A 20 year vertical of Kumeu River’s Hunting Hill Chardonnay
Website: https://kumeuriver.co.nz/
As tastings go, this was quite a special one, looking at 20 years of New Zealand star winery Kumeu River’s Hunting Hill Chardonnay. Paul Brajkovich was in town, representing the family, and the tasting was hosted at Farr Vintners by Stephen Browett, who first visited Kumeu in January 1990 and describes himself as ‘the world’s biggest Kumeu River fan’. Farr has imported every vintage since the 1999.
This was a tasting of every vintage made of this wine. The vineyard produces one of three single vineyard Chardonnays made by Kumeu each year in West Auckland (they’ve recently added Rays Road in Hawke’s Bay to this roster), along with Coddington and Maté’s. The 3.7 hectare site was first planted in 1981 and 1982, and the original plantings were Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. They removed the Cabernet Sauvignon quickly. The Mendoza clone Chardonnay was getting virused, so in 2001 they replanted the whole vineyard to Chardonnay, and all clone 15. The first release of Hunting Hill as a single-vineyard Chardonnay was 2006. Prior to this the old Mendoza clone Chardonnay had been a component of the estate Chardonnay.
The vineyard sits above Maté’s vineyard. The Brajkovich family bought the land in the mid-to-late 1960s, and for quite a while it was just farmland where they hunted rabbits, hence the name. It’s unlike any of the other Kumeu vineyards, in that the aspect changes quite a bit: one end faces north, then another part faces southwest.
Winemaking is nothing out of the ordinary. The hand-picked grapes are whole-bunch pressed and the juice is settled overnight. Juice yield is usually around 750 litres per tonnne, which is pretty good. Then the juice goes to a tank with the fine juice lees, and the juice is stirred to distribute them evenly as it goes to barrel. The barrels are all French oak, all from François Frères, with 25% of them new, except for 2023 and 2010, when none were new. Wild yeast fermentation with 100% malolactic. The wine stays on yeast lees until January (so almost a year in barrel), then goes to tank with fine lees for four months until bottling in May.
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2025 Kumeu, New Zealand
This was a fabulous vintage, with a long, dry summer. The hottest day was 28 C, and the fruit was very clean. Concentrated, fine, delicate and linear with a subtle mealy edge to the pristine citrus fruit. Primary and youthful, with some juiciness and great poise. Crystalline and fine. 95/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2024 Kumeu, New Zealand
Another long, dry summer but inclement weather around flowering reduced crops by around 30%. Some depth and concentration here with fine citrus fruit, lovely precision, and subtle peach and pineapple notes. Fine spices, toast and mealy notes. Real finesse, purity and intensity here. 96/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2023 Kumeu, New Zealand
Paul Brajkovich says he would like not to have this vintage again. They experienced some flooding in the winery and this was followed up by cyclone Gabriel. By this stage there were few leaves left on the vines and they picked the fruit before full ripeness. This is stony and bright and quite delicate, showing freshness and a hint of pear, as well as linear, lemony fruit. Nice purity and delicacy. A lovely wine despite the vintage. 93/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2022 Kumeu, New Zealand
A very good vintage with abundant clean fruit. Nice concentration and focus here with clean, bright lemony fruit and subtle toasty notes. Meal and pineapple, too. Refined and delicious showing great balance. 95/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2021 Kumeu, New Zealand
A frost-affected but good vintage with lower yields. Fresh, layered, stony and mineral with lovely concentrated citrus fruit and amazing poise and balanced. Crystalline with mineral complexity, as well as a touch of sour cherry on the finish. Pristine and focused. 96/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2020 Kumeu, New Zealand
This was a star vintage, perhaps the best ever, says Paul. Toast, meal, hazelnuts and spice as well as citrus on the nose. There’s some peachy richness but also linear lemony fruit with some spice and toast fringing the powerful fruit. Just beautiful. 97/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2019 Kumeu, New Zealand
