Kumeu Village Chardonnay 2019

Description

• Subtle French oak
• Ripe peach
• Lemon & lime
• Crisp acidity

"This is the best Kumeu Village Chardonnay that I can recall tasting thanks to an excellent vintage and perhaps the Hawke’s Bay component. It’s an ethereal Chardonnay with appealing citrus, stone fruit and struck flint flavours. The wine has a pour-me-another-glass texture. Great value at this price" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, May 2020

"If Michael Brajkovich MW were a Burgundian rather than a New Zealander, he would be among the most celebrated white-wine makers in the Côte de Beaune, right up there with the likes of Dominique Lafon, Pierre-Vves Colin Morey and Jean-Marc Roulot. The good news for us is that we can buy his amazing Chardonnays at ludicrously cheap prices. This is only his entry-point wine, but is typically well balanced, refreshing and focused, with just a hint of oak spice, leesy complexity, undertones and a chiselled, refreshing finish. A Kiwi wine that’s better than many Puligny-Montrachets" Tim Atkin, Master of Wine, Oct 2020

The 2019 vintage was outstanding and has delivered a Village wine of greater complexity than usual. The weighty mid-palate shows peachy ripeness along with crisp acid minerality that gives the wine a refreshing cleansing quality.

Produced from hand harvested grapes grown in Kumeu and Hawke's Bay this wine was fermented 45% in old French oak barriques, and 55% in stainless steel tanks. The barrel fermentation provides some richness but very little oak in influence. Combined with the tank fermentation this allows the vibrant fruit to show through beautifully with lively lime and lemon aromas and a flinty, mineral edginess with hints of fig and white peach.

Food Pairing: This wine is delightful as an aperitif, and even better to drink with fish and shellfish.