2025 Kumeu River Rays Road Chardonnay, Hawke's Bay

Kumeu River is regarded as one of New Zealand’s premier wine producers and has set the benchmark for Burgundian-inspired Chardonnays for decades.

Rays Road is their first vineyard outside of the western Auckland, and a geographical and stylistic outlier in their portfolio of wines. Acquired in the late-2017, the dry-farmed site is located at Raukawa in Hawke’s Bay and sits on a north-facing limestone hillside at an elevation of 180–200 metres, its position making it markedly cooler than the majority of that region.

Earlier plantings of Chardonnay were largely Clone 95, but newer blocks of Clones 15 and 548 are maturing and contributing more fruit to this blend, adding depth, nuance and texture while retaining the vineyard’s freshness and mineral drive. The wines are zesty, fragrant and finely structured, with bright citrus, pronounced acidity and chalky mineral complexity that distinguishes them from Kumeu’s richer Auckland Chardonnays.

Pair with pristine textures, naturally sweet fresh seafood and clean, savoury fats. Try with delicacies such as scallop carpaccio served with a yuzu kosho dressing or pipis tossed with Iberico ham and Fino style sherry.