Kumeu River

Tagged “White Burgundy in Kiwi clothing” by critic Neal Martin and "an Auckland Pearl" by Julia Harding MW, no New World producer has received such critical acclaim over the last few years as Kumeu River. It’s no surprise: this is a New Zealand Chardonnay producer crafting wines of grand-cru quality at village wine prices. And the connection to Burgundy is apt: these wines are dead ringers for top white Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet or Meursault, without losing their own sense of identity.

The original business was built from the ground up by Maté Brajkovich and his family, Dalmatian immigrants who arrived in New Zealand in 1938. But it was in the 1980s that Maté’s son Michael (who was to become New Zealand’s first Master of Wine) transformed the business, together with his brothers Milan and Paul. Today Kumeu River stands as one of New Zealand’s – and the southern hemisphere’s – most reputed makers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The core of the family holdings are in Auckland, whose cool climate ensures the Chardonnay ripens fully while retaining acidity, lending it both the texture and complexity that the variety can yield in the best sites, notably via the acclaimed single-vineyard Chardonnays Maté’s Vineyard and Hunting Hill.