Kumeu, New Zealand

I have visited the South Island before, and many of the different regions there, but on my winter holiday I just had, I spent three weeks in the North Island of New Zealand; and ofcourse I just HAD to do some wine geeking! I had the opportunity to explore some less known regions and one of them was Kumeu, not even an hour north of Auckland CBD.

I didn't know much about the little green and fertile region before however I learnt that the area had already started doing wine as early as the 1940's with the Croatian settelers who occupied Kumeu and the neighbouring area called Henderson Valley, both subregions of Greater Auckland. It all started with fortified wine, and many of the producers still make them, however most of them have a quite broad range of dry whites and reds.

The breakfast table at Awa Valley Vineyard

The first stop was at Kumeu River Wines, where I had heard they do excellent Burgundy style Chardonnay. We were met at the cellar door by a lovely lady named Melba, who to my surprise was the matriarch of the founding family and partner of the original owner. She took us through not only the wines but also the history of the winery that goes back to more than half a centuary ago. Melba continues the work of her passed away husband Mate together with her sons.

Many Croatian families immigrated to New Zealand to work the Kauri gumfields in the north of the North Island and this was no different for the Brajkovich family. When Mate first came to New Zealand with his parents they also worked at other vineyards to save money and in 1944 the family bought a winery and a small property. Since then it has been hard work and dedication for Mate and Melba to make Kumeu River what it is today. They have stepped away from the fortified wines and focus on quality dry whites and their single vineyard chardonnays are their flagship wines. Their son Michael is now the wine-maker and is also the first Master of Wine in New Zealand. He was there as well.

I have to say that I was impressed with the wines! I tried the whole range of Chardonnay and they were doing good in all categories and qualities. In the lower price segment the wines were kept un-oaked, or partly oaked. Lovely fresh and fruity but long with a pleasant mouth feel. The oaked Chardonnay had an almost nutty character that I often find in Chassagne-Montrachet.

The single vineyard wines were very complex, elegant and smooth and even had a bit minerallity, which surprised me as the soil in Kumeu is clay and quite heavy. In general the Kumeu River offerings were all balanced and had great acidity and not been abused with too much oak!

In the end, I bought a bottle of the Kumeu River Coddington 2008. It was 45 NZ dollars which is about 22 Euros. A lot of wine for the money. Another pick would be their Village Chardonnay for only 18 NZ dollars, only partly on oak.

Sunshine and wine a great start to the day!

Another great stop was West Brook Winery, where I was also met and helped at the cellar door by the owners! Anthony and Sue Ivicevich (more European wine making heritage!) are a married couple who run the estate; Anthony is a third generation wine maker whose family started producing in NZ in 1935.

Like many other producers in NZ they make their wines from both locally grown grapes and from other NZ wine making regions. However at all wineries I visited I tasted the wines that had been grown locally in order to better understand the region; therefore at West Brook I focused on the wines they produced from Kumeu only. At West Brooke the winery and vineyards itself were magical. The winery sat on a hill over looking a small lake and adjoining hill slopes lined with rows of  vines. The perfect escape for a Sunday afternoon picnic!

Pretty West Brook!

I popped by a few smaller wineries as well; Awa Valley and Twin Totura. It felt like we drove in to someones backyard at both places! These smaller places only had grapes from the vineyard which was pretty much their garden.

Tasting the range in the living room at Awa Valley!

They not only have wineries in the area; lunch was spent at the microbrewery Hallertau. A cleansing beer can't go wrong!

If you are in the Auckland area it is only a short drive to Kumeu. Also worth visiting is the estate Matua Valley; one of New Zealand's most famous producers. They have many different wines sourced from across the country; everything from a sparkling Pinot Gris to classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to single vineyard Malbec.

Well that's for now. Stay tuned for more!

And go get yourself a glass of wine!

/ Carolina