2020

Hunting Hill Chardonnay

$80.00

2020

Hunting Hill Chardonnay

$80.00

Hunting Hill is a vineyard that was first planted in 1982 and became a significant part of the original Kumeu River Chardonnay blend. Occupying the slope overlooking Maté’s Vineyard, it has always contributed lovely ripe and rich fruit to the Estate Chardonnay. Hunting Hill was replanted in 2000 and is now even better than before, giving beautifully ripe fruit with a distinctive, mealy minerality.

Vintage

Quantity

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Winemaker's Notes

We thought the 2019 vintage was exceptional but the Hunting Hill in 2020 is even better. Hunting Hill is very distinctive in its terroir typicity, with piercing lemon/lime fruit lift and florality on the nose, richness and volume in the mouth followed by lingering acidity and minerality on the finish. This is an absolute classic example of how great the Chardonnay grape can be: A beautifully powerful, yet elegant and complex wine with long term aging ability

Vinification

Hand harvested Whole-bunch pressed Indigenous yeast fermentation 100% barrel fermentation 100% malo-lactic fermentation 11 months maturation in barrel

Drink with

Seafood
Pasta
Chicken
Risotto

Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay

Hunting Hill is the steely, driven and mineral wine of the three and as such draws comparisons to Puligny Montrachet. These wines need a little more bottle age or decanting than the others, but are magnificent and elegantly powerful. The vines, planted in 2000, reached 20 years old in 2020 and the added depth in recent vintages is a testament to that vine age. It is more often than not Farr Vintners’ favourite wine in the range, and that is the case again in 2020. It displays all the hallmarks of a great Hunting Hill – limey fruit, cutting acidity and mineral drive. There is a pithy, grippy texture to showcase the ageing potential, and with time in the glass it unfurls into a magnificently complex wine. A stunning example that would rival many Premier and even Grand Crus from the Côte de Beaune.

97 Points

Thomas Parker MW - Farr Vintners