Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay 2020

This is a wine of real purity and elegance with fresh sliced peaches and lemons, as well as some light pastry notes. The palate is fine, unwaveringly long and pure with enlivening acidity through the finish. Stunning. Drink or hold

New Zealand's Chardonnay expert has knocked it out of the park with its stellar 2020 vintage. Coddington shows intensely concentrated peach and apricot fruit accompanied by toast and vanilla with a mineral backbone. It's the richest in the stable, but is beautifully balanced with integrated oak, length and layers. An elegant and ageworthy wine that's a bargain compared with the price of Premier Cru Burgundy of similar ilk.

The 2022 Coddington Chardonnay leads with lemon balm/oil, green-olive brine, crème brûlée top (a.k.a. scorched brown sugar), peach fuzz, and an abundance of orchard fruit. In the mouth, kiwi fruit acidity (a.k.a. juicy, sweet, tart) defines the perimeters of the flavors and beckons you in for another, closer look. It's very, very good, a distinct wine, pure, all aspects delineated and deliberate. I like this. It feels orderly and mathematical. If the wine had a sound, it would be a straight-pace bowl at the wickets, one flying out of stumps (name a better sound, I'll wait). It's not that immediately obvious, though; it builds and takes a while to assert itself, and I like that too. Very good.

Another typically weighty expression from Kumeu's Coddington vineyard, the 2020 Chardonnay Coddington fills the midpalate with its density and breadth. It is a wine of clarity, the oak-derived smoky, nutty notes providing a savory layer over nectarine and lemon meringue. However, this is not a wine that needs multiple flavor descriptors; it's a wine of texture. Expect the smooth, mellow mouthfeel to be followed up with lovely precision and sinew on the lengthy, smoky finish.

Gently aromatic and quite concentrated chardonnay with peach, melon, citrus and a hint of oyster-shell and mineral character supported by deliciously fruity acidity that helps drive a lengthy finish. There is also a toast, brioche influence adding extra complexity