New Zealand Wine: Auckland Region – Kumeu River

James and I visited New Zealand a few years ago in October. Our north to south journey began by sweeping the country's main wine regions, from Auckland to Central Otago, passing through Hawke's Bay, Martinborough, Marlborough and Waipara/Canterbury.

New Zealand was the last piece of land on this planet to be settled by humans. Winemaking and vine growing in New Zealand dates back to the 1830s – only 600 years after it was settled – but it was not until the early 1970s that New Zealand started producing wines labeled by grape variety and vintage. Ever since then, the country has seen tremendous development in the size of its production, as well as in the quality of its wines.

Kiwis have an extensive wine culture. As we walked through the different wineries, we came across collections of empties from Burgundy, Bordeaux and even Barolo that were religiously exhibited in their offices.

New Zealanders know their wines well, but have a very strong sense of identity in how their land expresses the different varieties. The climatic conditions in New Zealand are hard to grasp for the newcomer; the green and lush sights are deceiving as we compare them to places like Europe or North America. One might assume that an area such as Martinborough – on the southern tip of the North Island – is inherently humid because it’s so green in the spring. But in fact, it is incredibly dry and marked by hot days and cold nights.

New Zealand has a very defined set of climatic conditions and this translates into well-defined styles of wine. However, it is a big country and the climatic conditions vary tremendously from one wine region to another. 

In this video, Michael Brajkovich, MW and winemaker at Kumeu River wines, eloquently explains the effect that the excess of ultraviolet rays and climatic conditions in Kumeu, Auckland has in vineyard management and on the wine itself. The excess of UV light in New Zealand is a result of the ozone hole that sits on top of Antarctica and that also affects other well-established southern wine growing countries, such as Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Australia.

Inspired by white Burgundy, Michael notes that a main difference with his wine is that he gets a brightness and sharpness in the fruit, which may have to do with all the UV light in the environment. Kumeu River is best known for their incredible Chardonnays, and the difference in soil composition – with Kumeu’s being clay – directly affects the minerality of the wine, as well as adds a unique chalky, textural element. 

After discussing winemaking tactics, James moves on to taste some older vintages of Kumeu River, which still have great structure in their age, dispelling the notion that New Zealand wines shouldalways be drunk young. Michael admits that the aging process of his wines is very vineyard dependent, as vineyards also have the ability to age.

Watch as James and Michael discuss all of the above, and see what goes into the wines at Kumeu River.

- Jacobo Andrade Garcia Llamas, senior editor