Kumeu River Chard Mates 08

Kumeu River ‘Mates’ Chardonnay 2008 (19.0/20), brilliant straw with golden glints to the colour. Very fine and softly expressed on bouquet, this had classic white peach aromas and a richness filling the nose. A complete wine, rich and deep, yet with elegance, there were beautiful stonefruit and citrus flavours with density and concentration, absolutely seamless and harmonious with lovely fine acidity rounding off the palate. Comparisons with top premier cru could be made.  RC June 10

This 2.4 ha site, opposite the winery was the original vineyard that Maté Brajkovich purchased in 1944. It is a north-facing sun-trap and the heavy clay soils required agricultural lime to raise the soil pH. Reworked and planted in the Mendoza clone, selected from Collard’s ‘Rothesay vineyard in 1990 by Maté, it yielded its first crop in 1993, the year after his passing away. The resulting wine was released in 1994 to coincide with the Brajkovich family’s 50^th anniversary. The ‘Matés Vineyard’ wine is consistently the most backward of all the Chardonnays. Youthfully pale in appearance, this has a combination of pure minerals and steel with sweet, spicy, nutty oak, sitting, brooding in the background. This has great concentration and density alongside immense finesse. The palate shows enormous fruit extract, providing sensual textures. This just exudes potential. The track record for this label is impeccable and a complex white burgundy-styled wine will reveal itself over the next 7-10 years.  RC May 10

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