{"product_id":"kumeu-river-rays-road-chardonnay-2025","title":"Kumeu River Rays Road Chardonnay 2025","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(195, 4, 4);\"\u003e94 pts Wine Advocate\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eDrink Date: 2026 - 2040\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe 2025 Rays Road Chardonnay comes from the Hawke's Bay vineyard, and the nose leads with creamed cashew, white peach, citrus pith and salted caper brine. The palate is creamy and sleek, with bright acidity and talcy phenolics through the open-weave finish. There's a lot of unspent power here—it feels raw and unbridled somehow. This is impressive and quite different from the other cuvées, though it continues to bear the hallmarks of the Kumeu River house style. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e2025 Growing Season at Kumeu\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003carticle class=\"mnmd-block post post--single post-10 type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-abroad tag-landscape cat-5\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Article\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"single-content\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"single-body entry-content typography-copy\" itemprop=\"articleBody\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"main-article-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eThe 2025 harvest season was notably dry. Harvest commenced with the early sparkling wine varieties on February 4, followed by 17 millimeters of rain one week later, shortly before the start of the table wine harvest. Conditions then remained largely dry through to the completion of the vintage on March 17. The wines were all vinified using the same method. The fruit was hand-harvested and whole-bunch pressed before undergoing fermentation with indigenous yeast. Fermentation took place entirely in French oak barrels, followed by 100% malolactic fermentation. The wines were then matured in barrel for 11 months.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/article\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"sc-kNxgZZ grnwUM author-box single-entry-section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"author-box__image\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Kumeu River, Auckland, NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44371491422342,"sku":"TRY-WD-kumeu-RAY-chard25","price":47.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0075\/0338\/0543\/files\/KumeuRaysRoadChardonnay_caaf52e9-1cba-42b5-8fd7-db1d2362e310.png?v=1763951723","url":"https:\/\/www.winesolutions.com\/products\/kumeu-river-rays-road-chardonnay-2025","provider":"Wine Solutions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}