2023 Kumeu River Rays Road Chardonnay, Hawkes Bay

A tight, focused and dense white. Sliced cooked apples, minerals and stone, with hints of dried mangoes. It’s medium-bodied and focused with a flavorful finish. Lime undertones. Drink or hold.

94 points jamessuckling.com

All of the Kumeu River Chardonnay are supple and approachable but the limestone soils of this vineyard give us quite a different expression to the vineyards in Kumeu. 

The wine is fragrant and flinty with a hint of pink grapefruit. The palate is supple but with a limestone edge that is piercing and lingering. It will be interesting to see how this wine develops but we fully expect to see it improve with bottle age along the same lines as the other Kumeu River wines.