Always the longest lived of the Kumeu River Chards, the 2017 Mate's Vineyard Chardonnay starts off smoky and flinty, marked by zesty grapefruit and lime fruit. It's medium to full-bodied yet tightly coiled, with great energy, thrust and vitality, which translate into tremendous length on the electric finish.

The 2017 Maté’s Vineyard Chardonnay has a really beautiful, quixotic bouquet of apricot blossom, white peach, minerals and dandelion scents that waft temptingly from the glass. The harmonious, lightly spiced palate is very well balanced with crisp acidity and a succinct, perfectly pitched finish that offers just the right amount of sapidity. Superb. Tasted at the Kumeu River Chardonnay vertical in London.

The mineral character of this wine is currently so pronounced and the fruit so closed that it’s not easy, also because of the slight funk from reduction, to identify the grape variety. On the palate, this marathon-runner chardonnay is very clean and