2025 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay, Auckland

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.