Setting
Look out for the sign as you drive towards Kumeu village on SH16. The cellar door fronts the winery building, and with a view to their famous Mate’s Vineyard across the road, you are in chardonnay heaven. Kumeu River also produces superb pinot gris and pinot noir, but you are here to sample what critics and enthusiasts alike regard as some of the best chardonnays in the world.

Things To Know
Producers with gargantuan status in the world of winemaking, the Brajkovich family originally came from Croatia and started off making fortified wines. Under matriarch Melba Brajkovich – recognised in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to the wine industry – the current generation of this internationally respected family, including winemaker Michael Brajkovich MW, continues the Kumeu River tradition of making outstanding wines and constantly refining quality.

Our Picks
The Estate and single- vineyard chardonnays are excellent – elegant yet powerful, just like top-flight burgundies. The modestly priced Village Chardonnay is friendly and rounded with the signature house style, and offers earlier drinking.