Maté's Vineyard Chardonnay, Kumeu River 2024

Winemaker Michael Brajkovich, MW, does it again with the 2024 Chardonnay Maté's Vineyard. It is super young and not ready for the grand reveal, but you can’t mistake class, no matter its age. Aromatically, the 2024 is hardly expressive, but this is Chardonnay, so calm your jets—beeswax and honeydew melon for now. The palate is compact and firm, yet it holds a wealth of density at its core. The vintage was a small crop due to poor flowering, so there’s a whole lot of intensity to this. In some years, Hunting Hill challenges Maté’s for top spot, but this year, Maté’s steps up the seriousness level. It leaves you saying, “Now we’re talking.” This is not a wine about fruit, it’s about power and sapidity, grip and karate kicks. It has everything: silken texture and succulence, but it’s nicely pared back. Supremely balanced. 2026-2044

The complexity and subtlety are most impressive, with honeysuckle, white flower, ripe pear, flint and vanilla bean aromas. Medium-bodied with a tight and phenolic texture and a long, tight finish. Lots of layered mouthfeel and complexity. Fantastic finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

The 2024 Maté's Vineyard Chardonnay is mouthfilling and full, easily the biggest and most powerful of the single-vineyard Chardonnays in this 2024 release. "In terms of quality, 2024 is up there with the best of them: 2022, 2020, 2014..." This feels perhaps as statuesque and thrilling as the best of the Maté's so far, with intensity that explodes in every direction on the palate—length and width—with spicy top notes and a thunderous base of yellow fruit. The acidity, as usual, coils and weaves its way across the palate, lacing together the fruit and phenolics with seamless intensity. This is very good.

Full screwcapped bottle 1,349 g. From the Brajkovichs' Maté’s vineyard of 2.49 ha planted in 1990 but Maté died in 1992. Hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed before 100% spontaneous fermentation in French oak barrels with 100% malo (30% new French oak: Mercurey and Séguin Moreau). 11 months' ageing in barrel. Virused. Their only Mendoza clone (though they are planting some virus-free Mendoza – which is still hen and chicken! – in Hawke's Bay).Deepest straw colour. A bit more restrained on the nose and then big and rich on the palate. Lots of chew on the palate, too! Still youthful and without the refinement of Hunting Hill. Big and bold on the finish. Exuberant and quite chewy after that great whack of fruit. Drink 2026-2036.