The 2016 harvest began with a very promising flowering and the vineyards had a healthy crop level. The early part of the summer was terrific and we were looking forward to an excellent harvest. Some rain and warm weather in late February dampened things a little and when harvest began in early March we had to be very selective about what we picked - similar to 2011 and 2012. Hand harvesting in a year like this is crucial and our crew have done a great job in sorting through the fruit to deliver clean, ripe grapes to the winery.
The Single Vineyards - Mate's Vineyard, Hunting Hill and Coddington really do show their class in a vintage like this and the resulting are brilliant.
The Estate Chardonnay quantity is a little down this year with us being selective and able to put a bit more fruit toward the Village Chardonnay.
Tasting these wine before bottling and after bottling we see a supple texture and richness to all the wines that we expect to see in Kumeu River Chardonnays. It is clear that this is a better vintage than we initially thought and we are very pleased with the results.