Latest 2022 releases from Kumeu River Estate
The 2022 Chardonnays from Kumeu River in New Zealand have been released for sale, in advance of landing in the UK this autumn. We have just tasted the complete range and we can say with some pleasure that the wines are as superb as the preceding three highly-rated vintages.
This is a classic year, with plenty of freshness and mineral character to balance the ripeness of the wines. As is often the case in such vintages, the differences in terroir are beautifully accentuated in 2022 and the single vineyards wines express their identity very clearly.
Ray's Road stood out for us as being excellent value, with a Puligny-like refinement and tension that will develop beautifully with 12 months or so in bottle from landing. The Ray's Road vineyard in Hawke's Bay is at nearly 200m altitude, hence conditions are cooler than most of Hawke's Bay, which shows off the limestone terroir here beautifully. Low-yielding rootstocks and carefully selected clones on this excellent terroir contribute to the fine, mineral style.
As ever, stock is very limited relative to demand, hence we ask for balanced orders for Coddington, Hunting Hill, and Matés, 1:1 with either the Estate or Ray's Road Chardonnay.
Offered ex-cellars, landing in the UK in autumn 2023.
| WHITE | 2022 | 2 cases | Kumeu River - Coddington Chardonnay | 75cl | £142 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay 2022 / 2 cases / 75cl £142 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"The 2022 Coddington Chardonnay has breadth and depth. Its rounded and shapely curves seem to shimmy as if it was comfortably settling onto a bean bag, finding its place. Honeysuckle, pear and melon meet spiced oak. The concluding texture is well considered and cleverly done with tension. The new oak (25%) provides a corset for the wine to sit within and tightens it up, as if the wine is held by a pair of control pants. 93 points" Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com------"The 2022 Coddington Chardonnay leads with lemon balm/oil, green-olive brine, crème brûlée top (a.k.a. scorched brown sugar), peach fuzz, and an abundance of orchard fruit. In the mouth, kiwi fruit acidity (a.k.a. juicy, sweet, tart) defines the perimeters of the flavors and beckons you in for another, closer look. It's very, very good, a distinct wine, pure, all aspects delineated and deliberate. I like this. It feels orderly and mathematical. If the wine had a sound, it would be a straight-pace bowl at the wickets, one flying out of stumps (name a better sound, I'll wait). It's not that immediately obvious, though; it builds and takes a while to assert itself, and I like that too. Very good. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink 2023 - 2037. 95 points" Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com |
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| WHITE | 2022 | 10 cases | Kumeu River - Estate Chardonnay | 75cl | £85 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2022 / 10 cases / 75cl £85 per case of 6 |
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Tasting NotesDessert pear, quince, some exotic fruit (paw paw?), lemon and slight smokey aromas on the nose, with a rich texture on the attack leading to an intensely saline, mineral mid-palate. Expansive across the palate but still in perfect balance. This could pass for St-Aubin or Auxey-Duresses in a blind tasting, with its combination of tautness and concentration. Lime acidity on finish, a top-notch 'Estate'. RKL------"The 2022 Chardonnay Estate is calm, its shoulders are down and its almost succulent in its personality as it makes it debut in your mouth. The acidity is gentle, particularly when compared with the nervosity of 2021. There's a fine textural character that could well be tannin that keeps this giving and leaves you licking your lips. Flavors of nectarine, clove and vanilla-like oak notes make for a rather festive finish (20 % new oak). The nectarine-infused length persists making this one that'll slip down easily over the next 3-5 years at the very least. 91 points" Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com |
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| WHITE | 2022 | 2 cases | Kumeu River - Hunting Hill Chardonnay | 75cl | £180 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2022 / 2 cases / 75cl £180 per case of 6 |
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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 | 2022 | 3 cases | Kumeu River - Ray's Road Chardonnay | 75cl | £95 per case of 6 | Kumeu River Ray's Road Chardonnay 2022 / 3 cases / 75cl £95 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes"The 2022 Chardonnay Rays Road is restrained and reticent. It's certainly not a fruit bomb of a Hawke's Bay Chardonnay with its pithy precision, slightly salty, flinty character and buzz of nervous acid tension. Rays Road is generally less opulent than most, and the austerity seems to be a character of the site, particularly from the first few vintages. Nevertheless, full malo and 11 months on lees adds texture and padding to the mid-palate. Pear, honeysuckle and melon fruit ally with subtle spiced cedar, which nods to the older French barrels used for fermentation on the medium-long finish. 91 points" Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com ------"The 2022 Rays Road Chardonnay is fine and spicy, with a tense line of acidity and phenolics—they feel linear and interwoven—that stream through the fruit. This is a very pretty, pithy Chardonnay with ground white pepper, white flesh peach, crushed shells, layers of juniper berry and star anise/cut fennel inflections. I like the staying power of the fruit in the mouth. It is persistent and long. This is really nicely done, and I'm looking forward to seeing this wine (and this vineyard) more over its journey. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink 2023-2032. 93 points" Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com |
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