Maté's Vineyard Chardonnay, Kumeu River 2022

Gorgeous precise aromas of apples, white peaches, some minerals, flint and stone. Subtle mangoes, too. Full-bodied but so intense and driven with a salty undertone and a driving finish. Some white pepper at the end with citrus skin. Focused and intense. Great finish. Better after 2026 but already fantastic. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

The nose on this 2022 Mate's Vineyard Chardonnay leads with candied bananas, pineapple husk, white peach and a hint of lychee, and the edges of the aromatics are feathered with preserved citrus, brine, curry leaf and apple skins. In the mouth, the wine is powered by supercharged fruit; it is crystalline in its way, an attribute that I have long-since associated with the Chardonnays from Kumeu River. The flavor is sapid and palate-staining, with just enough salt and savory spices in the fruit to make it super complex as well as powerful. It is precisely folded like origami, each crease in service of the overall shape.* A wine that offers much and assumes nothing. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 2023 - 2037 *On a trip to Japan several years ago, I stayed in a house in the dramatically rural mountains of Hokkaido. We were snowed in and short of things to do, so we began attempting origami. One of the other people in the house, a local, was an origami master, and to assuage our inability to converse, his hands would move swiftly across the paper, deftly folding each sheet until we had a flock of penguins before us. Then a scarab beetle. A lion. There felt no limit to his capability or imagination. I think of him, and that day, relatively often in relation to wine.

Impressive, with density and concentration to the notes of marmalade, limoncello and white flowers. The core of Meyer lemon and apricot pastry shows hints of salted butterscotch and smoky litsea oil that linger on the long, mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2036. 2,600 cases made, 168 cases imported.

Pale straw. The richest of the line-up. But still very transparent and lively. Chewy finish. A wine in line with late 20th-century ideal of Chardonnay while Hunting Hill is closer to what is sought in the early 21st century. 13%. Drink 2026 - 2036.