Kumeu River - Chardonnay "Hunting Hill Estate" 2022 (750ml)

Kumeu River, one of the first wineries in Auckland, New Zealand, helped establish the reputation of Kumeu as a word-class wine region. Founded in 1944 by the Brajkovich family, immigrants from Croatia, the estate has grown and flourished over the years through the dedication to producing benchmark-quality Chardonnay, influenced heavily by Burgundy (and often confused as such in blind tastings). Its array of single-vineyard Chardonnays represents some of the finest examples of this grape anywhere in the world, the Côte d’Or included.

Hunting Hill is one of Kumeu River's 4 single vineyard Chardonnays. Named after the hillside farmland where founder, Maté Brajkovich, used to hunt rabbits and pheasants for the home kitchen. Originally planted in 1982, and replanted in 2001. Soils are heavy clay over sandstone. The site also has an iron pan about 12 inches below the surface, which none of the other vineyards have and imparts a unique minerality to the wine.

Tasting Note: Hunting Hill is very distinctive in its terroir typicity, with piercing lemon/lime fruit lift and florality on the nose, richness and volume in the mouth followed by lingering acidity and minerality on the finish. This is an absolute classic example of how great the Chardonnay grape can be: A beautifully powerful, yet elegant and complex wine with long term aging ability.

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 it has plenty of substance within its no-more-than medium-bodied core before kerpow! It fires home with an 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. It may even have the edge of Maté's... Big call.

Fragrant and succulent, with notes of grilled peach, mango and orange blossoms that are generous, fleshy and very juicy. Generous details of green tea, lemon curd and lemon balm linger, as does an appealing note of crunchy sea salt minerality. Drink now through 2034. 2,800 cases made, 224 cases imported.