We've said it before and we'll say it again, Kumeu River makes the best-value Chardonnays in the world.
Kumeu's Estate and Single-Vineyard bottlings are a proven match for the great Chardonnay estates from anywhere in the world - and for a fraction of the price. Jancis Robinson commented in on her website this week "They are no longer below the radar so prices have been edging up but these Chardonnays are still an absolute steal compared with some white burgundies".
The 2022 vintage was another great one, Kumeu's fourth in a row. Temperatures remained cool (never topping 28°C) and the wines all show tremendous energy and freshness. 2023 by comparison was a little tricky and there will be much less wine made, so we urge customers to stock up on these 2022s whilst they can.
All Kumeu's wines are bottled under screwcap meaning there is no fear of premox or corked bottles.
If you like Chardonnay then these simply need to be in you cellar. In a few years time, when prices inevitably rise further, we'll all be kicking ourselves that we didn't buy more while we still could.
2022 Village Chardonnay
£90 IB per 12x75cl (£12.20 per bottle inc VAT)
An unbeatable house white option year-in, year-out. A total bargain.
"Quite a rich nose with very bright acidity. More palate weight than previous vintages. Good stuff! Already a fine drink. Lime streak. Stony finish. Very Good Value. 13%. Drink 2023 – 2025 "
16.5 points Jancis Robinson
“The 2022 Kumeu Village Chardonnay is a tender and seamless while that flows easily before tying up rather neatly as if reaches its conclusion. It's like an old friend has just opened their door and welcomed you with arms open before they shut the door, with you safely inside You can expect honeydew melon, pear and even a saline note. It is rather smart on the medium length Finish, ifs components tying up the wine neatly with a flourish Clean, precise and lively. 2023-2026”
89 points Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com
2022 Estate Chardonnay
£84 IB per 6x75cl (£20.00 per bottle inc VAT)
A very serious wine, which beats considerably pricier Bourgogne in blind tastings and is still priced very keenly. Good to go immediately but can age too.
“The 2022 Chardonnay Estate is calm, its shoulders are down and its almost succulent in its personality as it makes its debut in your mouth. The acidity is gentle, particularly when compared with the nervosity of 2021. There's a fine textural character that could well be tannin that keeps this giving and leaves you licking your lips. Flavors of nectarine, clove and vanilla-like oak notes make for a rather festive finish (20% new oak). The nectarine-infused length persists making this one that'll slip down easily over the next 3-5 years the very least. 2023- 2028.”
91 points Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com
"Some real richness on the nose. Then a green streak. Very fine texture! With Puligny savour and lift. Creamy yet fresh. Bullseye for the style. Good light grip on the end. Convincing. Good Value 13%. Whole-bunch pressed and barrel-fermented (20% new). Vines planted from 1989 to 2005. 9,000 cases made. Drink 2023 – 2028"
16.5+ points Jancis Robinson
2022 Coddington Chardonnay
£143 IB per 6x75cl (£31.80 per bottle inc VAT)
£150 IB per 3x150cl (£66.41 per magnum inc VAT)*
£150 IB per 12x37.5cl (£16.60 per half inc VAT)*
*Mags and halves available in very limited quanities
Often compared to the style of Chassagne-Montrachet. Rich with peach fruit and hazelnut, yet well balanced.
"The 2022 Coddington Chardonnay leads with lemon balm/oil, green-olive brine, crème brûlée top (a.k.a. scorched brown sugar), peach fuzz, and an abundance of orchard fruit. In the mouth, kiwi fruit acidity (a.k.a. juicy, sweet, tart) defines the perimeters of the flavors and beckons you in for another, closer look. It's very, very good, a distinct wine, pure, all aspects delineated and deliberate. I like this. It feels orderly and mathematical. If the wine had a sound, it would be a straight-pace bowl at the wickets, one flying out of stumps (name a better sound, I'll wait). It's not that immediately obvious, though; it builds and takes a while to assert itself, and I like that too. Very good. 13.5% alcohol"
95 points Wine Advocate
“The 2022 Coddington Chardonnay has breadth and depth. Its rounded and shapely curves seem to shimmy as if it was comfortably settling onto a bean bag, finding its place. Honeysuckle, pear and melon meet spiced oak. The concluding texture is well considered and cleverly done with tension. The new oak (25%) provides a corset for the wine to sit within and tightens it up, as if the wine is held by a pair of control pants. 2023-2033.”
