Winemaker Notes
The wine displays a bright transparent, burgundy color with lifted, red fruit aromas. On the palate, the wine is cool and fruity with a nice hint of chalky tannin that keeps the wine dry and refreshing.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Village Pinot Noir is made entirely from Hawke's Bay fruit—no Kumeu Pinot Noir was even picked because of the rain that pelted down in that region. It's light ruby in color, with pretty floral notes alongside hints of raspberry and strawberry. Light to medium in body, it's a silky-textured, red-fruited charmer with decent length.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a very light style of Pinot made from a producer renowned for its Chardonnay. The color of cherry juice, it shows some slight reduction and some oak spice, too, on what is an otherwise fruity nose. But both the reduction and the oak add character rather than detract. The palate is lightweight with crisp, angular acidity that makes the fruit feel tart, along with chalky tannins and a lick of oak spice that dries the mouth on the finish. While refreshing, it lacks some fleshy fruit weight to soften the acidity and tannins.
Founded in 1944 by Mick Brajkovich, wife Katé and son Maté, Kumeu River was one of the early pioneers in Auckland, New Zealand, that helped to establish its reputation as a world-class wine region. Still family owned and run, Kumeu River continues to pioneer new frontiers: winemaker Michael Brajkovich became New Zealand’s first member of the prestigious Institute of Masters of Wine, London, they have been testing and championing screw cap closures for close to 20 years and the winery has gone on to become the globally recognized benchmark for non-Burgundy produced Chardonnay. All Kumeu River wines are hand-harvested, whole bunch pressed and demonstrate exclusive use of indigenous yeast fermentation.
The Chardonnays of Kumeu River have gained a strong foothold within the international market, continuously and consistently receiving outstanding accolades. The winery is a globally recognized benchmark for age-worthy Chardonnay outside of Burgundy.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Grape-growers in the local subregions of Clevedon, Matakana and Waiheke Island, focusing on vineyard techniques to maximize quality, are producing very fine Bordeaux Blends from local grapes. Auckland is also an industrial area where winemakers can produce quality wines based on sourced grapes from neighboring regions.