Kumeu River, Chardonnay Hunting Hill, 2024
Kumeu River represents four generations of Brajkovich family winemaking, beginning when Croatian immigrants arrived in West Auckland in 1937. Michael Brajkovich, New Zealand's first Master of Wine, transformed the family operation after a pivotal vintage in Burgundy in the early 1980s, pivoting to world-class Chardonnay. Hunting Hill vineyard, named for the hillside where founder Maté Brajkovich hunted rabbits for the family kitchen, was planted in 1982 and replanted in 2001. Its heavy clay soils over sandstone contain a distinctive iron pan 12 inches below the surface that imparts unique minerality. The winemaking is thoroughly Burgundian: hand-harvest, whole-cluster pressing, indigenous yeast fermentation, 100% barrel fermentation and malolactic, with 11 months in French oak (25% new). The 2024 vintage was celebrated as one of Kumeu River's finest despite yields down 30-50%—ripe stone fruit with crystalline acidity. This is world-class Chardonnay from the Southern Hemisphere.
Original: $99.99
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Description
Kumeu River represents four generations of Brajkovich family winemaking, beginning when Croatian immigrants arrived in West Auckland in 1937. Michael Brajkovich, New Zealand's first Master of Wine, transformed the family operation after a pivotal vintage in Burgundy in the early 1980s, pivoting to world-class Chardonnay. Hunting Hill vineyard, named for the hillside where founder Maté Brajkovich hunted rabbits for the family kitchen, was planted in 1982 and replanted in 2001. Its heavy clay soils over sandstone contain a distinctive iron pan 12 inches below the surface that imparts unique minerality. The winemaking is thoroughly Burgundian: hand-harvest, whole-cluster pressing, indigenous yeast fermentation, 100% barrel fermentation and malolactic, with 11 months in French oak (25% new). The 2024 vintage was celebrated as one of Kumeu River's finest despite yields down 30-50%—ripe stone fruit with crystalline acidity. This is world-class Chardonnay from the Southern Hemisphere.
