2022 KUMEU RIVER Chardonnay Hunting Hill, Lea & Sandeman

KUMEU RIVER

2022 Chardonnay Hunting Hill

IN STOCK
Grapes Chardonnay
Colour White
Origin New Zealand, North Island
ABV 13.5%
Vineyard Hunting Hill

My pick of the portfolio is the sublime Hunting Hill, which shows effortlessly classy fruit, unending beauty and superb control. It is the most forward of the bunch because of its silkiness and openness, and I doubt it will shut down. I have a feeling that it will do something that very few Chardonnays ever manage – to start its life fully open and maintain this full blossom of perfume and flavour until it fades in perhaps fifteen years. 18.5+/20 (Drink 2024 - 2032) Drinking range: 2024 - 2032 Rating: 18.5+/20 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jan 2024)

*Case price discount: Mix any 12 bottles of wine (or 9 litre equivalent) or 6 bottles of Champagne, Spirits, Sweet Wine or Fortified (4.5 litres) to get the discounted 'case price' for each bottle.

Cooked apple and lemon curd with hints of pie crust and sweet biscuit. Some kiwi undertones. Medium-bodied with creamy texture and a flavorful finish. Drink now. Screw cap. Rating: 95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Oct 2023)

25% new oak. Lemon drops are found in grapes tasted by Michael Brajkovich apparently and also in the wine. The price is edging closer to Maté’s. Tense and racy and tight – sort of Chassagne/St-Aubin border?! More obvious acid and tension than in the other Kumeu River Chardonnays. You could definitely enjoy it already if you liked a leaner style but it would benefit from further ageing ideally. Drinking range: 2024 - 2036 Rating: 17.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Sept 2023)

Hunting Hill is a vineyard that was first planted in 1982 and became a significant part of the original Kumeu River Chardonnay blend. Occupying the slope overlooking Maté’s Vineyard, it has always contributed lovely ripe and rich fruit to the Estate Chardonnay. Hunting Hill was replanted in 2000 and is now even better than before, giving beautifully ripe fruit with a distinctive, mealy minerality. The incredible run of vintages since 2019has continued with 2022. The conditions during harvest were suburb and 2022produced a classic Hunting Hill.

VINIFICATION Hand harvested Whole-bunch pressed Indigenous yeast fermentation 100% barrel fermentation 100% malo-lactic fermentation 11 months maturation in barrel

Kumeu's Tasting Notes

Very distinctive terroir driven typicity, with piercing lemon/lime fruit lift and florality on the nose, richness and volume in the mouth followed by lingering acidity and minerality on the finish. This is an absolute classic example of how great the Chardonnay grape can be: A beautifully powerful, yet elegant and complex wine with long term aging ability.
Winemaker's notes (Sept 2023)

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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