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New Zealand’s Best White Wines
New Zealand’s Best White Wines
Joe Czerwinski chooses Kumeu River Chardonnay as one of New Zealand's Best White Wines. "In 1986, the Brajkovich family’s San Marino Vineyards was rechristened Kumeu River Wines and a new era was born. Chardonnay became the focus, and today, the wines are often mistaken for Burgundy in blind tastings. Originally, there was a single Estate Chardonnay, but following the Burgundian meme, winemaker Michael Brajkovich, MW, has introduced a number of single-vineyard bottlings. There’s also a Village bottling, which corresponds to a French villages-level wine. It features less oak and a lower price tag than the other Chardonnays. Although the various...
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Kumeu River is Profiled in Charleston Style & Design
Kumeu River is Profiled in Charleston Style & Design
As harvest gets underway in New Zealand, Bob Calvert, a North America wine writer, profiles Kumeu River in Charleston Style & Design. Included in the article are three reviews of Kumeu River's highly acclaimed Chardonnay wines, using the adjectives most often attributed to these beautiful, Burgundy-like wines , "Its flavor combines evanescent honeysuckle with a hint of hazelnut sustained by tartness and flinty minerality...complex bouquet comprising intriguing aromas of oak, honey and moist stones...Citrus elements predominate in the mouth—Meyer lemon and lime—along with faint honey and delicate yeastiness... Subtle, well-integrated acidity makes this an excellent food wine."
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New Zealand Broadens Its Range
New Zealand Broadens Its Range
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Wine of the Week: 2007 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay
Wine of the Week: 2007 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay
2007 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay Comes a heat wave and we're all ready to break out the chilled white wine. Here's one that will do the trick: a lovely, fine-spun Chardonnay from New Zealand's Kumeu region northwest of Auckland. At this estate where Michael Brajkovich, New Zealand's first master of wine, is the winemaker, grapes are harvested by hand and fermented on indigenous yeasts. The result is a Kumeu River Chardonnay that bridges the new and old worlds. Tightly focused, the 2007 has notes of citrus and lovely minerality and texture. Pour it as an apéritif with a little smoked...
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Chardonnay Rules at Kumeu River
Chardonnay Rules at Kumeu River
"New Zealand’s wine history has been significantly—and positively—influenced by the Croatian immigrants who arrived in the country at the turn of the last century and settled in northerly Auckland. The Brajkovich family, who immigrated from the Dalmatian coast, founded what is now Kumeu River Wines in 1944. Today, third-generation Michael Brajkovich serves as winemaker; he also became New Zealand’s first Master of Wine in 1989. Chardonnay is a specialty at Kumeu River. I tasted through some current Chardonnay releases with Michael last month. This is one of New Zealand’s best producers of this varietal, with few rivals."
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The World’s Best Wine Values Under $25.00
The World’s Best Wine Values Under $25.00
New Zealand is the new kid on the block, as it is only since the early 1990s that the country has established a successful wine industry, and boy, has it striven to make up for lost time. Coupled with slick marketing campaigns based around the image of New Zealand as an unspoiled rural paradise, evocatively depicted by the iconic label of Cloudy Bay, it is unsurprising that from virtually nothing there are now just shy of 62,000 acres under vine. Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay From one of New Zealand’s best exponents of the variety, their entry-level Chardonnay has a very...
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The Wine Advocate on Kumeu River: “…what New Zealand is capable of…”
The Wine Advocate on Kumeu River: “…what New Zealand is capable of…”
"Michael Brajkovich MW produced a brilliant array of 2007s. The cooler growing season meant that they harvested one week earlier than 2006 with lower yields and sugar levels, high acidity levels but with greater expression of mineralilty. If you have never tried these wines, then it is time you see for yourself what New Zealand is capable of. All his Chardonnays can be drunk immediately but do resist temptation and save some bottles to drink over 5-6 years (or more) as they can age beautifully. Just don't ask Michael if he could bottle your allocation under cork!"
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The Wine Advocate comments on Kumeu River’s 2007 Chardonnays
The Wine Advocate comments on Kumeu River’s 2007 Chardonnays
"I must also highlight a stellar array of Chardonnays from Kumeu River in 2007: a five-star grower unwilling to rest on their laurels and serving up another set of exceptional world-class wines." To read the full article (subscription required), please click here.
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Harvey Steiman calls Kumeu River Chardonnay Outstanding
Harvey Steiman calls Kumeu River Chardonnay Outstanding
"When you mention New Zealand in a wine conversation, no doubt the first thing that comes to mind is Sauvignon Blanc....Even more consistently outstanding, however, are the Chardonnays from Kumeu River Winery. And by outstanding I mean exactly that. In the 2000s, of 23 Kumeu River Chardonnays reviewed by Wine Spectator, mostly by me, 21 have rated 90 points or higher ("outstanding" by definition)." Click here for the full article.
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Kumeu River Chardonnay ranked in “Top Wines” in Wine Spectator
Kumeu River Chardonnay ranked in “Top Wines” in Wine Spectator
Kumeu River's 2006 Maté's Vineyard Chardonnay ranked in Wine Spectator's "Top Wines". With 91 points, this wine is "tightly wound, with an impressive core of intensity to tangy lemon, nectarine and crushed stone flavors." Click here for the full article. Click here for the review.
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31 - 40 of 43 results