Description
Kumeu River - Chardonnay 13.5% 75cl
Winery: Kumeu River
Grape : Chardonnay
Region : New Zealand / South Island / Marlborough
Wine Style: New Zealand Chardonnay
Alcohol Content: 13.5%
Food Pairing: cheese, shellfish, Caesar salad, corned beef and cabbage, turkey pot pie.
Description: This is the newest of Kumeu River's single-vineyard wines. The debut vintage was 2018, but it has taken a few vintages for the wine to assimilate into the Kumeu style. Saying that, it has its own personality, much of which down to the fact that the vineyards for this wine are located in Hawkes Bay, on an elevated vineyard of pure limestone. The resulting wine is closer to Chablis in style as opposed to the rounder, Cote d'Or of the Auckland single vineyard wines.
The nose, at this stage, is quiet but there is a tremendous amount of latent complexity lurking underneath. With a little coaxing the wine shows vibrant minerality and citrus-like fruit, more towards to lighter side of the fruit spectrum - more yellow than golden fruits. Although we enjoyed previous vintages, this is the first time I really thought that it was worth that little bit extra over the Estate Chardonnay, and for those with deep cellars, this could take some serious ageing