2008 Kumeu River Chardonnay Maté’s Vineyard- New Zealand, North Island, Auckland, Kumeu (4/20/2014)
Under screwcap. Tasted non-blind. Fairly deep gold. A little reduction on the nose. Mealiness on bouquet, notes of pear, blanched almonds, lemon and minerals. On palate, fresh and ripe with bright acidity. About medium fruit weight, with good structure. Flavours of pear, lemons, nuts and custard, with intensity and minerals on the back palate. Oak present but well integrated. Alcohol restrained (13.5% on label). Not very New World in style. Tasted blind, I might well have confused this with White Burgundy, for example a 2008 Puligny-Montrachet. My sense is that it is in its optimal drinking window now and will be for the next few years. Vines planted about 1990. One of three SV reserve wines, with Coddington and Hunting Hill, made by this Chardonnay specialist, from west of Auckland (92 pts.)
I think it’s the '06 Coddington that I’ve seen closed out for about $15 a bottle in Seattle. Yes, I can and do search for information, but in case anyone has thoughts they haven’t shared online, any opinions on the wine? I didn’t buy but may go back on my next visit assuming it’s still there.
Vincent, I’d snatch their hand off at that. Coddington is typically the prettiest of the three SVs and often the one I like best (eg 2008 and 2009). I haven’t had the 2006 Coddington for a while. If looked after in the shop, the 2006 should be drinking well.
Here the winery is selling the 2006 Hunting Hill at $60 (they’re mainly selling 2011s).
Peter, the $60 is NZD and is higher than normal I suspect for people to buy an older SV from the vineyard with impeccable provenance. The Coddington and HH here go for closer to US40 than your US30, although you can of course sometimes find it a discount.
I get that different markets need to be priced differently due to factors like different levels of visibility etc. but it does still annoy me that NZ premium wines are often priced so much higher here than overseas.