Kumeu River Mate's Chardonnay 2023
Hawke's Bay
New Zealand, New Zealand
Regular price£259.94
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Arriving: April 2025
| Style: White | Packaging: OCC |
| ABV: 12.5% | Closure: Screw cap |
| Organic: | Drink from: 2024 |
| Biodynamic: | Drink to: 2035 |
| Grapes: 100% Chardonnay | |
Critic scores
94 RP, 93 VM, 97 JS, 17.5 JR
Critic reviews
"The 2023 Mate's Vineyard Chardonnay is complete; all flavor points and spice characteristics are present and accounted for, albeit restrained and even a little muted. The low-lying Maté's vineyard received plenty of rain and runoff in the 2023 rainfall, but the wine still feels fresh, vibrant and focused. There are notes of shaved fennel, white pepper, almond meal and tatami mat/straw—a decidedly white spectrum of flavor and spice. Stylistically, I usually see this wine being quite punchy, powerful and sometimes tropical. In this wet year, the wine is retrained and decidedly composed—while some may view this as being "not the Maté's style," I think it is a very good iteration of this vineyard. Time will tell, but I like it a lot. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
Erin Larkin, December 2024, RobertParker.com
"Despite the challenging vintage, the 2023 Chardonnay Maté's Vineyard shows its attractively chewy, textural personality, richer concentration and length. The wine is certainly ripe despite only hitting 12.5% alcohol, with a buzzy acidity enveloped by a wine that is surprisingly succulent and satisfying despite the season. Perhaps I ought not to be surprised. It is Kumeu River's Maté's, after all."
Rebecca Gibb, September 2024, Vinous.com
"Very steely and floral, with brightness and impressive aromas of honeysuckle, lemongrass and just a touch of cream. Medium- to full-bodied with layered and creamy phenolics that give a lovely, almost velvety texture to the wine, and then the end is so crisp and minerally. Driven at the end. Needs time to come together. This will be so complex in three to four years. Best after 2027."
James Suckling, June 2024, JamesSuckling.com
"A 2.49-ha vineyard planted in 1990 with Mendoza clone. There is some leafroll which delays ripening a little. Hand-picked. Whole-bunch pressed. Spontaneous fermentation. 100% barrel-fermented in used French oak. 100% malo and 11 months’ maturation in barrel. Bigger in dimension than the others. Sweeter on the initial impression and then it tightens up. Less obviously rich than some previous vintages, presumably because of the wetter vintage. Still quite closed but with great density and a savoury finish. You can almost taste little particles in it! Should last extremely well. "
Jancis Robinson, September 2024, JancisRobinson.com
Erin Larkin, December 2024, RobertParker.com
"Despite the challenging vintage, the 2023 Chardonnay Maté's Vineyard shows its attractively chewy, textural personality, richer concentration and length. The wine is certainly ripe despite only hitting 12.5% alcohol, with a buzzy acidity enveloped by a wine that is surprisingly succulent and satisfying despite the season. Perhaps I ought not to be surprised. It is Kumeu River's Maté's, after all."
Rebecca Gibb, September 2024, Vinous.com
"Very steely and floral, with brightness and impressive aromas of honeysuckle, lemongrass and just a touch of cream. Medium- to full-bodied with layered and creamy phenolics that give a lovely, almost velvety texture to the wine, and then the end is so crisp and minerally. Driven at the end. Needs time to come together. This will be so complex in three to four years. Best after 2027."
James Suckling, June 2024, JamesSuckling.com
"A 2.49-ha vineyard planted in 1990 with Mendoza clone. There is some leafroll which delays ripening a little. Hand-picked. Whole-bunch pressed. Spontaneous fermentation. 100% barrel-fermented in used French oak. 100% malo and 11 months’ maturation in barrel. Bigger in dimension than the others. Sweeter on the initial impression and then it tightens up. Less obviously rich than some previous vintages, presumably because of the wetter vintage. Still quite closed but with great density and a savoury finish. You can almost taste little particles in it! Should last extremely well. "
Jancis Robinson, September 2024, JancisRobinson.com
Shipping duty paid to Mainland UK is charged at a flat rate of £9.99 per consignment and POA for Northern Ireland or Islands.
Shipping under bond is dependant on location, but starts at £15 per consignment.