Style: White Wine

Producer: Kumeu River

Grape: 100% Chardonnay

Where: Kumeu, Auckland

Country: New Zealand

Taste: The 2022 Kumeu River "Coddington" Chardonnay is a rich, unctuous New Zealand white. It offers ripe yellow peach and apricot flavors complemented by toasted oak and caramelized hazelnut, balanced by bright acidity. It is the biggest style and satisfyingly rich as such, but also nicely balanced with its acidity.The 2022 release is widely considered the most fruit-forward of the estate's single-vineyard tier.

Vibes with: Pairs beautifully with delicate seafood, roasted chicken, or rich cheeses like Manchego and Parmesan

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About the Wine: Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, and fermented with indigenous yeasts in 228-liter French oak barrels, 25% new oak, 100% malolactic fermentation. Aged on fine lees for 11 months.

Coddington is one of Kumeu River's 4 single vineyard Chardonnays.This wine is produced from a vineyard previously owned by Tim and Angela Coddington whose grapes have contributed to the blend of Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay since 1998. It is a vineyard that produces very rich and unctuous Chardonnay that the winery long believed could make an excellent single vineyard wine. In 2006 they decided to give Coddington single vineyard status to reflect this vineyard’s unique character.

The estate was originally established in 1944 by Maté and Katé Brajkovich. Today, it is managed as a true family business. Melba Brajkovich is the Managing Director. Michael Brajkovich is Proprietor and Winemaker (New Zealand’s first Master of Wine). Milan Brajkovich is the Vineyard Director.