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New Tasting Notes: Kumeu River Mate’s Chardonnay
New Tasting Notes: Kumeu River Mate’s Chardonnay
“A website subscriber complained that I had no tasting notes for several recent vintages of Kumeu River Mate’s Chardonnay, a wine on which I recently conferred cult status. I’m guilty as charged, but I explained that Kumeu River doesn’t send out samples (to me at least) preferring to introduce their newly released wines to wine scribes at an annual lunch which I am seldom able to attend. “I do, however, regularly taste Kumeu River’s full range of Chardonnays when I visit the winery as part of my five-week Auckland course. I’m also a good friend of winemaker Michael Brajkovich, New...
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Three Sources for Exemplary New World Chardonnay
Three Sources for Exemplary New World Chardonnay
“This has been a year of discovery, but then every year, every day, I learn something new about wine. I was particularly excited to discover--or, in one case, rediscover--three glorious New World Chardonnays. All three are produced by wineries whose founders have been pioneers in their regions and prescient, as well as persistent (you might even say dogged), in their pursuit of exceptional examples of a wine that can be quite trivial. I was introduced to the Chardonnays of Kumeu River Wine of New Zealand and Vasse Felix of Margaret River (from Western Australia), and got reacquainted with Stony Hill...
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Can Microbes Help Scientists Crack Wine’s Terroir Code?
Can Microbes Help Scientists Crack Wine’s Terroir Code?
“Scientists in New Zealand and the U.K. may be one step closer to understanding the mystery of how terroir shapes a wine. They’ve found that microbes, specifically those tiny winemakers called yeast, play a larger role in a wine’s regional identity than previously understood. “Researchers from the University of Auckland and the University of Lincoln in the U.K. isolated strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the primary species of yeast used to turn grape juice into wine, from six New Zealand regions and discovered that different regional strains produce distinct aromas and flavors. “Classically the concept of terroir was thought to be...
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How Does Chardonnay Age Under Screwcap? Kumeu River Wines at TEXSOM
How Does Chardonnay Age Under Screwcap? Kumeu River Wines at TEXSOM
"When I attended TEXSOM, one of my goals as far as the seminars I signed up for was to embrace new experiences that would broaden my understanding about the world of wine. Actually, more like shine a light on a place, a person, and a process unbeknownst to me. This is why I chose to attend 'Iconic Winery Retrospective: Kumeu River Wines' led by Winemaker and Master of Wine Michael Brajkovich, who traveled a great distance to show a group of Maté's Vineyard Chardonnays from 2005-2012 that knocked my socks off. "I have to confess that I’m not a big fan...
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Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year
Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year
"Before immigrating to New Zealand, the Brajkovich family grew grapes and made wine in Zivogosce, a small village in the south of Croatia, close to the Adriatic coast. In 1937 they settled in Kumeu, a region at the northern tip of New Zealand's North Island known as the fruit bowl of Auckland. After working in agriculture for a few years, Mick Brajkovich and his family saved up enough to purchase some land, launching a winery they called San Marino Vineyards. "After Brajkovich died in 1949, his son Mate took over with his wife Melba, and they continued to build the...
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Roger Jones finds damaging frost and elegant wines at New Zealand’s Kumeu River Winery
Roger Jones finds damaging frost and elegant wines at New Zealand’s Kumeu River Winery
"Based in the Kumeu wine region some 30 minutes from Auckland, this world renown Chardonnay producer was hit by frost over the weekend which destroyed part of one of their vineyards. A freak overnight change in temperature gave no warning so it had not hired the usual helicopters to protect the vines. "Inspecting the vineyard this afternoon it was quite noticeable how a few feet in elevation can make a difference, with the outlying vines being slightly higher and therefore were frost free, but the lowest areas were ruined and these vines will be out of action till 2016. This...
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New Zealand Spreads Its Wings
New Zealand Spreads Its Wings
"Given its surging quality, it can be easy to forget how young New Zealand is in the world of wine. The country's original winemaking pioneers are still setting the pace as their signature white, Sauvignon Blanc, becomes one of the fastest-growing categories in the United States. "As the country's wine industry has matured, there have been subtle changes in the selection and style available. The breakdown of wines I've reviewed since my last report ("New Zealand's Bright Horizon," June 15, 2013) -- more than 400 in total, all blind-tasted in our Napa office -- reflects the changing landscape of New...
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Kumeu River’s Melba Brajkovich Made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Kumeu River’s Melba Brajkovich Made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
"I have been privileged to meet Melba Brajkovich on several occasions, usually after tasting through the Kumeu River range with her winemaker son Michael at the family’s beautiful property just north of Auckland. On each occasion it was her energy, vision and direct approach that always made a mark on me, attributes which clearly serve her well in the achievements she has made, and continues to make, for both Kumeu River and the New Zealand wine industry as a whole. "So, I was delighted, though not at all surprised, to hear the news that Melba has been made a Member...
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Beyond sauvignon blancs in New Zealand
Beyond sauvignon blancs in New Zealand
"...By itself, chardonnay is the ultimate blank slate grape; where and how it grows and who makes it into wine are the styluses that carve personality into it. As Michael Brajkovich, winemaker for Kumeu River Wines, puts it, 'Chardonnay is the only white variety to deliver complexity and texture based on its various terrains.' "New Zealand is a fine classroom in which to learn this lesson. Its chardonnays are often compared to those from another cool climate chardonnay star, Burgundy, but I would submit that they also share that region's range of styles as well. The proportion of New Zealand...
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Kumeu River – an Auckland pearl
Kumeu River – an Auckland pearl
"Winemaker Michael Brajkovich MW was the chair of the judges in the Air New Zealand Wine Awards 2012, the original impetus for my visit to New Zealand at the end of last year. He whisked me straight off the ferry from Waiheke Island so that he and his brother Paul, marketing director, could accompany me through a vertical tasting of their 2009 and 2010 Chardonnays. "My last visit to this West Auckland enclave of excellence was in 2000 and even then I remember being treated to a fine line-up of top-notch Chardonnays. This intensely family company continues to be under...
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