Hunting Hill is a vineyard that was first planted in 1982 and became a significant part of the original Kumeu River Chardonnay blend. Occupying the slope overlooking Mate's Vineyard, it has always contributed lovely ripe and rich fruit to the Estate Chardonnay. Hunting Hill was replanted in 2000 and is now even better than before, giving beautifully ripe fruit with a distinctive mealy minerality.

 The 2009 vintage was long and dry and produced lovely clean, ripe Chardonnay with racy acidity. The 2009 Hunting Hill is beautifully fragrant with its lemon/lime blossom characters and lovely fruit purity.  This wine shares some of the characters with the neighboring Mate’s Vineyard with its attractive floral notes and restrained elegance. The Hunting Hill vineyard  has a particularly pure character that, in its youth, displays a tight and crisp palate which needs some bottle age to reveal the power and concentration that lies beneath the surface.

This wine will improve with bottle age for 4 to 8 years