2014 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.

Amongst the very best Chardonnay producers in the world is Kumeu River in New Zealand. Their Chardonnays were put to the test a few years ago when several were assessed blind, intermixed with some very serious Puligny-Montrachets and Meursaults. Kumeu River triumphed to such an extent that it became almost embarrassing. And to think that you can buy an entire case of Kumeu River for the cost of a single bottle of some Grand Crus.

I have been following Kumeu River and its founders, the Brajkovich family, for many years, and in fact, a tasting held in 1999 formed one of the first pieces I ever wrote for the original Wine-Journal. But I had never undertaken a vertical tasting of their flagship Chardonnays, at least until UK agent Farr Vintners assembled the last 12 vintages of the Estate Chardonnay, Maté’s Vineyard, Hunting Hill and Coddington, inviting co-owner Paul Brajkovich to oversee what he described as “the most comprehensive Kumeu River tasting ever done.” Here was a chance to compare the vineyards, examine their ageing potential (under screwcap, of course) and learn more of their story.