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Kumeu River, Village Chardonnay, 2025

White Wine from New Zealand, New Zealand
by Kumeu River
$24.99
Taxes and shipping calculated at checkout.
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This is the Chardonnay the Brajkovich family keeps in their own fridge. It's their aperitif bottle, and an easy, affordable way into one of New Zealand's benchmark Chardonnay houses. Kumeu River was founded in 1944 by the Brajkovich family, immigrants from Croatia. Michael Brajkovich became New Zealand's first Master of Wine, and the estate is known for benchmark-quality Chardonnay. The 2025 draws 42% of its fruit from Kumeu and 58% from Hawke's Bay. Nearly a third of the blend comes from the family's own Rays Road vineyard on Hawke's Bay limestone, which they credit with giving the wine its limestone edginess. The winemaking is serious for an everyday bottle: native-yeast fermentation, full malolactic, and 38% fermented in French barriques at least five years old (the rest in stainless steel). The old barrels add richness but almost no oak flavour. The family calls 2025 an outstanding vintage in both Kumeu and Hawke's Bay. It's sealed with a screw cap, so it's always ready to pour.

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Wine Details

  • Grape Variety

    Chardonnay

  • Vintage

    2025

  • Size

    750ml

  • Farming Practice

    Sustainable

  • Sweetness

    Dry

  • Body

    Light Bodied

Flatiron's Take

From the Importer

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Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Raw oysters with mignonette, steamed green-lipped mussels in white wine and garlic, snapper ceviche, grilled prawns with lemon, or pan-fried flounder with brown butter and capers.

Tasting Profile

Expect a fresh, Burgundian-leaning Chardonnay: white peach, citrus and a touch of nutty, native-yeast complexity, with the creamy roundness that full malolactic and old barrels bring but little overt oak flavour. Medium-bodied, with bright acidity and a chalky, limestone-edged line, it finishes dry and clean — think a good Mâcon or Bourgogne Blanc.