Kumeu are you?

Kumeu River 2005 Chardonnay (Kumeu) – Sulfurous and a little clumsy. Very, very sulfurous, in fact. Difficult to assess. 24 hours later, things haven’t changed much. (4/09)

Kumeu River 2005 Chardonnay (Kumeu) – Take two. Sulfurous, but less difficult than the previous bottle. Still, it doesn’t add up to much. This exact wine was very enticing six months ago, so it has obviously entered some form of hibernation. Optimists (and those who’ve had well-aged Kumeu River chardonnays; I have, and they’ve been wonderful) will assume it’s a normal closed period. Pessimists will eye the screwcap with reductive suspicion. I don’t know which is the correct assessment, but I do know the wine’s in no mood for a party at the moment. (4/09)