Product Description:
Chardonnay with the volume turned up. For years, fruit from Tim and Angela Coddington’s vineyard quietly supported the Kumeu River Estate blend. In 2006, the Brajkovich family decided its plush, peach-laden character deserved a solo release. The 2024 vintage, from vines now over 30 years old, delivered one of the site’s lowest-ever yields, concentrating its hallmark richness into something even more compelling.
Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed and wild-fermented in French oak, this Chardonnay spends 11 months on lees, completing full malolactic fermentation. The result is a wine that’s silkier and more generous than its stablemates, with ripe stonefruit depth, white floral lift and a creamy, savoury undercurrent. It’s an unhurried wine, carrying its opulence with poise, equally captivating now or in six years’ time.
Coddington has become the textural counterpoint in the Kumeu River portfolio, proof that a single site, handled with restraint and precision, can offer both power and grace.
Tasting Notes
NOSE
– Ripe & floral
Peach, white flowers, and a hint of crushed shells.
PALATE
– Creamy & layered
Silky stonefruit with preserved lemon, salted nuts, and a saline twist.
FINISH
– Long & poised
Mineral persistence with lingering savoury detail.
Reviews & Accolades
"The 2024 Coddington Chardonnay is alive on the palate with preserved lemon rind, tendrils of crushed shells and layers of brine. It is electric, in its way. There are salted and crushed nuts on the middle palate and length, which uncoils through the finish that allows a second and third look at the detail inherent within. This is very exciting and also creamy. It was tasted as a tank sample prior to filtration and bottling." – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate, 94–96 points
Finer Details:
Style - White Wine
Varietal - Chardonnay
Country - New Zealand
Region - Kumeu
Vintage - 2024
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13.5%
Closure - Screw Cap