Another exceptional vintage. Honey, toast and spice on the nose. Vivid and linear with lovely focus and precision as well as some richness. Notes of peach, pear and spice as well as crystalline citrus. Generous but still focused. 96/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2018 Kumeu, New Zealand
A tricky, wet vintage, but the fruit that came in was good. Taut and quite linear with nice brightness to the compact citrus fruit. Stylish and taut with good acidity. Linear. 93/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2017 Kumeu, New Zealand
This was a cooler vintage in the citrussy spectrum, with slightly lower yields. There’s a bit of development here with toast and nut complexity, as well as spice, lime and honey. Very citrussy but with lovely complexity. A touch of peachy richness on the finish. 95/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2016 Kumeu, New Zealand
An abundant, sound vintage. Wonderful aromatics. Compact lemon and peach with some fine meal and toast notes. Bold, linear and expressive with a great acid line. Beginning to show real complexity. Very fine with a tapering finish. 96/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2015 Kumeu, New Zealand
There are parallels to 2017 here: a cooler, frost-affected vintage. Chiselled, taut and linear with high acidity. Crystalline citrus fruit, a bit of toast and honey, and some peach. Real intensity here with a hint of burnt sugar. Crystalline and concentrated with high acidity. 96/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2014 Kumeu, New Zealand
This is a superstar vintage, says Paul, one of the vintages that was generous, ripe and clean. Lovely aromatics of toast and crème brulée, white peach and lemon zest. The palate has depth and concentration with nice balance. Pure and ethereal, and so well balanced. 95/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2013 Kumeu, New Zealand
A severely frost-affected vintage. They had helicopters on standby, and they flew, but there was no inversion layer of warm air so they had no effect. Normally Hunting Hill is 1500 cases; this year they got 300. But after the frost the summer was excellent. This is superb. Beautiful concentration of linear crystalline fruit, and still quite primary. There’s a touch of matchstick minerality framing the direct citrus fruit, and this still has potential for development. 97/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2012 Kumeu, New Zealand
This was a tricky year that was quite wet. Nice weight and concentration. Still youthful with peach and citrus and pineapple fruit. Lively with lovely fruit and excellent balance. Great precision to this wine with a delicate finish. 94/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2011 Kumeu, New Zealand
This was a tricky year with a wet harvest, and lots of selection was needed. Some development here: toast and peach with some pear and spice. There’s a bit of evolution with pithy structure and ripe fruit. Toasty, with a hint of marmalade. 93/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2010 Kumeu, New Zealand
This was a frost-affected vintage but a very good one. No new oak used this year. Complex nose of toast and pineapple and spice. The palate is concentrated and intense with lovely lemony detail. Very expressive with some complexity. Juicy, fine and linear with real depth and focus. Intense and fine. 96/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2009 Kumeu, New Zealand
This was a good, abundant year with clean fruit. Fine aromatics of toast, white peach and citrus. Nice weight and intensity with lovely freshness, and a tapering finish. There’s a hint of pineapple too. 95/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2008 Kumeu, New Zealand
A very warm year with a run of days over 30 C, which is unusual in Kumeu. Ripe and generous, but still chiselled, with bright lemony fruit as well as pear and peach. Nice focus and intensity here, finishing quite mineral, with some subtle toastiness. 94/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2007 Kumeu, New Zealand
Like 2015, this was a cooler year, with a good-sized harvest. Hints of mint and candlewax on the nose, which shows lovely crystalline citrus fruit. Still youthful with good balance. Pure and refined in an elegant style. 95/100
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay 2006 Kumeu, New Zealand
This was one of those years where everything went well. A good place to begin with this single-vineyard Chardonnay. This has some colour, and notes of toast, lime and honey. Nice depth and concentration. This is beginning to evolve nicely with crystalline citrus, peach and a hint of lime oil. Concentrated and quite beautiful. 96/100
UK importer: New Generation Wines
