Kumeu River, Estate Chardonnay, 2025
Kumeu River, Estate Chardonnay, 2025
- 75cl
- 13.6%
- White Still
- Chardonnay
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Drinking window: 2026 - 2035
"I can't think of a Chardonnay producer anywhere that could match that line-up, Burgundy included"
Tim Atkin MW
Kumeu River's Estate Chardonnay is the entry point into one of the most consistently brilliant Chardonnay programmes in the southern hemisphere — and it punches well above its station.
Made by Michael Brajkovich MW and his family at their winery just west of Auckland, it draws on the cooler, clay-heavy soils of the Kumeu district to produce a wine that is taut, mineral-driven, and genuinely Burgundian in its bearing without ever trying too hard to be.
What the critics say:
"Very aromatic, with white peaches and orchard blossom lifted by a touch of sourdough and wet clay. Medium-bodied, with brisk acidity setting the tone, subtle and delicate in feel with crisp freshness running through to a long, precise finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap."
"Hailing from the exceptional 2025 growing season, the 2025 Estate Chardonnay leads initially with toasty/pencilly oak notes; however, the fruit on the palate is where the quality of the vintage is on show. Here we have yellow peach, sea salt, toasted sage leaf (even bay), quince, fig and white flowers. The acidity is prodigious, and this serves as a prop in the middle of the palate, providing real tension and fierceness to the otherwise ripe fruit. This is a very good wine, and the length through the finish is impressive. 13.6% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
The Kumeu district sits in West Auckland on heavy clay soils over limestone, quite unlike the free-draining gravels of Hawke's Bay or Marlborough. The maritime climate is cooler and wetter than much of New Zealand's wine country, which slows ripening and preserves the natural acidity that gives Kumeu Chardonnay its backbone. The Estate vineyard, closest to the winery, is planted at relatively low altitude on these dense, moisture-retentive clays, which concentrate flavour and produce wines of notable textural weight and mineral precision.
There is no formal appellation system in New Zealand comparable to Burgundy's AOC structure, but Kumeu has carved out a distinct identity as Auckland's most serious fine wine district. Wines labelled with a geographic indication must contain at least 85% fruit from that region. Kumeu itself is a subregion of the broader Auckland GI, and its cool maritime conditions and clay soils set it apart from the warmer regions to the north and south. It remains one of the few New Zealand regions capable of producing Chardonnay with genuine Burgundian texture and longevity.
The 2025 vintage in Hawke's Bay is recent enough that detailed harvest reports are still filtering through, so we'll be straight with you: the granular picture is still forming. What we do know is that the region continued its run of warm, dry autumns that have defined the best recent vintages here, with the Gimblett Gravels and Bridge Pa Triangle both delivering the kind of slow, even ripening that gives Hawke's Bay Syrah and Bordeaux blends their structure. Growers who managed canopy carefully through what was a warm growing season appear to have been rewarded with fruit that held acidity well.
Early indications suggest a vintage of genuine quality — concentrated without being heavy, with the reds showing real depth and the kind of tannin grip that suggests patience will be repaid. Chardonnay, increasingly a serious proposition in the region, looks lively and well-defined. Most reds will benefit from time in bottle; 2025 to 2030 and beyond for the top Syrahs and Cabernet-dominant blends. Whites are drinking well now and over the next few years. We'll update this as more detailed assessments come in.
OUR GROWERS
Kumeu River
