My wife and daughter were out of town last night, so I was left to fend for myself…
I purchased a case of the 2014 Mate’s Vineyard on release and thought I should give one a spin.
TN, I decanted the wine into a tall narrow decanter because these wines are all bottled with a screw cap seal which I tend to think accentuates any reduction.
The nose has a hint of stone fruits and some toasted French oak,
The palate shows some initial reduction which lends the wine an elegant length, as the wine airs in the decanter it opens up and shows some nicely integrated medium toast oak with a hint of white peaches.
`The finish is all about the phenolic grip (which is accentuated by the slightly deficient acidity).
This is a very well made wine but you would never confuse it for white burgundy, a very solid effort for an Auckland vineyard and a good match for the Poaka Pig Farm products that I used to make antipasto .
These are terrific wines. I bought some of the basic (not single vineyard) 2017 and 2018 recently. Beautifully balance, and with enough complexity to keep my interest.
I love Kumeu River wines, and to be honest what is white burgundy? There are so many styles I am not sure we can say whether a wine tastes or not like white burgundy. I know a lot of people like to compare, but one thing for sure, this certainly is one of the best producers of Chardonnay in the New World.
Heartily agree with you on the BTG option for the Village & the Estate Kumeu’s in restaurants Marcus. A local pizza place has the Village BTG and it is my absolute go to when I’m there. Other wines struggle to compete with the VFM of the Village in my opinion. I haven’t been for a while so I’m guessing that they should have flipped on to the '20 vintage, so I must get back in soon. A reminder too that I must tuck away a few bottles of the '20 Estate in the cellar as well. A nice each way bet, whether drunk young or with a bit of bottle age.
Recently drank a bottle of the 2014 Hunting Hill Chardonnay from Kumeu River which was absolutely in its sweet spot. The 2020 wines have just been released to high aclaim.
Have had many of the SV versions and loved every one of them. Picked up a case of the 2017 Village and did not care for it at all. That seems to be an opinion in the minority.
Been drinking the 2017 Kumeu ‘Village’ Chardonnay [NZ] the last two (very hot) afternoons, and I find it to be ‘ok’. It’s shows a crisp edge and lemony/zesty notes, that are on the higher acid side for my tastes. According to the back label it seems to have all the right pedigree - made by a MW, hand harvested, lees stirred, whole bunch pressed etc. - which is impressive for a blended, multi area bottle. But it doesn’t have the richness - the Big Flavor - I have gotten used to in NorCal commercial UC Davis styled chardonnay. Light bodied, 13% abv, pale in color, kind of apertify style blanc for me. I do like that its bottled under a modern closure - and I don’t get any reductive notes - and can be kept in my (overworked) fridge for a few days. Just not jazzed up about it, and would not step up for the SV bottlings based on this. FWIW Craggy Range’s interpretation of the varietal impressed me more, and I reloaded on those. I’d slot this into the B grade, properly made but not memorable. Maybe white Burgundy enthusiasts might like it more.
