Super Special
2014 Comtes de Champagne
$530 | $449 | $445 in 3-Packs!
This is a great release of this benchmark 100% Grand Cru chardonnay "Prestige Cuvee" from the very best sites in the Cote des Blancs. I tasted this yesterday as it's only recently been released. At 12yo it's still youthful and forcefully vibrant; but there is no denying its richness and complexity from the amazingly high quality grapes, long 10 years of bottle ageing on lees, and the 8% or so barrel aged component. The aromas and palate are a perfectly balanced party of lemony fruit with some white peach, nougat, buscuitty and (white) floral notes; and undertones of toasty almond, dry hay and mandarin peel. The structural grip is just right and the balance of the dosage also. I want to drink some of this at 22 years of age! Cheers, Randall
Vinous.com 97pts. 98pts. Essi Avellan MW. 97pts. jamessuckling.com
2025 Single Site Release
Kumeu River Estate
Kumeu River Estate
Earlier this year, in Burgundy, I was served a blind wine, that I "saw clearly" was a classic and great 1er Cru St Aubin from a top producer and about a 2016 vintage. Well, I got the year right, but the wine was Mate's Vineyard from Kumeu. It was youthful, delicious, tight, classy and generous, all at the same time. My goodness, these wines, from bottom to top, are ALWAYS great! I tasted the whole range of single sites this morning and they are right up there with the best that the Kumeu team with their great vineyards can conjure up. Cheers, Randall.
"If Michael Brajkovich MW were a Burgundian rather than a New Zealander, he would be among the most celebrated white winemakers in the Côte de Beaune, right up there with the likes of Dominique Lafon, Pierre-Vves Colin Morey and Jean-Marc Roulot...A Kiwi wine that’s better than many Puligny-Montrachets." Tim Aitkin MW.
"This retrospective tasting of a further 30 wines demonstrated extraordinary consistency and ageability of Kumeu River Chardonnays. What was also clear was that, a bit like that other famed Chardonnay exponent Domaine Jean-François Coche-Dury, the quality gap between their most basic wine is much narrower than the difference in price suggests." Jancis Robinson.
2025 Kumeu River Village Pinot Noir $29 | Offer: $24.90
This is a beautiful bright cherry red /burgundy colour with lifted red fruit aromas immediately wafting on pour. On the palate the wine is cool, round and fruity and with a nice hint of chalky tannin that keeps the wine dry and refreshing.
So far there are no commentator scores on this wine, but it is as good as you expect from a Kumeu wine made with the gifted and safe hands of Michael Brajkovich MW, from hand-picked quality fruit from Rays Road (Hawke’s Bay) vineyard and the home block at Kumeu (Auckland). The Auckland component provided extra richness and structure whilst the enticing fruit and pinot perfume of the Hawke’s Bay portion added silk and seduction. Overall the balance is near perfect, oak well-buried and finally a really impressive length for a wine of this modest price!
2025 Kumeu River Village Chardonnay$29 | Offer: $24.90
In a perfect world there should always be a bottle of this wine in the fridge. Fermented 40% in old French oak barriques, and 60% in stainless steel tanks - there is very little oak influence on either nose or palate. This has allowed the vibrant fruit to show through beautifully with lively lime, pineapple and lemon aromas and a flinty, mineral edginess with hints of fig and white peach.
'Pale greenish straw. Real grip and zest and very much house style. Zesty citrus and mouth-filling...Bone-dry finish.' 16.5/20 Pts. - Jancis Robinson
'Entry-level Chardonnay that has been made with the sort of care and attention that leaves an indelible Kumeu River stamp...' Bob Campbell MW
2025 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay$59 | Offer: $49.90
This is from 6 sites around Kumeu that are tightly controlled and carefully farmed by the Brajkovich family. I was surprised to learn that this has 20% new oak as, apart from a gentle whisp of spiced vanilla apple, the oak is well buried within the wine. It has good clean ripeness, great depth and classic Kumeu clay-soil firmness and backbone. Michael says "it's one of the very best we have made and will be in a nice window at 6 years of age" although we know it can easily hold for longer than that. This is a classic Kumeu that has pineapple, lemon, spice and a hint of peach fruit, all with good lees and barrel ageing complexity. Bring it on!
2025 Kumeu River Ray's Road Chardonnay$59 | Offer: $49.90
Ray's Road is family-owned limestone-based site and therein lies its point of difference. Where the 'Estate" is clay-based and firmer, this one is more mineral-driven and not dissimilar to a richer style of chablis. According to Michael "It's the best so far, cleaner and firmer on the palate." It's youthfully reserved and offers a tight coil of ripe fruits, with yellow citrus and chalky rocky structure. These are always a "sedate" 12.5-13.5 alc with a very impressive (low) pH of 3.2 at full ripeness.
2025 Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay$103 | Offer: $94
This is usually the smallest (1.8ha) and most opulent of the single sites due to the "sun-trap" north-facing nature of this site. Good ripeness with classy balance, well-hidden 25% new oak and the signature textured firm phenolic Kumeu "clay" backbone are on offer here. Certainly this is one of the best ever Coddingtons, showing more energy and finesse than earlier releases.
2025 Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay
Offer: $109
Whereas Coddington is 5.5km west of the Kumeu cellar, Hunting Hill is adjacent to the winery and the famed mate's Vineyard. According to Paul, it's "defined by tension and fragrance, a tight, more linear, focused style." This is certainly the case with the lovely 2025 with its "cooler" elegant, mineral / chalky and intense style. This is going to age well as it's hiding its power and density so well, but look carefully and it's all there. because the wine can easily handle it, it's matured in "Hand Select" (expensive) Francois Freres barrels (25% new), and the wine carries this well absorbing all of this high quality oak flavour and tannin with ease.
2025 Kumeu River Mates Vineyard Chardonnay
Offer: $117
This is a "sacred site" for chardonnay in new Zealand, planted in 1990. It's the "Mendoza" clone with tiny berries that imbue the wine with more tannic backbone and of course, depth of flavour. This has plenty of impressive fruit and beautiful intricate and varied flavours that all combine to give a wine of greatness and a 20 year development potential. The well-used "iron fist in a velvet glove" phrase fits here.
