History
Mick and Kat Brajkovich came from the small Croatian village of Živogošće, where they'd grown vines and made their own wine. In New Zealand they worked the gum fields, then moved to Henderson in West Auckland to work in vineyards and orchards with their son Maté. By 1944 they'd saved enough to buy a property at Kumeu with a small vineyard. Mick died in 1949. Maté and Kat carried on, and the place became San Marino Vineyards.
Maté met Melba in 1957, and they had four children in the 1960s: Michael, Marijana, Milan and Paul. In 1979 the winery dropped the hybrid grapes it used for fortified and basic wines and planted Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, a brave move at the time. In the 1980s the children came into the business, the name changed to Kumeu River Wines, and the focus turned to Chardonnay in the Burgundy style: wild yeast, long lees ageing and malolactic fermentation.
Maté died in 1992, and the best single vineyard Chardonnay carries his name. Michael became New Zealand's first Master of Wine. Melba was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2014 for services to the wine industry.
Grapes, vineyards and winemaking
Kumeu is just north west of Auckland. The family's 30 hectares are mostly clay over sandstone, which holds water deep down through the summer, so the vines need no irrigation and don't grow too vigorously. The vines are trained on lyre trellises, U-shaped frames that let more light onto the grapes. Everything is picked by hand.
In the cellar, the grapes are pressed as whole bunches and fermented in French oak barrels with no added yeast, only the wild yeasts that come in on the grapes. Michael's aim is a Chardonnay that's light, elegant and flinty, made for the table, and in his words not a big buttery oak bash.
Farming and how it's run today
The family runs everything: Michael makes the wine, Milan runs the vineyards, Paul handles sales and Marijana marketing. Nigel Tibbits joined at 16, was taught by Maté, and tended the nursery vines most of today's vineyards came from. The family doesn't claim organic certification.
Wines we stock
Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay is the family's main Chardonnay, from its own vineyards around Kumeu.
Kumeu Village Chardonnay is the entry wine of the range.
