Followers of Noble Grape will know of our great lover affair with the wines of Kumeu River, New Zealand's greatest producer of Chardonnay. Today, we got our first look at the 2020s. This time last year when we tasted the 2019s, we wrote that vintage would be one of Kumeu's greatest, and it certainly turned out that way, as we retasted the wines throughout the year. Now, with the 2020s, we find ourselves having to find new ways of expressing how good they are.

The 2019s were/are beautiful expressions of Chardonnays - fireworks in a glass. The 2020s are, if anything, even more 'Kumeu' like than the 19s. With this vintage we see a return to the classic 'White Burgundy, only better' style that we have come to love from Kumeu over the last few decades. The wines are little more laid back in the aromatics, bright and crystalline with the fruit, and finishing with long and elegant palates.

Like the 2019s, we loved every wine that we tasted and we will certainly being buying the whole range.

As usual we started with the Village Chardonnay 2020, which is now so good it is becoming more like the Estate Chardonnay used to be. Very much a 'Kumeu' wine in weight and style. Rays Road 2020 is starting to grow into itself now expressing that lovely, chalky/limestone vineyard in Hawkes Bay where these grapes are sourced. We first wrote about this wine that it's 'Kumeu's take on Chablis' and this vintage more than any other expresses it's lively, mineral character. The Estate Chardonnay is a proper old-school KR wine - a pure facsimile for a great producer's Puligny Montrachet (Paul Pernot comes to mind) with its combination of delicacy and power.

The Auckland single vineyard wines are absolute beauties and show real 'Grand Cru' character. Coddington 2020 is a little more muted on the nose than the Estate but makes up for it with its weight and presence. Hunting Hill 2020 (in most vintages, my favourite) shows the classic hazelnut and marzipan notes, in a less powerful frame than Coddington. Maté's Vineyard is the wine that always stands out in any KR tasting for its flamboyance, and generally a little more new-worldy than the others. The 2020 it is much closer to Coddington in style, but you can still see that this is more Meursault than Puligny, and definitely the richest, broadest, and most potent.

We will be offering these wines in August and we anticipate great demand once the word hits the street how good they are.