KUMEU RIVER

2016 Chardonnay Mate's Vineyard

Grapes Chardonnay
Colour White
Origin New Zealand, North Island
ABV 13%
Vineyard Mate's Vineyard

Kumeu River ranks among the very best Kiwi producers of chardonnay, its high quality the result of meticulous work by Michael Brajkovich, New Zealand’s first master of wine. This displays dried-grass complexity, hazelnut, oak and tangerine on the palate, with refreshing salinity to finish. Exceptional. Will Lyons, The Sunday Times (Mar 2019)


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The 2016 Maté’s Vineyard Chardonnay has a surprisingly backward bouquet; this is clearly a wine that will require several years in bottle. But the potential is here. The palate is rounded on the entry, a little more viscous than I expected and more similar in style to the 2015 than to the superior 2014. There is a lot of extract here, and touches of lemongrass and ginger toward the finish, though I would like to see more tension develop. Drinking range: 2020 - 2036 Rating: 91+ Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2019)

Maté's is usually the tightest, most linear of the KR Chards, and that's again the case. The 2016 Mate's Vineyard Chardonnay is marked by smoky new oak, but there's also pineapple and grapefruit notes that create a crisp, acidic spine. Draped off of that are hints of white peaches, roasted hazelnuts and tangerine. There's an almost briny zestiness to the lingering finish that sets it apart from the winery's other single-vineyard bottlings. Drinking range: 2018 - 2028 Rating: 94 Joe Czerwinski, www.robertparker.com (Feb 2018)

A very composed and complete wine that has plenty of vibrant lively fruit freshness on the nose and a smoothly rendered array of ripe peach and nectarine fruits in the mouth. Some warm oak spice builds nicely into the finish. In good form. Drink now. Screw cap. Rating: 96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Dec 2017)

Kumeu River

From the pioneering days to the establishment of the New Zealand wine industry to today, the Brajkovich family have been internationally recognised as producing world class wine. The Brajkovich family continue to harvest their grapes at Kumeu and refine their wine making skills.

The Brajkovichs are nationally recognised as a founding family of the New Zealand wine industry, and the current generation are internationally recognised as producing world class Chardonnay.

Just as the Brajkovich family has grown, so too has the winery itself. Extensions and additions mark the milestones that have seen business adapt and expand over the years. Today, the winery produces around 250,000 bottles annually from 30 hectares of its own vineyards in Kumeu, and another 10 hectares from local growers.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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