KUMEU RIVER

The Brajkovich family and Kumeu River Wines is a story that parallels the New Zealand wine industry.

From the pioneering days to the establishment of the New Zealand wine industry to today, the Brajkovich family have been internationally recognised as producing world class wine. 

The Brajkovichs are focused on and internationally recognised as producing world class Chardonnay.

Kumeu River Wines encompasses 30 hectares of vineyards, which are predominantly clay soils overlying a sandstone base. These soil types retain sufficient water at depth, even during the summer months, to ensure the deep vine roots continue to hydrate the vine without excessive vigour. Therefore, the vineyard doesn’t require irrigation, a factor that is critical to the quality of Kumeu River’s grapes.

One of the distinguishing factors of Kumeu River’s wines is all of the grapes are harvested by hand. This allows the opportunity to remove sub-standard grapes by hand; the result is a net yield of purely high-quality grapes.

Respect, patience, and adaptability — each is an integral part of the Kumeu River success story, not only in the making of good wine, but also in the making of a thriving family business that spans many generations. Kumeu River Chardonnays are considered the best in New Zealand, and among the best Chardonnays produced anywhere. Often mistaken for top quality Grand Cru Burgundies, these wines offer fantastic value for money.

“Kumeu River and (winemaker) Michael Brajkovich MW have both become synonymous with New Zealand’s finest Chardonnay. For over two decades they have fashioned Burgundy-inspired wines (particularly Meursault) with their Maté’s Vineyard Chardonnay winning accolades far and wide.”

— Robert Parker

2020 Matés Vineyard Chardonnay awarded James Suckling’s Wine of the Year 2021