Last year Kumeu River acquired a vineyard in Hawkes Bay (photo above) We had already been looking for vineyard land elsewhere because the availability of land for grapes in Kumeu has become extremely limited these days. The opportunity presented to us in the Hawkes Bay is good for the future of Kumeu River Wines.
The vineyard in Rays Road, Raukawa was originally a joint venture between Trinity Hill and Pascal Jolivet from Pouilly-Fumé in the Loire Valley of France. We are very excited about the land in this vineyard as it is predominantly based on limestone and is also significantly more elevated than most vineyards in Hawkes Bay. Most of the planting is Sauvignon Blanc, as you would expect with a partner who is a producer from the Loire Valley, but it also includes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
We have already been working to replace some of the Sauvignon Blanc with Chardonnay but given that there is an established vineyard of healthy Sauvignon Blanc grapes that had attracted the attention of someone like Pascal Jolivet, we thought we should make some ourselves to see what it’s like.
We selected a particularly good section of the vineyard, harvested the fruit by hand and transported it to our cellars in Kumeu where it was whole bunch pressed and fermented in tanks using the indigenous wild yeasts from the Rays Road vineyard.
We are very pleased with the results. This style of Sauvignon is very flinty, with lime-juice aromas and salty minerality. It is texturally layered and complex, but with an angular, tangy dry finish. It is the ideal wine to drink with oysters, or most shellfish and seafood for that matter. No doubt this will also suit the fresh goat cheeses that famously pair well with Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.
This is Kumeu River’s first wine from this vineyard and we look forward with excited anticipation to the future releases of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from this special Hawkes Bay site. Watch this space.
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