"...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 | 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 Notes"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 | 2 cases | Kumeu River - Estate Chardonnay | 75cl | £90 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2023 / 2 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 Notes"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 Notes"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 | 24 cases | Kumeu River - Estate Chardonnay | 75cl | £95 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2024 / 24 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------"Is the 2024 Chardonnay Estate the best ever here? Quite possibly. It displays excellent concentration, especially considering this is "just" the estate wine. The 2024 is absolutely banging with intensity, tension and punch. There's a lot going on for your money. Expect a lightly infused brightness with scintillating citrus and integrated nutty layers and complexity. Plenty to unravel. 92 points" Rebecca Gibb, Vinous.com |
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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 Notes"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 | 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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| WHITE | 2025 | Kumeu River - Coddington Chardonnay | 75cl | £175 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay 2025 / / 75cl £175 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"25% new oak and otherwise just like the other single-vineyard Chardonnays. Milan Brajkovich has at last managed to sign a five-year lease with the absentee Asian owner who had been hoping to develop the site. Vines, 100% clone 15, are now 30 years old. A more open nose than the Estate! Sweet start and very approachable and flattering. The boudoir smell of a powder-puff impression and then a little fresh bitterness on the powerful finish. 2025-2037. 17 points." Jancis Robinson------"The 2025 Coddington Chardonnay is mineral, detailed, talcy and exciting. I always love this cuvée. It's not obviously powerful (though the clay soils in this vineyard do produce a wine of density), like Maté's, and it's not ripe and concentrated like the Hunting Hill; rather, this offers a lighter, more ethereal-noted wine. Like, it's quite "flowers and pith," "talc and cloth." It's a beauty, and never more so than in this brilliant 2025 vintage. The oak and fruit are gloriously harmonious here. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink Date: 2026 - 2045. 96 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate------"Terrific aromas of terra cotta, sliced apple, flint, smoke and lightly cooked apple with puree. Medium-bodied with crunchy fruit and a white pepper and spice character. Luscious. From old vines planted in 1994. Always top. Drink or hold. 97 points" Jamessuckling.com |
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| WHITE | 2025 | Kumeu River - Estate Chardonnay | 75cl | £95 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2025 / / 75cl £95 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"Sourced from six Kumeu vineyard sites, not all owned but definitely managed by the family. They have lost a couple of ingredients over the last few years so volumes have slightly decreased. This is Kumeu River’s most clonally diverse Chardonnay bottling. Whole-bunch pressed and 100% barrel fermentation (20% new) with ambient yeast. Aged 11 months. Looks quite substantial, even dense! Leaner on the nose than the Hawke’s Bay wines. Lots to chew on. The most ambitious Estate bottling yet. This would not look out of place at all in Puligny! Chalky texture on the finish. 2026-2032. 17+ points." Jancis Robinson------"Hailing from the exceptional 2025 growing season, the 2025 Estate Chardonnay leads initially with toasty/pencilly oak notes; however, the fruit on the palate is where the quality of the vintage is on show. Here we have yellow peach, sea salt, toasted sage leaf (even bay), quince, fig and white flowers. The acidity is prodigious, and this serves as a prop in the middle of the palate, providing real tension and fierceness to the otherwise ripe fruit. This is a very good wine, and the length through the finish is impressive. 13.6% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 93 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate------"Very aromatic, with white peaches and orchard blossom lifted by a touch of sourdough and wet clay. Medium-bodied, with brisk acidity setting the tone, subtle and delicate in feel with crisp freshness running through to a long, precise finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap. 94 points" Jamessuckling.com |
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| WHITE | 2025 | Kumeu River - Estate Chardonnay | Magnum | £110 per case of 3 | Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2025 / / Magnum £110 per case of 3 |
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Tasting Notes"Sourced from six Kumeu vineyard sites, not all owned but definitely managed by the family. They have lost a couple of ingredients over the last few years so volumes have slightly decreased. This is Kumeu River’s most clonally diverse Chardonnay bottling. Whole-bunch pressed and 100% barrel fermentation (20% new) with ambient yeast. Aged 11 months. Looks quite substantial, even dense! Leaner on the nose than the Hawke’s Bay wines. Lots to chew on. The most ambitious Estate bottling yet. This would not look out of place at all in Puligny! Chalky texture on the finish. 2026-2032. 17+ points." Jancis Robinson------"Hailing from the exceptional 2025 growing season, the 2025 Estate Chardonnay leads initially with toasty/pencilly oak notes; however, the fruit on the palate is where the quality of the vintage is on show. Here we have yellow peach, sea salt, toasted sage leaf (even bay), quince, fig and white flowers. The acidity is prodigious, and this serves as a prop in the middle of the palate, providing real tension and fierceness to the otherwise ripe fruit. This is a very good wine, and the length through the finish is impressive. 13.6% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 93 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate------"Very aromatic, with white peaches and orchard blossom lifted by a touch of sourdough and wet clay. Medium-bodied, with brisk acidity setting the tone, subtle and delicate in feel with crisp freshness running through to a long, precise finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap. 94 points" Jamessuckling.com |
