Kumeu River Mates Vineyard Chardonnay

They’re one of NZ’s most iconic wine producers on the world stage. The family are pioneers in the NZ wine industry. They produce some of the very best Chardonnay you’ll find anywhere in Aotearoa. They’re the Brajkovich family and you’ll find them in the north Auckland suburb of Kumeu. Next to a river.

Slap the words ‘White Burgundy’ on the label and you’d be paid double and then some. Kumeu River Maté’s Vineyard Chardonnay is KR’s flagship Chardonnay and quite simply one of the best you’ll find in NZ!

Named after Maté Brajkovich who in 1990 planted a new vineyard of Chardonnay vines on the original vineyard site he and his family bought back in 1944. The first release was in 1994, a year after Maté’s death, and marked 50 years since the Brajkovichs started up in Kumeu.

The Maté Chardonnay is a 2 Merit Wine Award winner with The Real Review which is described as “Wines that achieve gold and high silver ribbons in recent vintages, with top vintages achieving 96 points or more.”

This is what winemaker and Master of Wine Michael Brajkovich had to say about this 2025 release of Kumeu River Mates Vineyard Chardonnay – “2025 was a remarkably dry harvest season. In 1990, Maté Brajkovich reworked the land and planted a new vineyard of Chardonnay vines on the site of the original vineyard that he and his family purchased in March 1944. The first grapes from this vineyard were harvested in March 1993, the year following Maté’s death. The resulting wine was released in November 1994 to coincide with celebrations marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Brajkovich Family’s arrival at Kumeu River. “