Kumeu River Ray`s Road Chardonnay, 2022

Rays Road is Kumeu River’s vineyard site in Hawkes Bay that was purchased in 2017. The limestone hillside is at 180 metres altitude, with a northerly aspect. It is dry-farmed to yield high quality grapes for wine under the Rays Road name for our Kumeu River label. This Chardonnay was hand-harvested, whole bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeast in older French Oak barrels to give a wine that is zesty and fragrant, with mineral complexity that is very true to its site.

Lemony and crisp with a stone and seashell undertone to the pretty fruit. Medium body, firm phenolics that tighten the wine on the palate. Racy and intense on the finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap.
94/100 points. James Suckling



The 2022 Chardonnay Rays Road is restrained and reticent. It`s certainly not a fruit bomb of a Hawke`s Bay Chardonnay with its pithy precision, slightly salty, flinty character and buzz of nervous acid tension. Rays Road is generally less opulent than most, and the austerity seems to be a character of the site, particularly from the first few vintages. Nevertheless, full malo and 11 months on lees adds texture and padding to the mid-palate. Pear, honeysuckle and melon fruit ally with subtle spiced cedar, which nods to the older French barrels used for fermentation on the medium-long finish.
Drink 2023-2029.
91/100 points. Rebecca Gibb MW (Vinous)



Very pure and lively, lifted nose. Very unmistakably NZ with just a touch more simple acidity than the other Kumeu Chardonnays. A little chew on the end. Finish is not that persistent." Drink 2023-2027.
16.5/20 points. Jancis Robinson MW