2019 Kumeu River Chardonnay Coddington

Community Tasting Notes (18) Avg Score: 92.1 points

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  7/23/2023 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:

  As expected, if drinking a bit more well than I'd imagined at four years; I try and hold them for 6-8. I said try. Many fine notes here already, so I'll simply add my own vote of approval. Glad to have five more bottles that I'll try and drink over the following two to five years. At $36, it's highly recommended+; it's undoubtedly going to improve/add complexity and intrigue.

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  1/4/2023 - wineismylife wrote: 93 Points

  WIML93
  
  Tasted non blind.
  
  Light yellow color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of brandied pears, yellow apples, cream and crushed nuts. Flavors of lemon, green apples and yellow pears. Medium acidity, medium to full bodied. Drink or hold.

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  10/8/2022 - johnnylaw1222 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Baking spice, bruised apples, and mango on the nose. Yellow apple, pear, and peach all come through on this full bodied wine. The oak, showing notes of nutmeg and cinnamon, isn’t timid but is well balanced with refreshing acidity.

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  9/8/2022 - Montesquieu Likes this wine: 92 Points

  This is a nice wine, but give it time to warm above cellar temperature. It has to open and bloom. Without some time and a bit of warmth, it's too constrained.

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  8/17/2022 - sfwinelover1 Likes this wine: 94 Points

  One off ($38) from large Napa cellarage #2 about a month ago. On the nose and palate, medium strong notes of mixed tropical fruits, peaches and apricots, river rocks, white florals, gunflint, a touch of marzipan, all held together nicely on the backend by white grapefruit and Meyer lemon. Light gold, medium bodied, light to medium legs. Medium tannins and zingy acidity, both well-balanced and night 2, completely integrated, no heat. VG+ complexity, VG++ intensity, excellent persistence. I’ve been a big fan of this producer since a trip to NZ almost 19 years ago, enjoying numerous cuvées at all stages of aging up to about 15 years. This was my first time with this particular bottling, but it had the hallmarks of others I’ve had: powerful, sweet fruit but with lithenesss and leanness with an almost Burgundian chalkiness, making for a wine that was fulsome but never less than completely fresh, with minimal oak, moderate creaminess but no buttery or vanillan characteristics. Wonderful savoriness made this a great companion to chilled, cracked crab one night and sushi the next, working perfectly with those light dishes without ever overshadowing them, but on these (relatively) warm evenings, this had an almost Sauv Blanc refreshment to it. This is on the young end of where I enjoy KR chards, and even chards generally, but after needing about 30 minutes of air to come together out of the bottle, this was ideal for my palate (95), even preferable, understandable for those who who share my tolerance, even enjoyment of, somewhat angular wines when they’re accompanied by buoyant fruit, to where it was on night 2, when it was more integrated and elegant, but just a bit less energetic (94). Per other TNs, this could have upside in the years to come, but is absolutely ready, at least for my palate, now, and it certainly shouldn’t decline for at least most of the decade. 94++
  
  A brief, general editorial aside: it’s not an area I’m particularly knowledgeable about, and I’m certainly not making a secular call here, but at least selective Southern Hemisphere chards are most certainly worth checking out for those who enjoy examples of the varietal and have my New World-Old World sensibility. In addition to this producer, in Australia, the Leeuwin Art Series, moving a step up the cost and perhaps quality scale, is consistently excellent, and even better, and pricier (although I’ve had less of them) are the Catena Zapata White Stones and White Bones cuvées. While I’m not advocating anyone who reads this run out and swap out all of their Montrachets, Meursaults, Cortons, Auberts and Morlets, these will keep all but the absolute best of those (which are far dearer still) in very good company, IMO.

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