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| WHITE | 2025 | Kumeu River - Hunting Hill Chardonnay | 75cl | £200 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2025 / / 75cl £200 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"The finest and most burgundian of Kumeu River Chardonnays. From a 3.37-ha vineyard replanted in 2001. 25% new French oak. Although the acidity is more obvious in this wine than its stablemates, it always hits reaches 14% alcohol even though it is the first to be picked because the vineyard is so healthy and has no virus unlike, for example, Maté’s, which is the last to be picked because of virus. Much more restrained nose and more floral/ferny than fruity. Not exactly savoury but with very finely textured citrus juice and peel notes. Sappy, juicy, lip-smacking on the palate but high-toned on the nose. Definitely not sweet. Dry finish. Long, still-quite-chewy finish. 2028-2040. 17+ points." Jancis Robinson------"The 2025 Hunting Hill Chardonnay is ripe and thunderous, with salted peach, walnuts and stewed apple notes. This is flavorsome, opulent and impressively distinct from the Maté's tasted alongside—the vineyards are a stone's throw from each other. This is nettle-y, laden with apple skins and driven by fruit intensity. The acidity remains a concentrated and powerful player on stage here, as with all the Kumeu River cuvées. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink Date: 2026 - 2040. 94 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate------"Floral and fragrant, with white blossoms and a touch of white pepper on top, joined by crushed stones and a hint of raw almond. Medium- to full-bodied and very textural, showing firmness, staying tense and vertical, with a beautiful interplay between the driving acidity and distinct minerality. Finishes stony and citrusy. Drink or hold. Screw cap. 95 points" Jamessuckling.com |
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| WHITE | 2025 | Kumeu River - Maté's Chardonnay | 75cl | £210 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Maté's Chardonnay 2025 / / 75cl £210 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"35-year-old 100% Mendoza vines replanted in 1993, named after the late Maté Brajkovich, father of winemaker Michael and viticulturist Milan. Always the last to be picked because of virus. Rich and pineapple on the nose. Big and bold in a Kumeu context with a little bitterness on the end. A conundrum in that the nose is so exhibitionist yet it’s not that potent. This has traditionally been the most expensive Kumeu River Chardonnay but that convention dates from a time when big, bold wines were more fashionable than they are today. 2026-2036. 17 points." Jancis Robinson------"The 2025 Maté's Vineyard Chardonnay is powerful and nutty, with ripe orchard fruit. There are also notes of white pepper, pressed linen, green apple, chamomile and salted cashews. The palate is predictably powerful and unbelievably concentrated, with depth and length that feels interminable. This is an exceptional release of Maté's, one you should make every effort to taste. These wines age so well; don't acquire them with the expectation that they must be consumed soon. They have a decades-long future ahead, if only you have the patience. 13.7% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink Date: 2026 - 2045. 97 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate------"Very aromatic with sliced lime, pear skin, chardonnay skin, white pepper and lilacs that follow through to a medium- to full-bodied wine with density in the center palate and a long finish of sliced apple and pear, salt and light nuts. Lightly flinty at the end. It is very open already but subtle. Drink now. Screw cap. 97 points" Jamessuckling.com |
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| WHITE | 2025 | Kumeu River - Ray's Road Chardonnay | 75cl | £95 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Ray's Road Chardonnay 2025 / / 75cl £95 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"Made like the Estate Chardonnay except that there may have been one or two new barrels. Nothing but their own newish plantings (from 2018) of Chardonnay now in this bottling, so no clone 95, just clone 15, 548 and perhaps a little Mendoza. Next year they’ll release a single-parcel Hawke’s Bay bottling that’s not yet named and this will be followed by a second parcel bottling the following year. Tight, introvert nose – quite steely. Sleek and fresh with an obvious, though mild, oak corset. Quite structured. Lots to chew on and a little bit of passion-fruit flavour. 2027-2034. 17+ points." Jancis Robinson, Sep '26------"The 2025 Rays Road Chardonnay comes from the Hawke's Bay vineyard, and the nose leads with creamed cashew, white peach, citrus pith and salted caper brine. The palate is creamy and sleek, with bright acidity and talcy phenolics through the open-weave finish. There's a lot of unspent power here—it feels raw and unbridled somehow. This is impressive and quite different from the other cuvées, though it continues to bear the hallmarks of the Kumeu River house style. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink Date:2026 - 2040. 94 points." Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate------"Aromas of crushed stone and flint with subtle apple and transparency on the nose. Medium-bodied, with a solid core of fruit and a long, tangy finish. Vibrant and vivid chardonnay. Drink now. Screw cap. 96 points" Jamessuckling.com |
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