2025 · Rays Road Chardonnay

Kumeu River is a family-owned winery in Auckland run by the Brajkovich family, with Michael Brajkovich MW, New Zealand’s first Master of Wine, leading the winemaking and marking 40 vintages at the estate. Best known for Chardonnay, the estate works vineyards in Kumeu and at Rays Road in Hawke’s Bay, where cooler, elevated limestone sites suit Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and have shown notable minerality and freshness. Farming is sustainable in practice, with clay-rich soils that retain water and allow the vineyards to be managed without irrigation, though no formal certification is noted. The wines are made in a Burgundian style, with hand-harvested fruit, indigenous yeasts, extended lees ageing and malo-lactic fermentation.