2004 Chardonnay Estate

The team at Kumeu River was prepared to declassify the 2023 wines if they didn’t think they came up to scratch. The season had been cruel. Everything was looking good as harvest approached. With just four weeks to go until harvest, winemaker Michael Brajkovich MW went into the Coddington Vineyard because it was the best he had ever seen it look and took some photos. Then it rained. Not just a little bit, but 260mm in 12 hours. The cellar was flooded, albeit for an hour. The vineyards weren’t damaged, but that much water is a recipe for downy mildew. Vines dropped their leaves, leaving only fruit on the vines, but without leaves, there was no photosynthesis to ripen the fruit. As a result, alcohol levels are between 12.5% and 13%, which is the equivalent of half to a full degree below average, and that was with chaptalization. The acidity levels were seen as racy–inevitably, the malic acidity was high in 2023, but after the malolactic conversion, pH levels were fairly standard. The palate weight and concentration are not what we’ve become accustomed to, but nature has had its way. While the acidity will keep these wines tight for decades to come, I’m not convinced some of the wines have what it takes in terms of intensity to last so long. Maté’s seems to have come out of it comparatively unscathed. Unless you’re a die-hard Kumeu drinker, I’d probably give 2023 a pass and buy some of the previous vintages.