2025 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay, Auckland

Very aromatic, with white peaches and orchard blossom lifted by a touch of sourdough and wet clay. Medium-bodied, with brisk acidity setting the tone, subtle and delicate in feel with crisp freshness running through to a long, precise finish. Drink or hold.

94 points Andrii Stetsiuk for James Suckling, August 2026

Hailing from the exceptional 2025 growing season, the 2025 Estate Chardonnay leads initially with toasty/pencilly oak notes; however, the fruit on the palate is where the quality of the vintage is on show. Here we have yellow peach, sea salt, toasted sage leaf (even bay), quince, fig and white flowers. The acidity is prodigious, and this serves as a prop in the middle of the palate, providing real tension and fierceness to the otherwise ripe fruit. This is a very good wine, and the length through the finish is impressive. Drink to 2035.

93 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, September 2026

Lemon, grapefruit/citrus flavours, creamy lees and oatmeal aromas. Delicate wine with very appealing flavour, possessing depth and complexity above its station. Drink to 2033.

93 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, August 2026

The Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay draws on six vineyard sites across the Kumeu region that the Brajkovich family has tended since the 1940s.

The 2025 season was a remarkably dry one for northern New Zealand. The consistently warm conditions developed good intensity of flavours and moderate yields. Hand harvested, whole bunch pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in French oak barrels of which a fifth were new. The wine rested eleven months on lees before bottling.

Pale gold, the nose shows lemon, nectarine and apple with croissant, toasted nut and a thread of smoky mineral. The palate is medium-bodied and composed with bright citrus, creamy texture, fine acidity and a long, dry finish. Utterly composed and genuinely rewarding.

We're firmly in Chardonnay territory, and food choices would sit on wide spectrum from grilled scallops and crab bisque to a fine roast chicken with herbs, or lighter preparations of pork.

Drink now through 2033.