The Brajkovich family have carved out a reputation second to none for Chardonnay and every new release adds to that reputation.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
"If you can taste history, duty, and family pride in a glass, it’s there in the Kumeu River Chardonnays… now producing some of New Zealand’s greatest Chardonnays, not to mention the world’s."
Winery notes (2025 Vintage)
"Drawn from six different vineyard sites in the Kumeu Region. We are particularly careful in selecting only the very best grapes from these vineyards for our Estate label. The 2025 vintage was excellent with warm dry conditions throughout the growing season. The Chardonnay it produced is rich, concentrated, and up there with the best Estate Chardonnay we have seen in the past ten years. Beautifully fragrant and toasty on the nose the palate is rich and peachy with the hallmark refreshing acidity we expect in the Estate Chardonnay. Layered and complex this wine is quite delicious now but will no doubt benefit from bottle age as have its predecessors."
95/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, August 2026 (2025 Vintage)
"White peach, grapefruit, smoked almond, aniseed, a little spice and honey floral perfume. It’s bright, a lovely and lively bite to acidity with some almond creaminess, juicy pear and citrus, lime rind, parmesan rind too, a light flinty grip to texture, with a cool and long finish that offers a little fresh pineapple zing, but also has a savoury and salted pastry dough thing happening. Gee, this is a very strong vintage for this wine. It’s a ripper."
94/100 Andrii Stetsiuk, JmaesSuckling.com (2025 Vintage)
"Very aromatic, with white peaches and orchard blossom lifted by a touch of sourdough and wet clay. Medium-bodied, with brisk acidity setting the tone, subtle and delicate in feel with crisp freshness running through to a long, precise finish."
17+/20 Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, September 2026 (2025 Vintage)
"Looks quite substantial, even dense! Leaner on the nose than the Hawke’s Bay wines. Lots to chew on. The most ambitious Estate bottling yet. This would not look out of place at all in Puligny! Chalky texture on the finish. 2026-2032."
93/100 Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com, Wine Advocate, September 2026 (2025 Vintage)
"Hailing from the exceptional 2025 growing season, the 2025 Estate Chardonnay leads initially with toasty/pencilly oak notes; however, the fruit on the palate is where the quality of the vintage is on show. Here we have yellow peach, sea salt, toasted sage leaf (even bay), quince, fig and white flowers. The acidity is prodigious, and this serves as a prop in the middle of the palate, providing real tension and fierceness to the otherwise ripe fruit. This is a very good wine, and the length through the finish is impressive."
















