„As a growing season 2024 was perfect for producing a quality harvest built on brightness and piercing fruit. The season was warm and dry, though temperatures never exceeded 29 degrees celsius, allowing for a slow development of flavour and retention of brighter aromatics. Yields, however, are down 30% in Auckland and 50% at Rays Road. This is due to a short cold spell at flowering that significantly reduced the potential yield of the vines early on. Bottom-line, it is a small but high quality vintage for the estate Kumeu River.“
„Full screwcapped bottle 1,348 g. From a 1.8-ha vineyard planted in 1994. Hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed before 100% spontaneous barrel ferment in French oak with 100% malo (25% new French oak). 11 months’ ageing in barrel.“
Such sophisticated, refined, balanced and elegant. Ripe pear, silky texture, nougat/toffee from the barrels and a light subtle acidity. Nothing pretentious, everything is restrained. I love this wine!
94-95/100
P.S. I also recommend the 2024 Estate Chardonnay for 30€
2023 was a difficult vintage Mike with significant rain events but the old adage of ‘great producers making great wines regardless of the vintage’ does ring true. Not the precision of the '24 and won’t be as long lived, but I’m sure you’ll still find much to enjoy when you open it.
Thanks for the great note Martin. I fell for this producer with the 21 Mate’s and every bottle since has been at the very least very good, often great, some have the potential to be exceptional. Have a 3 pack of the 24 Mate’s coming in this fall, the critics seem to be really bullish on that one.
Trying the Kumeu River Chards is a great example on why it is important to keep an open mind regarding wine. Someone was pouring some Aussie Chards and I said meh… I said I’ve been scarred by drinking too many lousy examples of the Aussie animal label chards. Complete garbage wine. He said try this. It was a revelation. Outstanding stuff. Changed my mind and realize Australia can make some great Chardonnay. Also loved the Yabby Lake wines.
Thx for the note Martin, for me you have accurately described the KR house style of restraint and elegance.
BTW 2024 is universally regarded as a great vintage in all NZ major wine regions. Hard to go wrong in 2024.
In Martinborough the Ata Rangi wine maker Helen Masters called 2024 her best ever vintage in more than 25 years and she is most definitely not prone to hype. In Central Otagi the Felton Road wine maker Blair Walter basically said the same thing.
Wine is often about expectations. I was expecting not much from an Aussie Chardonnay. The Kumeu River far exceeded them. I also recently had a Hermitage from France which I believe is a separate country from New Zealand. Correct me if I’m wrong. I was expecting great things from the Hermitage but the wine didn’t meet them. Best Chardonnay drinking experience I ever had was from a Village level Burgundy. It was after a rough day a work and both kids had just departed for Summer camp. A rare moment in peace is probably what I valued more than anything else.
In May 2015, Farr Vintners chairman Stephen Browett organized a landmark blind tasting at the merchant’s London offices to compare Kumeu River’s Chardonnays against renowned white Burgundies.
The Lineup: The tasting included multiple vintages of Kumeu River (Estate, Coddington, Hunting Hill, and Maté’s Vineyard) tasted head-to-head against 17 elite French wines, including bottles from Domaine Leflaive, Louis Latour, and Etienne Sauzet.
The Results: Kumeu River emerged victorious, with the 2007 Kumeu River Maté’s Vineyard taking the number one spot overall, beating out several Grand Cru and Premier Cru Burgundies. The 2010 Kumeu River Hunting Hill also placed exceptionally well.
‚The International Wine and Food Society (IWFS) celebrated the 50th anniversary of the historic 1976 Judgement of Paris with global blind tastings. Hundreds of tasters evaluated wines from across the globe, pitting classic French heavyweights against New World producers.
Best Chardonnay: Kumeu River, Coddington (New Zealand, 2024)
Best Bordeaux Blend: Shafer Vineyards, TD-9 Napa Valley (USA, 2019)
