Kumeu Village Chardonnay 2025
Hawke's Bay
New Zealand, New Zealand
Regular price£99.99
/
Arriving: October 2026
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.
| Style: White | Packaging: OCC |
| ABV: 13.3% | Closure: Screw cap |
| Organic: | Drink from: 2026 |
| Biodynamic: | Drink to: 2030 |
| Grapes: 100% Chardonnay | |
Critic scores
91 RP, 16.5 JR
Critic reviews
"The 2025 Village Chardonnay leads with banana and crushed cashew, musk sticks and preserved lemon. The palate is silky and full of flavor, and although not as complex or weighty as the other Chardonnay cuvées from this iconic New Zealand producer, it offers sensational intensity and value for money. This comes recommended, as usual. 13.3% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com
"Blend of 42% Kumeu fruit and 58% Hawke’s Bay, including a total of 32% of clone 95 (which no longer goes into the Rays Road bottling) from the Brajkovichs’ own Rays Road vineyard bought from Trinity Hill in 2017. The other 26% is bought in from Bridge Pa. Vines planted between 1989 and 2016. As with all Kumeu River wines, the grapes were hand-picked, fermented with ambient yeast and 100% malo. 38% of this entry-level wine was fermented in French oak barriques at least five years old. Bottled late August/September whereas the grander Chardonnays are bottled the following May. Some stone-fruit freshness. Nice flinty streak throughout. Really quite a presence on the palate. Kumeu River’s best Village bottling so far! Good impact. Long. I’m almost tempted to give it 17. VGV"
Jancis Robinson, September 2026, JancisRobinson.com
Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com
"Blend of 42% Kumeu fruit and 58% Hawke’s Bay, including a total of 32% of clone 95 (which no longer goes into the Rays Road bottling) from the Brajkovichs’ own Rays Road vineyard bought from Trinity Hill in 2017. The other 26% is bought in from Bridge Pa. Vines planted between 1989 and 2016. As with all Kumeu River wines, the grapes were hand-picked, fermented with ambient yeast and 100% malo. 38% of this entry-level wine was fermented in French oak barriques at least five years old. Bottled late August/September whereas the grander Chardonnays are bottled the following May. Some stone-fruit freshness. Nice flinty streak throughout. Really quite a presence on the palate. Kumeu River’s best Village bottling so far! Good impact. Long. I’m almost tempted to give it 17. VGV"
Jancis Robinson, September 2026, JancisRobinson.com