Description
Hunting Hill spent years quietly contributing to the Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay blend before earning its own label, and it's easy to understand why the family didn't want to let it go. Planted on the slope above Maté's Vineyard in 1982, replanted in 2000, it has a distinctive mealy minerality that sets it apart within the Kumeu River range.
The 2025 season was exceptionally dry in Kumeu, with clean, healthy fruit arriving from early February through to mid-March. Handpicked and whole-bunch pressed, wild fermented in French oak, 100% through malo, eleven months on lees. Same process as always.
White nectarine, oatmeal and bran, aniseed, rock salt and a honey and white flower perfume on the nose. On the palate it's juicy and glossy but also precise, with peach, ripe lime and a faint nudge of tropical fruit carried by fine acidity and a light flinty grip. Long, silky, with a chalky tightness on the finish.
It's compelling now but built for the cellar. Stunning Chardonnay.
96 points
"It has fine acidity, a light flinty grip, and carries long and silky, with just a little chalkiness tightening up the finish. Superb."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
| Price Bracket | $101 and Above |
| Type | White |
| Body | Full Bodied |
| Variety | Chardonnay |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | Kumeu |
| Feature |
High Score |
| Reviewed By |
The Wine Front |
| Critic Score |
96 |
| Alcohol | 14% |
| Size | 750ml |
| Vintage | 2025 |
| Closure | Screw Cap |
Kumeu River
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Common Questions
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For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.
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Most wine retailers list at a single-bottle price and then discount 10–15% when you buy six or twelve. We've taken the opposite approach. Since the overwhelming majority of our orders are already 6 bottles or more, our list price is set for the case buyer from the start. There's no inflated single-bottle price to discount down from.
What that means for you:
- One price, same for everyone — no minimum to hit to unlock the best rate
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Put simply: the box discount is already baked into the price.
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