cl £175 per case of 6 |
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Tasting NotesSOLD OUT "The 2024 Coddington Chardonnay is alive on the palate with preserved lemon rind, tendrils of crushed shells and layers of brine. It is electric, in its way. There are salted and crushed nuts on the middle palate and length, which uncoils through the finish that allows a second and third look at the detail inherent within. This is very exciting and also creamy. It was tasted as a tank sample prior to filtration and bottling. 2025-2039. 94-96 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate |
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| WHITE | 2024 | 28 cases | Kumeu River - Estate Chardonnay | 75cl | £95 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2024 / 28 cases / 75cl £95 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"The 2024 Estate Chardonnay is floral and tightly coiled, with a scratched lime backbone. It's not as complex as the Ray's Road tasted alongside, yet it's utterly composed and restrained. It is mineral and very good indeed. This was tasted as a tank sample prior to filtration and bottling. 2025-2034. 90-92 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate |
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| WHITE | 2024 | 3 cases | Kumeu River - Hunting Hill Chardonnay | 75cl | £200 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2024 / 3 cases / 75cl £200 per case of 6 |
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Tasting NotesTIED 1:1 WITH 2023 ESTATE OR RAY'S ROAD "The 2024 Hunting Hill Chardonnay is the ripest in alcohol of the 2024 releases, and it feels powerfully layered and driven on the palate. This is rich, almost thunderous in its positioning, with salted citrus and exotic spices (star anise/fennel/scraped vanilla pod). The oak here is polished and elegant, smoothing down any stray, loose hairs. The barrels have been air dried for three years and lightly toasted. The finish is tight and focused. This was tasted as a tank sample prior to filtration and bottling. 2025-2039. 93-95 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate |
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| WHITE | 2024 | 3 cases | Kumeu River - Maté's Chardonnay | 75cl | £210 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Maté's Chardonnay 2024 / 3 cases / 75cl £210 per case of 6 |
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Tasting NotesTIED 1:1 WITH 2023 ESTATE OR RAY'S ROAD "The 2024 Maté's Vineyard Chardonnay is mouthfilling and full, easily the biggest and most powerful of the single-vineyard Chardonnays in this 2024 release. "In terms of quality, 2024 is up there with the best of them: 2022, 2020, 2014..." This feels perhaps as statuesque and thrilling as the best of the Maté's so far, with intensity that explodes in every direction on the palate—length and width—with spicy top notes and a thunderous base of yellow fruit. The acidity, as usual, coils and weaves its way across the palate, lacing together the fruit and phenolics with seamless intensity. This is very good. 2025-2039. 95-97 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate |
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| WHITE | 2024 | 36 cases | Kumeu River - Ray's Road Chardonnay | 75cl | £95 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Ray's Road Chardonnay 2024 / 36 cases / 75cl £95 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"The 2024 Rays Road Chardonnay leads with a spicy, almost exotic nose, while the palate strides in smooth, sleek movements. This is creamy and a little nutty, and there are wet limestone notes in the mouth, alongside yellow citrus and layers of dried herbs, cracked fennel seeds, ginger root and fruit flavors. A lovely wine, it's weighted on the back palate and long through the finish. I tasted this as a tank sample prior to filtration and bottling. The Ray's Road vineyard is on a limestone base and has been significantly worked and replanted since the Kumeu River purchase in 2021. 2025-2039. 92-94 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate |
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