Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay 2018

Kumeu River winery from West Auckland was built by Dalmatian migrants Brajkovich family in 1930s. It has since became one of top New World Chardonnay producers, an iconic New Zealand brand.

The Vintage of 2018 was reminiscent of the 2011 and 2012 vintages where hand harvesting and severe selection were crucial in maintaining the quality of the wines. As such, the quantity of wine produced in 2018 was severely depleted as we struggled to produce wines of the quality that our reputation demands. The single vineyards of Coddington, Hunting Hill and Mate’s Vineyard shone through again and showed that these superior vineyard sites perform well even in non-perfect conditions.

The fruits of Coddington Chardonnay all came from the vineyard owned by Tim and Angela. The fruits are hand harvested, and whole-bunch pressed. The juice goes through indigenous yeast fermentation in barrels, then 100% malo-lactic fermentation. The oak used for ageing are exclusively French oak, and maturation time for Coddington is 11 months, one quarter of the barrels used are new. Thus does contribute considerable amount of vanilla, toasty aroma into the wine. Coddington’s acidity is usually not as high as its peers, however a few years of ageing can indeed bring some more goodness out of it.