93 points Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com
"Very pale straw. Rich and quite intense. With some savour and vibrancy. Lots of grip.Very bright fruit with good appeal and perhaps a bit less obviously sweet than in the past. 13.5%. 25% new oak. Drink 2024 – 2030"
17 points Jancis Robinson
2022 Hunting Hill Chardonnay
£180 IB per 6x75cl (£39.21 per bottle inc VAT)
Hunting Hill produces “steely and mineral expressions with the best aging potential” according to James Suckling – akin to Puligny-Montrachet in style. Worth keeping for a few years.
“The 2022 Chardonnay Hunting Hill is an impressive, focused style. It has a sense of energy, being almost buoyant with the movement of a skimming stone across your palate. There's a powerful core of fruit here and if has plenty of substance within ifs no-more-than medium-bodied core before kerpow! fires home with can almost spicy kick. Clever oak use, reminiscent Of toasted nuts, meets restrained flavors of lemon and lime bitter and nectarine fruit. A wine that's still in its cocoon so give it time If may even have the edge of Maté's... Big call. 2024-2035”
96 points Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com
"The 2022 Hunting Hill Chardonnay is mouth filling and obvious in its outlay of flavour in the mouth—yellow peach, apricot, Golden Delicious apple, beeswax/lanolin and ripe lime flesh. The flutter of acidity that feathers the fruit is compelling and alluring in its power and juiciness. An exciting wine. It's a wine I want to drink (I will; the perks) and a wine I am enjoying considering too. It's intellectual and sensorial corporeal in equal measure. The Hunting Hill Vineyard was planted in 1982 and overlooks Mate's Vineyard. This is a pleasurable, exciting, fleshy, complex, salty, kaleidoscopic wine. Excellent. Recommended. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
95+ points Wine Advocate
"Tense and racy and tight – sort of Chassagne/St-Aubin border?! More obvious acid and tension than in the other Kumeu River Chardonnays. You could definitely enjoy it already if you liked a leaner style but it would benefit from further ageing ideally. 13.5% Drink 2024 – 2036"
17.5 points Jancis Robinson
2021 Mate’s Chardonnay
£195 IB per 6x75cl (£42.21 per bottle inc VAT)
Mate’s Vineyard produces wines which are “concentrated and powerful”, according to James Suckling, Think Meursault or Corton-Charlemagne in style. Needs time in the cellar. Mate's was NZ's first ever 100-point wine in 2020 (from James Suckling).
“The 2022 Maté's Vineyard Chardonnay offers tension, power and an unrelenting sense of moving forward cs if your palate has been put on a travelator This is its anniversary vintage. Currently it's closed and young with little aromatic generosity. There's nevertheless purity and a real sense Of density. The richness is there but it's held within a brace of tension, ensuring precision and focus. After a couple of days, if loosens up a little so if you're thinking of opening it early, which don't recommend, decanting may be your friend. probably prefer the 2021 for its additional austerity but that may be me being subjective rather thon objective. 2025-2035”
95+ points Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous.com
"The nose on this 2022 Mate's Vineyard Chardonnay leads with candied bananas, pineapple husk, white peach and a hint of lychee, and the edges of the aromatics are feathered with preserved citrus, brine, curry leaf and apple skins. In the mouth, the wine is powered by supercharged fruit; it is crystalline in its way, an attribute that I have long-since associated with the Chardonnays from Kumeu River. The flavor is sapid and palate-staining, with just enough salt and savory spices in the fruit to make it super complex as well as powerful. It is precisely folded like origami, each crease in service of the overall shape. A wine that offers much and assumes nothing. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
96 points Wine Advocate
"Pale straw. The richest of the line-up. But still very transparent and lively. Chewy finish. A wine in line with late 20th-century ideal of Chardonnay while Hunting Hill is closer to what is sought in the early 21st century. 13%. Drink 2026 – 2036"
17+ points Jancis Robinson